Spelling and Word Walls

This week I read about spelling and word walls in "Writing Essentials" by Regie Routman.  I use Word Walls in my classroom, but the words are chosen from the reading curriculum as "high frequency" words and that the students should know how to spell.  I do agree with the most of the words, however, I did not add these words to the word wall during my writing time.  I had a separate time in my classroom in which we practiced spelling these words orally and then I added them to the word wall.  

One of the ideas in the book was to add words to the word wall during writing lessons.  Because my district relies heavily on the requirements of the book, I would need to use specific words each week and add them to the word wall.  This could be easily done while I am modeling writing. I could think about how I am going to add each word into the piece I am modeling with and then add it to the Word 

Wall.  I think this might be helpful because students wouldn't just practice spelling the words orally but I would be able to hold them even more accountable for the spelling.

By adding more words to the Word Wall during writing time, I would probably add more words that what the district requires because I would notice words that are commonly misspelled during that lesson.  This might help meet the needs of my students and not just what I am required to put on the Word Wall.

Lastly, this photograph shows a picture of a woman interacting with the word wall.  In this coming school year, I need to force myself to be more interactive with the word wall as it suggests in the book.  My Word Wall has always been hard to reach since I add so many words, but I think it might help students to become more familiar with the words and the correct spelling. This photo was from .http://thinkwonderteach.blogspot.com/2012/09/interactive-word-walls.html