Bright Ideas: Interactive Word Wall

Hey yall!

 

I'm not sure about you, but I am always on the hunt for new and clever classroom ideas. We learn best from each other, so who better to turn to for ideas than my amazing bloggy buddies? That's why I'm so excited to be a part of the Bright Ideas Blog Hop!

 

 

 

Word Wall....everyone's got one, right?

I had never really put much thought or effort into my Word Wall. I typed up the words, added some fancy letter headers, and slapped 'em up on the wall.

 

But my kiddos were not using them like I hoped they would...or like they really need to!

So this past year, I started looking for a way to make the Word Wall more interactive for my kiddos. I wanted a way for them to be able to use the cards when they wanted and actually be able to take them back to their work stations as needed.

 

This is the system I came up with.

 

These specific word cards were for my time in 5th grade, before I switched back to 1st.

 

I used some index cards that I had on hand, wrote out the Fry's word lists, and put them on binder rings. The binder rings all hang on a simple thumb tack.

It took awhile to write out all the words, but I didn't want to waste my ink and paper to print them out...there were just too many of them!

 

The great thing about this system is that my littles have easy access to them. They can just find the word they are looking for, take it off the ring, and put the rest back.

Note: you will definitely need to show your kiddos how to unhook the binder rings...it can be a little tricky for small hands!

 

I really love this system, because it is so easy to add words as we learn them. Students can also add their own word cards and even their names!

 

Want to hear some more bright ideas? Check out Anna over at Simply Skilled in Second. She's got a bright idea about behavior management! Click on her button below to check it out.