Word Wall Activities - 10 minutes each day 

1. Clap, Chant and Write (Phonics They Use, p. 104)

Monday and Tuesday:

Introduce 5 new words for the word wall. Use in a sentence. Chant the words doing one of the following activities:

clap, cheer, tap finger, snap, ketchup, disco, stomp, pinch, Mexican hat

dance, point, etc. Let student be leaders too. 

On pre-made master, have them print the word outlining structure of word. Then have them write the word in cursive noting cursive instruction. Then cover the words, and write them in the third column. They check their own words and circle any letters that are wrong, not the whole word. Then they write the word again on the back if any mistakes were made. (Teacher walks around and checks.) 

Rest of the week, do any word wall word. Number a sheet of paper 1-5 or use a master. Call out the words one at a time using them in a sentence. The student writes the words as they are called. When all 5 have been called, call on a student to chant in some way the correct spelling of the word. Students check their own papers and correct. 

ON THE BACK ACTIVITIES (do on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) 

2. Review Rhyme With the Word Wall (Phonics They Use, p. 105) Students number their paper 1-5. Students must write a word that rhymes with a word and a clue the teacher gives.

EX: Number one begins with a t and rhymes with walk.

Number two begins with an m and rhymes with by.

To check, say:

ANumber one rhymes with walk, what did you write?@

Children respond, Atalk, t-a-l-k.@ 

3. Be a Mind Reader (Phonics They Use, p. 107)

Good to use on difficult words that the whole class still has difficulty with. Tell them you want to see who can read your mind. You need at least 20 words on the wall for this to work. Number paper 1-5. Teacher thinks of a word and writes it on an index card and hides it. Tell them you are going to give them 5 clues. By the fifth clue, everyone should guess the word, but if they read your mind, they might get it before. Write a word for each clue, even if you still think it is the same word.

Begin to give clues:

1. It is a WW word. (Students write a word.)

2. It has _______ letters. ( Students write same word or new word.)

3. It begins with th. ( Students write same word or new word.)

4. It has the vowel e in it. (repeat)

5. It fits in the sentence B I gave my books to YY (repeat)

Show students the word. Ask who got the word in 5 clues, 4, 3, 2, 1, ? 

4. Ruler Tap (Phonics They Use p. 108)

Each child needs a ruler. The teacher says a word and then taps out several letters in that word without saying the letters. She then calls on a student to finish spelling the word out loud. If correct the child gets to call out a word and tap some of the letters. 

5. Wordo (Phonics They Use p. 108)

Wordo is a variation of Bingo. All you need are photocopied sheets on which 9, or 16 blocks have been drawn and small papers to cover. Have students pick words off the word wall they want to included in the game. As they fill in the blocks, teacher writes them on cards. Shuffle cards and call the words one at a time. Have students chant the spelling and cover the word. The first student to have a complete row, column, diagonal, wins. Check the spelling. The winner is the caller now.  

6. Spelling Rhyming Words (grade 3)

Students number 1-5. Find a WW word and say it. Say a sentence that has a word that rhymes with the word wall word. Students write the rhyming word. Ex: AOne of the WW words is play. What did you say to your friend?@ Always provide the words because some rhyming words do not have the same spelling pattern like eat, street, feet. They rhyme, but are not the same spelling pattern. 

7. Opposite Riddles (grade 3)

Look for WW words that are opposites. Number 1-5 and give them a riddle that is similar to this: Word number one begins with the letter Ap@ and is the opposite of ugly. Continue with 4 more riddles. 
 

8. Hink Pinks (Phonics They Use p. 79) lots of examples

Hink Pinks are rhyming pairs. Children love to illustrated them and to make up and solve riddles for which they are the answers. Fun to make as class books.

Ex: drab / crab fake / snake broom / room

Riddles:

What do you call a goose out of its pen? A loose goose.

What do you get when your teacher gives you too much homework? brain/strain 
 
 

9. The Wheel

The teacher or child picks a word from the word wall and draws lines on the board or overhead for each letter in the word. Children can guess vowels or consonants. Correct letters are written on the lines and incorrect ones go in the letter box. They MUST guess all the letters before saying the word. One turn per person. 
 
 

10. Review Cross Checking Word Wall Words (Phonics They Use p. 106)

Number paper 1-5.  

Tell students that they will have to decide which word all makes sense and begins correctly. For each word, write the first letter of the word on the board. Then say a sentence, leaving out a word wall word that begins with that letter. Students will decide which word makes sense in the sentence and write that word. 
 

11. Make a Sentence With Word Wall Words (Phonics They Use p. 107)

Wait until about half of the word wall is up. First, make up sentences only using WW words and students names. Have students write them as you dictate. Then, later have a student make up a sentence. 
 

12. Theme and Word Wall Words

Do this about once a month. Use any theme board words that are up in the room. Have students turn over their paper and dictate one or two sentences that are made up of word wall words and/or theme words. This is an activity they love and it helps them write a good sentence. 
 

13. Add Endings To Words (Phonics They Use p. 58 & 59)

Practice adding endings to new or old WW words. For example, have the students number from 1-5. Have them find clap, chant and write the word help. Then have them add the ending As@ to make helps, then Aed@ to make helped, then Aing@ to make helping, and finally, Aer@ to make helper. This is a good way to practice word endings. Add endings to some but not all words you call out. (Watch for spelling changes.) have/having

make/making 
 

14. Rhyming Words With Endings (must know spelling change rules.)

Number 1-5. Today I want you to add the ending Aer@ ( est, able, ful, ly, less, etc.) to some words. Give them a WW word. What would the word be?

Write it.

Other change rules: calf / calves baby / babies church/churches 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

WORD BLOCK ACTIVITIES

1. Making Words (Month by Month Phonics)

2. Using Words You Know ( Month by Month Phonics)

3. Guess the Covered Word (Month by Month Phonics)

4. Word Sorts (Month by Month Phonics)

5. What Looks Right ( Phonics They Use p. 85) 
 

VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES

1. Rivit (Phonics They Use p. 129-131)

2. Quick Find (original)

Write page number and word on board. Children find word in story and read

sentence. Someone else tells definition of word.

3. Guess the Covered Word.