I thought this was a powerful piece on the work of a word wall, how it needs to stay fresh and interactive, and how it can be used in any K-8 classroom. Yes, I have seen some powerful word walls in the arts, elective classrooms, mathematics, science, social studies, health, etc. Remember the 6 steps for best practice vocabulary instruction -- if the word is key then give it the time to teach it using these practices. Most teachers attempt to teach so many vocabulary words that the students are overwhelmed and cannot effectively generalize the terms to their daily use and thus long term memory. Vocabulary is social so allow time for conversing and using key vocabulary. AND most importantly, don't have them copying words and definitions from the teacher verbatim which is the least effective strategy of all - yikes.
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