Example 1 (Math)
When working with students in math and more specifically order of operations an instructor can post a word wall for the terms that go with an operation. For example if the operation for the day is multiplication the instructor may post together with the class words such as : multiply, product, factor, times, X. All these are academic language which will better readily prepare ELL's when they encounter these terms on a test.
When the information is on the wall, you can readily see it and consistently use the different words with students. |
Example 2 (Science)
Science, especially biology has some relatively tough terms students need to know in order to understand the content. It would probably be tough for students who are still acquiring a second language to apply scientific terms as well. I think having a word wall would be a good idea if perhaps a class was covering the cell. The instructor could list the terms of what makes up a cell on the wall such as mitchocondria, ribosome, etc. They could even take it a step further by posting illustrations next tot hem. This can always be covered up or removed during a summative test but just having it there would likely ease the learning process for students.
|
Example 3 (Language Arts)
There are tons of word wall activities one can do centered around language arts. For example, after reading a book about Stuart Little the class can perform a character analysis on Stuart. It would look like a hybrid of a word wall and a web/chain. This would work best by placing an illustration of Stuart somewhere in the middle so the students know what they are making connections to. The teacher would work collaboratively with the students drawing on them to post words onto the wall. This would get the students to participate and when the instructor feels as if the class is grasping what is being taught they can move on to independent work.
|