Do You NEED a Word Wall?

There has been a lot of debate lately about whether a word wall is necessary in a Kindergarten classroom. Overall, the idea of a word wall is to have sight words/vocabulary words up on a wall, alphabetized, for students to access during various times throughout the day, mainly during writing. They have to know that a word is a sight word, know the first letter, and look it up on the word wall across the room to use it. You can also use the word wall for games throughout the year.

The current trend is moving toward using a Sound Wall. A sound wall is a wall where words and pictures are put up according to the first sounds on the wall. It is also used for word families, vowel patterns, and is so versatile it can be used for any new material you are teaching in reading.

I have always used a word wall. But, as of last year, I realized I wasn't using it as much because I didn't feel like the kids were using it. It was in a weird spot in my classroom (because my classroom is so small!) and the kids couldn't reach every word with a pointer, so I didn't play games with it often. What I did use it for was a sound wall. We started with our names and moved into letter/sound pictures and words that were put up. I used it for science vocabulary, and high interest words (like unicorn, video, and rainbow) for my students to use. It wasn't until recently that I realized I wasn't using a word wall at all!

I found a wonderful article about what to do to make the word wall more successful. It is by Ms. Winter's Bliss. https://mrswintersbliss.com/why-i-tore-down-my-word-wall-freebie/ She suggests having students use a personal word wall. This can be in writing folders, taped to a table or desk, in the writing center, or all over the classroom! She suggests that students are going to interact with it constantly and it will become more meaningful if they don't have to look across the room to use it.

I teach under the IRLA model and I need a sight word list to match IRLA's 1G Power Words. So, I created my own personal word wall for my students this fall.

I believe this will help with so many tasks and am excited to not have to maintain the word wall throughout the year. However, I do plan on using a sound wall. I want to differentiate between sight words and other words, so this will allow that to happenI plan on making it mobile, meaning students will be able to take vocabulary words from the wall station to their seat. It will be smaller than a word wall, and be able to be accessed at a Kinders' height.  If you take a look at Marsha McGuire's board, you can get a better idea of idea what I mean.

Separating out my sight words and vocab words will be so helpful because my Sound Wall will be changeable, mobile, and most of all, accessible. I don't know what this year will bring in the way of reading instruction, but I would like to be able to take advantage of a small class size (we will be on a hybrid model) and get down to the nitty-gritty with my reading instruction. 

Are you using a sound wall? How about a word wall? I would love to know!