Need a strategy for your ELL students in
your Math class? Why not use Word Walls? Word Walls are a
collection of words placed in a clear view for the students to use on the wall.
Some times the words are strategically placed by units, topics or the
preference of the instructor. Students benefit from a Word Wall when they
need that reminder what two skills are needed to answer a question or what were
relate to each and why.
It wouldn't be unusual to find a Word
Wall in every content area, especially because they are a great resource for
ELL students. One of the biggest challenges for my ELL students is making
a connection between lessons. They struggle with carrying their new
learnings with previously learned concepts. The Word Wall is a direct
resource to get them from problem to problem without the feeling of
frustrations.
I would start a Word Wall at the
beginning of the semester and continuously add to it by UNITS AND CONCEPTS.
The most organized the Word Wall is, the more beneficial it will be to
our ELL students, as well as all of our students.
Images of sample Word Walls are located
below.
I like this strategy. I have seen a word wall in almost every class I have been in. ELL students look for these to provide them with clues on what to say and what to write on a test. In the Spanish class I am interning in we have a word wall with number, the days of the week, and the months of the year. There are high frequency words/phrases posted all over the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHello Lavasia,
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how there are now two Spanish majors making a comment on your Word Wall post, but that just goes to show what a good idea we think it is for the classroom! Unlike Amber, however, I have never seen a word wall before. The most I have seen are the Spanish interrogatives (who, what, when, where, why) and maybe some basic questions such as "may I go to the bathroom," but never anything more useful than that. You are absolutely right though that ELLs could benefit from this, and in a Spanish, classroom, every student would benefit from it. I think one of the best things about it though is not just that it's there in case students need the extra support, but it makes them just that much more independent in their learning. With the word wall, they no longer have to continuously ask for the same terminology over and over and can instead take the initiative to find the word they are missing on their own. I really like the idea of using the word wall as a way to organize important unit or theme terminology rather than just words like days or numbers. While those are very helpful to have around as well, like Amber mentioned, they may not always be needed at a given point in time and the space could be better used for the words more immediately needed. I have never seen it done, but I kind of have this thought that if I teach three or four different levels of Spanish, each wall in my room could be dedicated to a level so that the posted materials, decorations, and even the word wall more specifically pertain to that level rather than a Spanish IV student still having the days of the week posted, and could instead have culturally or dialect specific phrases that are more at their learning level.