Spanish teachers, if you are wondering how to decorate your classroom and visually support students at the same time, post a Spanish word wall on your bulletin board!
I love using word walls to provide meaningful input, make the language visible, and support students. Spanish word walls are a must-have visual resource in the world language classroom. Here are FIVE reasons to use word walls in Spanish class.
1. Spanish word walls provide meaningful input.
Fill classroom bulletin boards with cognates, high-frequency words, and classroom commands. Word walls reinforce vocabulary by being a constant visual reminder of important vocabulary and phrases. They reinforce acquisition and retention!
"Stunning visuals and the kids loved looking at the "pared de cognados". It made them feel empowered to see all the words they could already read and understand!" -Maria C.
The cognate word wall is one that stays up all year! Spanish cognates are instant comprehensible input! With over 100 cognates, there are so many ways to integrate it into your lessons. Students can create basic sentences in Spanish from Day 1. Such a confidence builder.
"El animal es adorable."
"El elefante es enorme."
2. Spanish word walls make language visible.
Students are exposed to a variety of vocabulary words and phrases. By consistently seeing and interacting with the word wall, students become familiar and comfortable with new words and meanings. Post word walls in a place where all students can see it. Refer to the word wall frequently as you teach your lessons. Have students sort, categorize, illustrate, or use the words in a sentence.
"So in love with this word wall!
It looks great in my classroom and my kids use it all the time!" - Marissa H.
You'll love having the high-frequency word wall as a resource in your room. Order the words by parts of speech and mount them on colored paper to match your décor.
(I used - teal: adjectives, pink: adverbs, blue: prepositions, green: conjunctions, and light pink: pronouns)
3. Spanish word walls provide support to students.
Post subject pronouns, question words, and verb conjugations. Introduce vocabulary gradually by adding new words to the wall as they come up naturally in class. Have students add words. Take away vocabulary as needed. When students are writing or speaking in Spanish, they can easily look to the wall to find the word they need. Providing scaffolded support builds confidence and fluency in the language.
"Students appreciate visuals to help them learn.
I love the size and how students can easily identify each of them." -Pamela H.
4. Spanish word walls engage students.
Students are naturally curious about the new words. Word walls make the classroom more visually engaging. Well-designed word walls have big, bold fonts that are easy to read and/or have compelling images that grab students’ attention. Mount on colored paper to differentiate. (Be careful not to overdo it - displaying too many words, images, or colors can be overstimulating. Choose your words carefully.)
"Perfect resource for constant reference in my room!" -Samantha F.
This command word wall is a helpful reminder to stay in the target language when giving instructions to students!
5. Spanish word walls build student independence.
You’ll notice students looking at the word wall and using it as it should be used. Students refer to the wall to find the words they need and begin to take ownership of their learning. This promotes self-sufficiency. Students develop a greater sense of independence and depend less on you for support!
Use the cognate adjective word wall to get students describing themselves and others. It includes 50 adjectives that are cognates!
Word walls are a fantastic way to provide comprehensible input, make language visible, support learners, engage students, and build independence. Find the word walls you need for meaning-full Spanish class décor! You will LOVE having these words posted on your walls and students will refer to them constantly.
Click here to find the best Spanish word walls to get your classroom ready for back to school and support students with meaningful input all year long.
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