what is a word wall

A word wall is a literacy tool used in classrooms to display an organized collection of words in large visible letters on a wall, bulletin board, or other display surface. The words are typically arranged in alphabetical order and can be used during writing and/or reading. Word walls are designed to be interactive tools for students to use and can contain an array of words that can help students develop their sight word and word identification knowledge. Word walls are becoming commonplace in classrooms for all subject areas due to their ability to foster phonemic awareness, display connections throughout word "families," serve as a support/reference for students, as well as create meaningful/understandable/memorable experiences with new vocabulary words. Word walls can be used in classrooms ranging from pre-school through high school and can help students reinforce the spelling of important terms across a unit or of frequently misspelled words, house words that teachers want students to use more in their writing or discussion, and expand student vocabulary by helping students see how words connect.