Writing Lesson Plans

High School Ideas

I teach high school Reading and have used a word wall in my classroom. I have had to make some adjustments to the traditional method of using a word wall because of the ages and interest levels of my students. I have each student come up with or choose their own word and then they create a visual representation of the meaning of each word using the letters for that word. For example, the word bounce looks like it's bouncing, the word impact is crashing into a wall, etc... I have found that this is an excellent hands-on way to teach new words to older students. It gives them the spelling and the meaning of the word all at once and has helped quicken the transition of the new words into long term memory. The kids love doing the hands-on art work and seeing what others have created. Each word is created on a half sheet of regular copy paper and by the end of the school year I usually have over 2000 words all over my classroom.
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