I had a teacher reach out recently with this fabulous question:
I know we've got word wall cards with definitions and pictures available through our curriculum. Is it better to use cards that simply have the word, or cards that have all of that information on them?
And it got me to thinking - once again - about word walls. I went back through the blog archives, and found where I wrote about them way back in 2021 here, and I think it's still appropriate guidance. All too often, we begin the year with the best of intentions and a strong beginning to a word wall, but we either let it fall by the wayside, don't use it effectively, or both. But, we should have them, we should use them, and well.
What I love about this teacher's question is that it's getting to some of the nitty gritty of word walls, and the devil is truly in the details.
Here's my advice on whether or not to include definitions and pictures on word wall cards.
1. Word walls aren’t meant to do the basic, definition-level work of word knowledge. They’re meant to be used as a tool to build on that. This might mean that when I’m working with the meaning of the word “human right,” for example, I might need to reorient myself to the literal meaning before I start grappling with the nuances of it in relation to other words – which is what a word wall is really meant to do. We also know that kids need multiple, frequent exposures to words and their meanings to try get them in their brain’s constellation of word meanings, and having the definition front and center can help with that. I don’t want the word wall to be a “test” of what they remember; I want it to be a tool for deeply learning word meanings.
2. The more I think about it, the more I like having definitions on there that we all use in common. You’d be amazed at how many different definitions I hear for the word “sentence,” for example – much less something like “main idea” or “access” or “literacy.” And having those definitions makes it clearer for us to teach those to kids – as a teacher, I’m not going to be tempted to go on and on, or to actually end up sharing 3 different definitions inadvertently.
3. I also think it would be good practice to only add words that our kids are struggling to use well. That would allow me to A) free up space on the board (which we all need), and B) it’s another argument for having the definition there as a way of providing multiple exposures and reminders as they are learning.
Now, I do think there could be a point at which you want to take away the definition and/or picture. Let’s say kids know the definition, and you really want to push them toward making connections with other words or discussing the nuances of its meaning. You could easily cover up those elements with Post It notes or even painters tape, so that those cues aren’t immediately obvious to kids, but accessible if they want/need them.
My stance is informed - once again - by the great Tim Shanahan and his writing here. He never lets me down.
Here's to simply teaching well,
No comments
Post a Comment