Word Walls and PWIM
Enhancing Your
Language Arts Program
Welcome!!
 Listen
 Learn
 Share
Agenda
Word Walls
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Overview
Benefits
Tips for use
Daily activities and strategies
Portable Word Walls
PWIM
 How it works
 Advantages
 Steps
 Getting started
 Examples
What are Word Walls?
 an organized collection of words
prominently displayed in a classroom
 an interactive tool for teaching
reading and spelling to children
 come in many different types,
including high frequency words, word
families, names, alphabet, themes
(seasonal, content area)
Benefits
Word Walls teach children to:
 recognize and spell high frequency
words
 see patterns and relationship in
words
 build phonemic awareness skills
 apply phonics rules
 recognize content area words
Benefits
Word walls can be used:
 to support the teaching of important
general principals about words and
how they work.
 to foster reading and writing.
 to take away the “permission to
forget 
 build vocabulary
Benefits
Word walls can be used:
 to promote independence on the part
of young students as they work with
words in writing and reading
 as a visual tool for older students,
giving them access to content area
words
Benefits
Word walls can be used:
 to provide a visual map to help
children remember connections
between words and the
characteristics that will help them
form categories.
Benefits
Word walls can be used:
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to develop a growing core of words
that become part of a reading and
writing vocabulary.
to provide reference for children
during their reading and writing.
Tips for Use
Make words accessible by putting them
where every student can see them
They should be written in large black
letters using a variety of background
colours to distinguish easily confused
words
For young students, having the shape
of the word provides another visual
connection
Tips for Use
Teachers should be selective about the
words that go on the word wall. Try to
include words that children use most
commonly in their writing
Words should be added gradually - a
guideline is five words per week
Tips for Use
Use the word wall daily to practice
words - chanting, snapping, cheering,
clapping, tracing, word guessing
games, as well as writing them
Provide enough practice so that words
are read and spelled automatically and
make sure that word walls are always
spelled correctly in the children's daily
writing
Crosscurricular
Interactive
Colorful
Subject
Specific/
Thematic
Seasonal
Portable
Creative
 use clothespins to pin index cards on
word wall
 students can take card off and look on
back for definition.
Your Turn 
 Do you have any other creative ways
you have used a Word Wall in your
classroom?
Daily Activities for
Word Walls
Clap, Chant, and Write
 Students number a scratch paper
from one to five.
 Call out five word wall words and put
each in a sentence.
 When all five words have been
written, point to the words, and have
the students clap and chant the
spelling of the words as they correct
their own papers.
Review Rhymes
 Have students number their paper from one
to five, and write the word that rhymes with
the word you give.
 Give them both a first letter and a rhyming
clue:
o Number 1 begins with t and rhymes with walk
o Number 2 begins with b and rhymes with my
 To check their papers, you say the rhyming
word and let students say the word they
wrote (and chant) its spelling:
o "Number 1 rhymes with walk, what
did you write?" Students respond,
"talk, t-a-l-k"
Review Endings
 Call out the usual five daily words, but
add endings on to some of them.
 Begin with just one ending at first,
probably "s". Then do another ending,
such as "ing", or "ed".
 Only do words with spelling changes
after you have taught the rule.
 Students spell (and chant) the words.
Make Sentences
 As the year goes on and more words
are on the word wall, you can dictate
entire sentences that are made up of
word wall words.
 You also can use this opportunity to
practice punctuation.
Be a Mind Reader
 The teacher thinks of a word wall word
and gives five clues to that word.
 Students number their papers from 1
to 5 and try to "read the teacher's
mind“.
 By the time you give the fifth clue,
everyone in the class should guess
your word and have written it down on
their papers.
Be a Mind Reader
Procedure:
 First clue is always the same one: "It's one of the
words on the wall." Students write a guess by
number 1.
 Next clue: "It has four letters." Students write
another guess by number two.
 Third clue: "It begins with "th". Students again write
their guesses by number three.
 Fourth clue: "Its vowel is an "e". Write guess by
number four
 Fifth clue: "It finishes the sentence, "I gave my
books to _____." Write guess by number five.
 Check (and chant) the correct word,
and ask for a show of hands as to
who had the word by 1, 2, 3, etc.
Ruler Tap
 The teacher says a word wall word
and then taps out several letters in
that word without saying those letters.
 When the tapping stops, the teacher
calls on a child to finish spelling the
word out loud.
 If the child correctly finishes spelling
the word, that child gets to call out a
word and tap some of the letters.
WORDO
 This is a version of BINGO, only it is
played with word wall words.
 Students need a sheet of paper that
has 9, 16 or 25 blank blocks on it, and
some small pieces of paper or objects
to cover words as they fill in blocks.
W
O
R
D
0
WORDO
 Call on students to pick words from
the word wall they want included in the
game.
 As each picks a word, everyone writes
it in a blank of their choice.
 Teacher writes it on an index card.
W
O
R
D
0
WORDO
 Shuffle your index cards and call out
each word.
 Students are to cover the words
wherever they have written them.
 The first student to have a complete
row covered/blackout wins.
 You might let the winner
become the word caller for the
next game.
 Variation: teacher gives the
definition of the words
Reading Bingo
 Students fill in a bingo card with new
words for a unit.
 As students complete the unit’s
 reading, they fill in the page numbers
where the unit’s words appear.
 Acknowledge the first person who gets
a straight line completed, then assign
completion of the entire grid for
everyone in the class.
 Variation: Students skim text to
find words listed on their card.
Word Sorts
 Students write 10-15 word wall words
on small slips of paper
 Sort the words into different piles
depending on the features certain
words share.
 Students may sort for:
o
o
o
o
o
# of letters
begin/end with certain letter
have a certain vowel(s)
have a certain letter anywhere in them
semantic features (names, actions)
o teacher gives groups, students tell
sorting criteria OR vice-versa
Guess the Covered Word
Purpose: practice cross-checking
meaning with letter-sound information.
 The teacher writes 4-5 sentences on
board, sentence strips, overhead,
SMART Board.
 Cover a word in each sentence with
two sticky notes--one covering the
onset, the other covering the rime.
Guess the Covered Word
 Call on a student to read the first
sentence.
 Students make several guesses for
the covered word. Teacher records.
 Take off the first sticky note (onset).
 Guesses that don’t begin with that
onset are erased and any new
guesses can be added.
 Reveal word when all the
guesses which fit both the
meaning/onset are written.
Build/Mix/Fix
 Teacher calls 5 words from the word
wall one at a time.
 Students write on paper as teacher
writes on board.
 Teacher directs class to Build the first
word with letter tiles/cards at
desk.
Build/Mix/Fix
 After all students have the word built,
teacher directs class to Mix up the
letters of the word.
 Students are directed to Fix the word
by arranging the letters to spell the
word.
 Continue with remaining words.
Word Search
 Give each student a Word Search
worksheet.
 Choose 5 words from the word wall.
 Call out word and students write at
bottom of worksheet.
 Students place each word in the word
search puzzle and add additional
letters to fill in the boxes.
 Students trade Word Search puzzles
and complete.
Making Words
 An activity that will have students
interact with letters and words.
 Assists in developing spelling and
word decoding skills.
 Engaging - like a puzzle.
 Procedure:
o Choose letters that are found in word wall
words.
o Students print the letters at the bottom of the
“Making Words” graphic organizer.
o Cut letters out.
o Arrange letters to form words.
o Print words on chart.
Word Fun Center
 An activity to have one of your guided
reading groups do while you are busy
 Choose 5 words from the word wall
and write them on the board
 Provide different materials to spell the
words:
*letter tiles
*stencils
*play-dough
*magnetic letters
*pasta letters
*Wikki Sticks
*alphabet stamps
*painted lima beans
Word Ad
 Divide the class into groups
 Each group chooses a word, and brainstorms
all the possible uses of the word.
 They create a radio or television ad to ‘sell’
the word and present it to the class.
 Variation: students think of a product for
which they create a radio advertisement,
using as many words as possible from the
word wall.
o The group avoids making direct reference
to the product and asks the class to guess
what it is that the ad is trying to sell.
Categories
 Students create categories and group the
words from the word wall to fit those
categories.
 Set the number of words that are allowed in a
“miscellaneous” category and create a
maximum and minimum number of categories
that can be used.
 Could be done individually first; then students
share/compare their categories with a partner.
 Share their groups of words with the class
who guess the principle behind the sorting.
Contextualization
 Students write about a situation in which a
word wall word would be commonly used.
 The student reads the situation to the
class, who then guess the relevant word.
 Variation: students portray multiple
contextual situations – for words with
multiple meanings
 E.g. “brackets” - something that could be
spoken about in both writing and
construction contexts.
Your Turn 
 What ways have you used the Word
Wall in your classroom?
Get them
interacting
with the
Word
Wall!
Get them
interacting
with the
Word
Wall!
__
_.
______
_.
Get them
interacting
with the
Word
Wall!
 Attach key words with
Velcro strips or sticky tack
 Put pockets under your
Wall at the children's eye
level. Place copies of key
words in the pockets
 These techniques allow
students to go to the
Wall, remove a word, use
it at their desks, and
return it
Get them
interacting
with the
Word
Wall!
 Have students record the
number of times they use
the word wall words in
their writing
o Sticky notes on the
words
o Stickers on the words
 Text talk
 Hang Man
 “Wheel of Fortune”
 “Hink Pinks” – riddles with
rhyming pairs
Your Turn 
 Wall space in classrooms is always
limited!
 What creative ways have you handled
this?
No Wall Space – No Problem!
 use three-panel display boards or
foam display boards
 These freestanding materials don't
require any wall space, and can be
moved around the room and placed on
tables for easy visibility
 You can fold one Word Wall down and
put up another when a new student
group arrives OR for different
seasons/subjects
 Easy storage!
No Wall Space – No Problem!
 students take the ring
of cards back to their
desks
 each subject's
vocabulary words are
in a different color
index card to make
the words easy to
find
 can be used year
after year 
Portable Word Walls
 A great alternate to the traditional
word wall
 Wonderful if you have limited wall
space in your classroom
 Perfect for students on the move
 Available commercially
(check Teacher’s Trunk)
 Make your own
Portable Word Walls
Portable Word Walls
 This Portable Word Wall is made up of:
 Dolch Words
(PP-Gr. 1)
 Fountas/Pinnell
High Frequency
Words (K-1)
 first 100 Sitton
High Frequency
Words
 Part of the handout package
Portable Word Walls
 To make the word wall list stand out,
provide an organizational handout
that students glue to three-holed
construction paper.
 The construction paper fits into a
binder, but sticks out a
little more than regular
paper, thus making the
word wall list easily
accessible
Portable Word Walls
http://literacygarden.com/personal-word-walls/
 different themes available
 $2-$3 on TpT
Portable Word Walls
 Another idea:
• Students “borrow” the word wall
“books” and return when done
Assessment Opportunities
 word wall reading
 portfolio of work to show progress
through year
 assessment rubrics
 spelling
 anecdotal records
 observations by teachers
On-line Resources
http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/langart
s/wordwall062599.html
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/strats/w
ordwall/
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/arti
cle/word-walls-work
http://curriculum.org/storage/108/12785
03618wordwalls.pdf
Books
Pat Cunningham:
o Classrooms That Work: They Can All Read and
Write.
o Making Words
o Making More Big Words.
o Making More Words. Carthage,
o Month By Month Phonics for First Grade.
o Month By Month Phonics for Second Grade.
o Month By Month Phonics for Third Grade.
o Month By Month Phonics for Upper Grades.
o The Teacher's Guide To The Four Blocks.
o Word Wall Plus For Second Grade.
PWIM
Picture Word Inductive Model
Picture Word Induction Model
 Developed by Emily F. Calhoun in
1998
 uses pictures containing familiar
objects, actions and scenes to draw
out words from children’s listening
and speaking vocabularies
Picture Word Induction Model
 helps students add words to their
sight reading vocabulary, as well as
their writing vocabulary
 also helps students discover phonetic
and structural principles present in
those words
 develops critical thinking and
observation skills
Picture Word Inductive Model
 can be used:
 after reading a book
 when beginning a new science or
SS unit
 when learning a new concept in
math
How it Works
 Words are ‘shaken out’ or listed by
the picture by the students.
 “Shaking out” refers to:
o identifying objects
o identifying actions
o identifying qualities
 Words are listed around the picture in
a web-like fashion
How it Works
 Words are placed on word cards.
 Words are categorized and read and
reread as a class over a few days.
 Students can be given their own set
of word cards.
 Individual set of word cards assist the
students in writing and reading
sentences using the words.
How it Works
 Then, depending on the grade level,
the sentences are categorized and
formed into paragraphs.
 The students then write paragraphs.
 The strength of using this strategy
from K to grade 6 is that it will help
build students’ vocabulary and writing
abilities.
Advantages of PWIM
 emphasizes phonics, grammar,
mechanics, and usage of Standard
English.
 Pictures provide concrete referents for
the learning of new words, phrases,
and sentences.
 picture word chart serves as an
immediate reference to enable
students to add these words to their
sight vocabulary.
Advantages of PWIM
 teacher can choose to emphasize
almost any sound and symbol
relationship
 Students can see the patterns and
relationships of the English language apply this learning to newly
encountered words.
Advantages of PWIM
 Students hear and see words spelled
correctly and participate in the correct
spelling and writing.
 Learners benefit from the teacher
modeling of the key words and
concepts.
 With practice, students can begin to
learn how to create sentences and
paragraphs related to the subject
under study.
Advantages of PWIM
 Perhaps the biggest advantage of
PWIM is that of the role of the teacher
 In a deductive classroom, the teacher
conducts lessons by introducing and
explaining concepts to students, and
then expecting students to complete
tasks to practice the concepts; this
approach is very teacher-centred.
Advantages of PWIM
 This PWIM inductive instruction is a
much more student-centred approach.
 They are the ones that take the stage.
 The students are encouraged to be
critical thinkers and they are often
working collaboratively as a class
community.
Advantages of PWIM
 The strategy can be used with a
whole class, small groups, pairs, or
individually
 Leads students into inquiring about
words and, thus, adding them to their
vocabularies
 Helps them discover phonetic and
structural principles
 Engages students in meaningful
reading and writing activities.
Steps in the PWIM
1. Select a picture.
2. Ask students to identify what they
see in the picture.
3. Label the picture parts identified.
(Draw a line from the identified
object or area, say the word, write
the word; ask students to spell the
word aloud and then to pronounce
it.)
Steps in the PWIM
4. Read and review the picture word
chart aloud.
5. Ask students to read the words
(using the lines on the chart if
necessary) and to classify the words
into a variety of groups. Identify
common concepts (e.g., beginning
consonants, rhyming words) to
emphasize with the whole class.
Steps in the PWIM
6. Read and review the picture word
chart (say it, spell it, say it).
7. Add words, if desired, to the picture
word chart and to the word banks.
8. Lead students into creating a title for
the picture word chart. Ask students
to think about the information on the
chart and what they want to say
about it.
Steps in the PWIM
9. Ask students to generate a
sentence, sentences, or a paragraph
about the picture word chart. Ask
students to classify sentences;
model putting the sentences into a
good paragraph.
10. Read and review the sentences and
paragraphs.
Getting Started
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The picture word chart is the basic
material for the PWIM lessons and
units.
The picture word chart comprises the
picture and the words that are
identified or “shaken out” of the
picture by the students.
Getting Started
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The chart is used throughout the
sequence of lessons and is a source
of curriculum content.
As the teacher writes words on the
paper surrounding the picture, the
chart becomes an illustrated
dictionary.
Getting Started


The illustrated dictionary that you
and your students create will support
language use by the class as a
group and as individuals
It needs to be posted where students
can use it to support their reading,
their writing, and their independence
as learners.
Getting Started


Using the chart to help them
pronounce the words encourages
children to notice and comment on
spelling and phonetic structure.
Until the words are part of the
student's sight vocabulary, they are
anchored by their representations on
the picture word chart.
PWIM in Action
PWIM in Action
PWIM in Action
PWIM in Action
PWIM in Action
PWIM in Action
Your Turn – what words would you
“shake out”?
Another Twist
Image of the Week
On-line Resources:
 http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats
/pwim/
 http://www.ascd.org/publications/book
s/199025.aspx (Calhoun’s book)
 Pearltrees:
 http://goo.gl/0jtCca
What to Do Now …
 Send me a quick email to ask me to
forward the handout package to you
shirley.barclay@sunwestsd.ca
 If you have any other ideas that we
haven’t talked about today, please
send those in an email as well so that I
can share them!
What to Do Now …
Look for the complete presentation and
handouts on:
 BrainShark
 the Reading Strategies wiki
http://readingstrategiesthatwork.wikispaces.com/
 the ELA wiki
http://supporting-ela.wikispaces.com/
Questions
Comments
Last Chance to
Share!
Thank you so much!
Enjoy the rest of your school year!
Merry Christmas!