Word Walls Teaching Resources
Are word walls a part of your strategy for boosting literacy skills in the classroom? Or maybe you're looking for word wall ideas and printables to add to your teacher toolkit?
The Teach Starter teacher team has carefully created and curated this collection of word walls for primary teachers to cover your needs — whether you're helping your kindergarten class stay on track with sight words or introducing new social studies vocabulary to your year 3 class!
New to this concept? Our expert English teachers have got you covered with a few quick tips to help you determine if a word wall is right for your classroom!
What Is a Word Wall?
A word wall is pretty much what the name implies — a classroom wall display with words in large print that can be read by students from across the room.
What goes on a word wall? Oh, the possibilities!
- Sight words
- Unit vocabulary
- Parts of speech
- Prepositions
- Content area words
- High-frequency words
- Word families
- Spelling words
- And more!
Used as an interactive tool, word walls tend to start out small and grow as you progress through a lesson or unit and students learn new sight words or vocabulary to be added to their word wall.
One idea for a word wall is to add words throughout the school year as students learn new vocabulary.
How to Make a Classroom Word Wall
If this all sounds good so far, let's talk about how to actually create a word wall. There are plenty of ideas out there, from using pictures alongside the words to printing your words on fun shapes, but here are some important tips our teacher team stands by:
- Make sure your words are printed in large text that can be easily read even by students seated across the room.
- Keep contrast in mind to ensure readability — you might want to use a dark background with lighter text.
- The organisation is key! Many word walls are set up in alphabetical order to make it easier for students to find the words they are looking for right when they need them, but you may want to organise unit vocabulary terms by how they connect to one another or group word families together.
- Choose a spot on your classroom wall that has space for additional words to be added.
- Keep your students' usage in mind when you mount words to the wall. Using sticky tack or similar mounting putty will make it easier for students to remove a word and take it back to their desks when necessary. You can also set up a word wall with wall hooks and place words on book rings (or looseleaf rings) so students can take them down to flip through!
Easy Word Wall Ideas
Looking for easy-peasy word wall ideas? Our team has got those for you, too, with word lists developed by teachers for teachers! Explore this collection of printable word walls that cover a variety of subjects and grade levels to save your precious planning time.
- Print and display the vocabulary cards that are provided.
- Use the customise option to add content words of your own.
- Use the blank cards at the end of the resource to add any specific words that your class finds during their learning experiences.
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Recount Writing Word Wall
A set of 30 vocabulary words related to recount writing.
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Mathematics Word Wall
A set of Mathematics related vocabulary to immerse students in mathematical terms.
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Procedure Writing Word Wall
Display this set of 30 procedure writing words in your classroom when teaching your students how to write a procedure.
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Australian Animals - Word Wall Template
A set of Australian animals-themed vocabulary word wall cards.
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Australian Early Settler Word Wall Vocabulary
Vocabulary associated with Australian Early Settlers.
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Exploring How People and Places Affect One Another - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
63 exploring the affects of people and places vocabulary cards.
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Persuasive Writing Word Wall Vocabulary
Persuasive language for a word wall.
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Animal Adaptations Vocabulary Display
Introduce animal adaptation and behaviour vocabulary with a word wall featuring photographs and definitions of adaptation-related words.
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Gravity Word Wall Vocabulary Cards
Immerse your students in gravity vocabulary with this set of 15 illustrated vocabulary cards perfect for a word wall display.
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Friction Word Wall Vocabulary Cards
Immerse your students in friction vocabulary with this set of 15 illustrated vocabulary cards perfect for a word wall display.
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Soil Word Wall Vocabulary Cards
Immerse your students in subject-specific vocabulary related to soil types and their properties with this set of 16 illustrated vocabulary cards.
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Weathering and Erosion Word Wall Vocabulary
Expand your students' science vocabulary with a weathering and erosion word wall.
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Prefix Words - Classroom Display
Build a classroom word wall and boost vocabulary skills with a printable prefix classroom display.
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Space - Word Wall Vocabulary
Use these space vocabulary words and space terms to unlock the solar system for your elementary students as they learn about space, the solar system, and the world far beyond your school.
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Natural Disasters - Illustrated Vocabulary Display
Reinforce science vocabulary in your classroom with this set of illustrated and annotated natural disaster word wall cards.
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Save Planet Earth - Science Word Wall Vocabulary
Print and display Earth Day-related terms in your classroom to improve vocabulary and discussion about Earth Day.
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Informative Writing Word Wall
Display key vocabulary related to informative writing with a set of 48 word wall cards.
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Water Cycle Words - Illustrated Word Wall
Boost vocabulary skills and understanding with an illustrated water cycle word wall.
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Night and Day Word Wall
A set of vocabulary words related to night and day.
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Properties of Materials Word Wall Vocabulary
Forty-eight 'properties of materials' vocabulary cards.
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Technology and Technologies Terminology - Word Wall
96 vocabulary word wall cards and a poster about technology, to display in your classroom.
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Colour Adjectives Word Wall
A colourful word wall display to help support students colour adjective use.
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Early Explorers Word Wall
A vocabulary word wall to display and use in the classroom when learning about early explorers up to the late eighteenth century.
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Learning Areas - Word Wall - Economics and Business
A set of Economics and Business-themed vocabulary word wall cards.
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Fairy Tales Word Wall Vocabulary
Seventy-two fairy tale themed vocabulary cards.
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Dinosaur Word Wall Vocabulary
Fifty-four dinosaur related vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Statistics Word Wall Vocabulary
A comprehensive selection of statistics vocabulary for use on a Mathematics Word Wall.
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Changing and Managing Places - Geography Word Wall Vocabulary
48 changing and managing places vocabulary cards.
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Free Easter Word Wall Vocabulary Display
Create a fun Easter-themed write-the-room activity and boost vocabulary skills surrounding the Easter holiday with a printable Easter word wall.
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Animal Flash Cards & Word Wall
Read, write and identify animals around the world with a printable animal word wall with pictures.
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Wildlife Conservation Vocabulary Words
Build academic vocabulary with a printable Animal Conservation word wall.
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Kindness Vocabulary Word Wall
Learn vocabulary around the topic of kindness with this set of word wall cards.