Word Wall & Activities Link-Up!

My bloggy buddy Jen from The Teachers' Cauldron is hosting her first linky!  She is in need of a word wall intervention and has asked us to share out word walls to help her out!  :)

Here is what my word wall looks like:

My dad made me a bookcase for my classroom a few years back.  I use the side with shelves to house some of my books for the reading area.  The back side has shower backing on it.  Originally, I used the back side for my calendar and morning meeting stuff but now I use it for my word wall.  I {heart} the brick paper that I found a Michael's a few years back.  It makes the perfect "wall" display!  We add our high frequency words to the wall throughout the year.  Because the word wall is a good size, my kids are able to use it frequently when they are writing or in literacy stations.  Whenever I am in the need of a time filler activity this wall comes in handy. (For example, when a visitor comes in to talk to me and I need my kiddos occupied for a minute...) Here are some of the activities we do with the wall:

• Pick a student to point to each word with a pointer while the other students read the words
• Pick a student to spell a word in Sign Language and let the other students guess the word
• Play "Guess the Word" or "I Spy" using clues that range in difficulty (synonyms, ABC order, definitions, etc.)
• Say-spell-clap the words for spelling practice
• Give the students dry-erase boards and have them alphabetize the words under each letter, write sentences with each word, or answer cloze sentences
• Partner students up and ask them to write paragraphs or stories using as many of the words as possible

Hope some of these ideas are helpful to you.  What activities do you do with your word wall?  Be sure to link up {HERE} and read how word walls are used in other teacher's classrooms.  :)