Teaching Tip #2

Word Walls!

Though memorizing vocabulary definitions doesn't register too high on the famous Bloom's Taxonomy pyramid, it is often the foundation for understanding and higher order thinking. All students benefit by building their vocabulary in every subject area. Unfortunately, the 10th grade students I inherit every year in the South Bronx have significant vocabulary handicaps, which makes it even more imperative that I push for it in my global history classes. How else will my students debate the pros and cons of capitalism and socialism, or analyze the responses of the Industrial Revolution if they don't know what a union is or who Karl Marx was? Vocabulary is not only foundational, it's also really fun and it's an amazing differentiation tool anyone can use in his/her classroom across all disciplines. The pictures are from my own classroom. Take a look at them as I explain how my word wall works in my classroom and with my students.

1. I give every student whole punched index cards with a ring to hold them all together (I suggest all students to carry the cards in a ziplock bag so they don't get destroyed).
2. I put up all the words they'll need to memorize at the beginning of each unit. Every unit is a different color so they are easily distinguishable.
3. At the bottom of the word wall I have four identical stacks of vocabulary cards in rings that contain all the terms and definitions that are on the word wall. (These cards are made by various students who earn extra credit points for creating them) The words are written on one side and the definition on the other. Some of these cards have pictures drawn on them to help visualize the meanings.
4. Students are allowed to flip through these note cards whenever they need to check their own definitions. These ringed cards are also great for group study sessions and serve as a great resource. Students never have an excuse for not having their own updated vocabulary cards!
5. Lastly, having a word wall that is visible and attractive allows me to easily access students' prior knowledge and to review terms and concepts we've covered in the past. I point to it almost every single day.

I encourage you to try this in your classrooms. It's a bit of work to get it set up initially, but it's worth it and students feel the immediate gratification of knowing and remembering things they didn't know just the day before. Of course, I give tons of vocabulary quizzes which always includes new and old terms as well as other activities that hold students accountable for retaining all the definitions. Any questions? Fire away.