Thinking about back to school, I start to reflect on what I want to change for the coming year and what I love so much I would never change. Is there a certain area in your classroom that you think about and just smile? I think all of us teachers have that place where we find joy. For me, it is my word wall.
Not only do I love all of the bright colors, but I also love that my word wall gives my students a visual representation of all the vocabulary we learn throughout the year. I love that these cards are not just the words themselves but visual reminders of what each word means. Every time I ask a question and see a student glance at it for reference I cannot help but feel all the warm and fuzzies. I strongly believe all students especially secondary students need visual cues to aid their learning particularly in a mathematics classroom. For more, see this NCTE article on math vocabulary.
These word cards also improve my students' mathematical literacy, encourage deeper thinking, etc. and are used all year including review games, students create their own, and so on. Now that you know how much I love my word wall, I hope you will share in this passion of mine and put up one in your classroom this year.
How do I go about making or buying my own word wall? A couple of summers ago I had this idea and decided to put myself to work making my dream become a part of my classroom. It took me ALL summer to make these cards for each course I taught at the time (maybe not the best use of my summer?). So to save you that kind of time, if you teach Algebra 2, PreCalculus, Calculus, or Statistics, check out my Word Walls on TPT.
If you are inspired to create your own:
- Make a list of all the vocabulary words for the course
- Think about how each word can be written in a way that illustrates its definition
- Make those ideas come to life in PowerPoint, Word, etc.
- Print, laminate, and post as you teach during the year
