RUNNING HEAD: The Effectiveness of Word Walls 1

The Effectiveness of Word Walls

Kathleen Merriman

Franciscan University of Steubenville

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Introduction

Words hold a powerful sway over the lives of human beings. They can convey emotions,

transform ideologies, expand knowledge, challenge perceptions, and communicate human

experiences. Mankind fill libraries with them and uses them everyday conversation. Since

words—both spoken and written—abound richly in almost every culture known to man,

contemporary educators are faced with the challenge of bringing their students into contact with

a plethora of vocabulary terms. More, educators must help their students comprehend the

meaning of words, understand decoding strategies, and be able to apply the terms they encounter.

In order to direct student’ knowledge to words of all kind, many teachers use word walls within

the classroom. These word walls may display high-frequency words, important words from a

unit of study, or vocabulary terms from text (Reutzel & Cooter, 2012). In recent years, word

walls have risen in popularity because many teachers now recognize that word walls contribute

to a print-rich environment, which is an integral part of emerging literacy development

(Neumann, Hood, Ford, & Neumann, 2011). While the presence of such artifacts as a word wall

is important, what teachers and student do with these tools is even more important (Harmon,

Wood, Hedrick, Vintinner, & Willeford, 2009).

Word walls can be used across a broad range of grades. Elementary school teachers often

use them to vocabulary and spelling tasks. Middle and secondary-school teachers often use their

word walls for more interactive, in depth studies of a subject, or to integrate meaningful words

into classroom activities. Word walls take on new and expanded purposes for the students they

serve. However, regardless of the grade word walls are used in, they can be used ineffectively. It

is sometimes the case that word walls are created at the beginning of the year and then forgotten

(Reutzel & Cooter, 2012). In this case, the word wall becomes more of a decorative wall paper
 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WORD WALLS 3

than a versatile resource for students to utilize. Such an attitude towards a classroom word wall

renders it ineffective and prevents it from being used to its full potential. On the other hand,

research indicates that teachers who more frequently refer to their word walls and implement

meaningful word wall activities may see greater increases in student vocabulary knowledge

(Jasmine and Schiesl, 2009). Additionally, as Jasmine and Schiesl (2009) explain, students

should participate actively in the creation of the word wall and interact with the words on a

regular basis through activities that give students an opportunity to use vocabulary terms in

various ways. Thus, truly effective word walls require a teacher’s commitment to using them

frequently and in conjunction with other activities that will create meaningful connections

between students’ prior knowledge and the additional content they encounter.

Purpose

While word walls seem to be increasingly popular in many elementary and middle school

classrooms, research indicates that their effectiveness and how students perceive them seems to

rely greatly on how frequently teachers actually use them during their instruction. Many sources

seem to agree that those teachers who refer to the word walls in their classrooms more frequently

than not provide their students with a decided advantage in the quest for literacy across content

areas. Therefore, through research, I hope to answer the question: How many times do

elementary and middle school teachers who have word walls in their classrooms use or reference

those word walls on a weekly basis? Further, in which content area do teachers perceive that

their students have benefited most from through the use of a word wall in the classroom?

Through this action research project, I hope to discover how frequently some teachers use the

word walls within their classrooms and, if so, if these teachers believe that these word walls have

positively impacted their students in the areas of reading and writing.

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In order to answer this research question, my methodology will be a survey given to

teachers in the elementary and middle school grade levels in one school setting. In this brief

survey, I will ask teachers to first answer whether they use a word wall in their classroom. If so, I

will ask them how frequently they mention or refer to that word wall per week. Then, I will ask

the teachers if they believe that word walls have improved their students’ knowledge and to

specify in what area they have seen growth. This survey will be the methodology that I

implement for my primary research. For secondary research, I will read and review several

related, academic journal articles, draw on the research of current professionals in the field, and

synthesize what I have learned in literature reviews. Both the survey and the secondary research

will be aimed at answered the proposed research question.

The overall goal of this project is to understand how often word walls are referenced and

implemented in a real school setting. A secondary goal is to observe if, as some research

suggests, this frequent use of word walls as an instructional tool helps students recognize these

words in reading and use them in writing. If not in these subjects, then the research should

provide insight into which content areas the word walls are most used. I predict that my research

will show that the majority of teachers have word walls in their classroom, but that they do not

use them as often as they would like. However, I think that the teachers who make use of their

word walls frequently throughout the week (or even daily), perceive word walls as a valuable

tool that has enriched their students’ reading and writing. Ultimately, my hope is that this action

research project provides me with a deeper into insight into the effectiveness of word walls,

depending on how frequently teachers choose to take advantage of them. I hope to learn from the

findings of this project so that I can apply my knowledge in whatever educational setting I

pursue in the future.

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Review of Literature

The idea that first graders can potentially improve their reading fluency through the

implementation and frequent usage of a word wall in the classroom was the central question

explored by Jasmine and Schiesl (2009). The purpose of this empirical study was to discover if

students could use word walls and word wall activities during station time over a four-week

period to strengthen their ability to recognize sight words, and therefore, increase the amount of

words they could read per minute. The participants of this study were twenty first grade students,

eleven boys and nine girls, who attended a rural public K-6 elementary school. In this article,

which described an action research project that the two authors implemented in their own

classrooms, the methodology employed to explore the question was a case study. This case study

involved several data collection strategies, such as the administration of a pre-running and post-

running record, and direct teacher observation of five students completing word wall activities.

The numbers collected in the pre-running and post-running record data charts indicate that

improvement with all students did occur and met or came very close to the 40-word per minute

expectation for first grade students. Overall, the authors suggest that the word wall activities

conducted during the case study helped to strengthen high-frequency vocabulary, which resulted

in the increase of words that students read per minute.

This article, though empirical with the inclusion of three tables, was a refreshing balance

between academic language and readability. The authors included in their writing a list and brief

description of the ten word wall activities used specifically in their two classrooms and a brief

description of each activity. The inclusion of this content, as well as the overall findings of the

article, make it a valuable resource of teachers seeking a research-supported reason to integrate

word walls. This article had very few undesirable qualities. It was fair of the authors to mention
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the limitations of the study. One of these limitations included the fact that first graders are

distractible, so they may not be the best demographic with which to test this study. Overall, for

the purpose of this action research project, the information contained within this article supports

the idea that elementary students who receive more frequent interaction with effective word wall

activities may show improvement in the number of words read per minute. Since my action

research question explores the overall query if word walls are a truly effective technique for

improving literacy in both elementary and middle school, these findings support the notion that

word walls can potentially improve elementary school students’ rate of reading. For further

research, it would be interesting to see if this same study, that utilized the same activities, would

bear similar results when tested on middle school students or even students in high school. The

question might be asked if word walls are still effective then to same extent that the authors of

this article found them to be.

While word walls are less frequently seen in middle school and secondary school

classrooms, this article by Harmon et. al, (2009) sought to understand some middle schoolers’

perception of word walls and show that a word wall can be used as an effective instructional tool

to enhance vocabulary for this demographic of students. The participants in this case study were

forty-four seventh graders of different ethnicities and levels of needs in two different sections of

reading at a suburban middle school in south Texas. In this study, the authors spent six weeks

collecting and analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data. These data analysis techniques

included pre-interviews with both classes about word walls, artifacts from activities, field notes,

and audiotaped interactions between students and their teacher or peers. While twenty-three

students self-selected vocabulary words and the other twenty-one continued with the regular

vocabulary program, a vocabulary pre-test was administered to both groups. Then, two weeks
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after the six week intervention ended, the reading teacher gave both groups of seventh graders

the same delayed test to observe if there were differences between what each group retained.

This study found that students who were in the class that utilized a word wall achieved higher

scores on the application section of the vocabulary test and that an overwhelming majority of the

students stated that they enjoyed participating in the wide variety of activities used in

conjunction with the word wall. Overall, this study’s findings point to the suggestion that

students needed to truly engage in a variety of activities and “move beyond a superficial,

definitional level of word learning to internalize new word meanings” (p.402).

This article was well-organized and easy to read. It was thoroughly conducted, since the

authors took into consideration the middle schoolers’ perceptions of a word wall and whether

those students considered word walls too juvenile. Interestingly, most of the seventh graders

thought that the word wall was a valuable instructional tool. Another fantastic aspect of this case

study was that the authors recognized that the mere existence of a word wall was not enough to

lead to enriched vocabulary instruction. Rather, the authors emphasized the necessity of

incorporating a variety of activities and allowing students to choose the words to explore, as well

as add colors and pictures to the word wall to make it more memorable. The students who could

create and interact with the word wall in this way retained the meaning of words better than their

peers who did not. The only criticism that I have of this article is that it seemed slightly

redundant at parts, and several paragraphs in the middle went into too much detail about the

specific activities that the reading teacher tried with one group of students. Other than that small

point, the article was extremely informative, well-written, and engaging. This article is relevant

for the purposes of this action research project because it explores the vocabulary aspect of word

walls and really emphasizes student involvement in the creation and use of a word wall. This
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article is a valuable resource because it begs the question: are word walls are still effective in

middle school setting? While the first literature review considered word walls as an effective tool

in a first grade classroom, this article suggests that word walls have “potential for enhancing

vocabulary learning with older learners when used in conjunction with effective instructional

practices, such as visual coding, context applications, collaboration, and self-selection”(p.406).

For further research, it would be interesting to observe if English Language Learner students

(ELLs) would benefit in a measurable way from the same opportunity to interact with

vocabulary.

In the same vein of middle school curriculum strategies, Baumann, Ware, and Edwards

(2007) detail their exploration of the multifaceted ways that vocabulary instruction can be taught

to students. More specifically, the purpose of the study was to investigate the impact that a

comprehensive vocabulary instructional program would have on students’ word knowledge. The

participants in this student were twenty fifth-grade students in one researcher’s (Ware)

classroom. These students were ethnically diverse, low-income students. For their methodology,

the authors used testing and intervention (survey based) to answer their research questions. First,

they pretested students in August of the school year. Then, from September to April, students

received vocabulary lessons integrated throughout the school day and across subject areas.

Finally, the researchers administered a post-test in May, which assessed through several reading

and vocabulary tests. Researchers also looked at student writing samples, student and parent

questionnaires, interviews, lesson plans, and work logs. The findings of this article indicate that

the students involved in the vocabulary immersion increased their word knowledge, according to

the Expressive Vocabulary Test and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, even more than

expected across the intervention period. Writing samples revealed that students used 36% more
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words in spring writing samples than in the fall. Overall, the authors believe that the qualitative

findings revealed three main themes: students used more sophisticated words, students’ interest

in vocabulary learning increased, and students demonstrated use of word learning tools and

strategies independently.

The wide variety of different activities that the researchers implemented to supplement

the students who participated in this study strengthened their findings. Since the authors focused

on providing a rich and varied learning experiences, teaching individual words, teaching word

learning strategies, and fostering word consciousness, students received a well-rounded

vocabulary immersion program during the school year. I also appreciated that this article

included pictures of the classroom word wall that the teacher would regularly refer to, and

samples of student work. This regular referencing of a word wall was vital to the success of the

program, which lends credence to the notion that word walls should be referenced frequently in

order to be most successful. The only limitation of this article is that it was focused merely on

one classroom, which means the results may not extend beyond the walls of that one classroom

(although it is possible). This article is relevant to my action research project because it further

solidifies the theory that students need a print-rich environment to enhance their vocabulary

knowledge, and reading and writing skills. By exposing students to a variety of engaging

activities on a frequent basis, researchers were able to quantitatively see improvement in

students’ word recognition, comprehension, and writing skills. This indicates that frequent

vocabulary enriching strategies—including effectively used word walls—benefits students

greatly. Overall, more research could be conducted outside of the setting of one classroom. I

would be curious to see if other classrooms within the same school experienced similar results as

the one that was studied when provided with the same program. However, I believe the teacher
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must be truly committed to implementing the strategies explained in this article if similar results

are to be replicated.

Word walls seem to be effective over a broad range of grades and are adaptable for

utilization in multiple content areas, as suggested by Yates, Cuthrell, and Rose’s (2011) article.

The purpose of the case study conducted by the authors was to see if the integration of word

walls across an entire middle school’s eighth grade hallways and classrooms would help enhance

the comprehension and retention of content area vocabulary. The participants in this study were

eighth graders from a rural, public school in the southeast United States. The school’s eighth

graders and their teachers implemented word walls in all subject areas beginning in the 2008-

2009 academic year. The teachers and students worked together to create two types of word

walls throughout the school: a multi-content word wall in the hallways and individual content

classroom word walls. The teachers added pertinent vocabulary frequently, with student input, to

each of the word walls, and referenced the word walls daily. After a year of this vocabulary

integration, the school found that its eighth-grade students showed double-digit increases from

the previous year in percentage of students proficient in all state tested content areas. While the

authors admitted that the use of word walls could not be identified as the sole factor of this

substantial improvement, word walls certainly seemed to be a contributing factor. Furthermore,

the teachers noticed throughout the year that students repeatedly used the vocabulary terms from

the word walls in everyday conversation. There was also positive student and educator feedback

across the board. The teachers who were interviewed noted how they looked forward to using

word walls again the future, and the students seemed to enjoy taking an active role in the creation

of the word walls.

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This article was well organized and evidence based. I found it helpful that the article

included a graph of the numbers showing the students’ improvement in test scores across content

areas. It was also beneficial to any educator reading this article to see how this particular middle

school implemented word walls in each content area since there was at least a paragraph devoted

to each area. However, this article seemed less formally organized that than the others that I have

read thus far. I would have liked to see more details in the data that they mentioned (e.g., how

many eighth graders participated in this year-long study?). The article was slightly vague in

some ways. However, it was helpful to read this article for the purposes of my action research

project, since it shows a more long-term effectiveness of word walls, across content areas. The

teachers in this study found creative ways to implement word walls into English, Math, Science,

Social Studies, and other areas. The longevity of this study supports the idea that interactive

word walls are effective and a “promising instructional tool in all content areas…as evidenced by

gains in state test scores and positive teacher and student feedback”(p.36). For further research, I

think it would be interested to see the lower grades within the same school adopt the same types

of word walls, according to grade level and need. It would also be interesting to see if, when the

eighth graders were asked to peer tutor younger students, they used the vocabulary terms from

their word walls when tutoring in content specific areas.

Methodology

For the purposes of this project, most of the information and research came from

academic journal articles, both empirical and non-empirical in nature. However, in order to make

a positive contribution to the vast network of educational research, specifically in regards to

word walls and their effectiveness across content areas, new and original data was collected and

assessed during this action research project. The methodology used to answer the research
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questions in this project took the form a survey research. Survey research is typically conducted

when the researcher wants to elicit a report from a participant about themselves and to

understand something about the larger group to which the participants belong (Duke & Martin,

2011). Further, Duke and Martin (2011) explain that survey research may be conducted in

person, over the phone, or through computerized or mailed surveys. It is vital, the authors

continue, that the questions in a survey be straightforward and unbiased, so as to generate the

most accurate data possible.

Bearing these facts in mind, this action research project sought to gain an understanding

of the effectiveness and use of word walls by surveying teachers who are currently in the field.

More specifically, a survey was given to fifteen elementary and middle school teachers (see

Appendix A). These teachers worked in the same rural Southern school and spanned both the

special education and general education classroom settings. This survey was approved by that

local school district’s administration, as per the district’s policy regarding formal research in the

schools. The survey was emailed to the school’s administration, who then printed off copies and

distributed these surveys to fifteen teachers of the administration’s random selection. The

teachers were prompt within responding to the surveys, all fifteen sending back completed data

within three days of when the survey was provided. In order to maintain confidentiality, the

surveys were anonymous; there was no space for teachers to provide their names, ensuring that

the data collected could be looked at more objectively. Due the anonymous nature of this survey,

teachers had more freedom to answer each question honestly, without fear of judgement or

consequence.

The survey itself consisted of five, brief questions, aimed at answering the two proposed

research questions. Teachers were first asked if they had a word wall present within their
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classroom. If they answered “yes,” then the rest of their data could be considered. If they

answered “no,” then their survey was not considered for further analysis. Next, teachers

answered how many times a week they referred to their word wall during instruction, with

options ranging from “none” to “daily.” Those that answered daily were asked to fill out a third

question, which required them to fill in a blank regarding how many times daily they referenced

or used a word wall. Finally, teachers were asked whether they believed if word walls had

positively impacted their students’ knowledge, and, as a follow up question, were asked to

specify which content area their students appeared to have demonstrated the most improvement

based on word wall usage. Overall, the results of this survey will provide insight into the benefits

of a word wall, as well as its place in the diverse range of content areas. These findings will

either align with hypotheses of the literature that was assessed and support the ideas expounded

therein, or contrast sharply with those academic discoveries.

Findings

Once again, it is important to note that the findings of this project are collected from the

academic journals that were reviewed and the aforementioned survey. It is important to note,

however, that while these fifteen surveys did provide further insight into the research questions

in this project, the answers recorded from the teachers surveyed do not reflect the entire

population of teachers. Moreover, the results of this survey do not reflect the practices or effects

of word wall usage in every elementary and middle school classroom. These results cannot even

be generalized to represent every rural Southern school. Thus, while this project provides insight

into the proposed research questions, it must be understood that it does not reflect the opinions of

every teacher or the effectiveness of every classroom word wall.

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The findings are organized into two separate sections, so that both research questions

may be fairly addressed and discussed in detail. The first part of this project sought to understand

the following question: How many times do elementary and middle school teachers who have

word walls in their classrooms use or reference those word walls on a weekly basis? The first

three specific questions on the teacher survey targeted this question. If teachers answered that

they did, in fact, have a word wall in their classroom, then they were asked to check a box

indicating the number of times per week that they referenced or used this word wall.

Fourteen of the fifteen teachers marked that they had a word wall in their classroom.

Thus, only one of the fifteen teachers marked “none” asked how often he or she used a word wall

in his or her classroom. Of the over fourteen teachers, the results of the data revealed that two

teachers referenced their word walls once per week. One teacher utilized the word wall twice per

week. Two teachers used it four times per week, while only one teacher utilized the word wall

four times per week. Most surprisingly, the majority of teachers—seven, in fact—answered on

the survey that they referenced or utilized their word walls daily (i.e., five times per week).

These results are represented in the in visual format in the column chart below.

Frequency of Word Wall Usage

10
9
8
Number of Teachers

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
None One Two Three Four Five (Daily)

Frequency of Word Wall Usage in One Week

(in Days)
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Figure 1. A visual depiction illustrating how many times per week each teacher used the word wall in his
or her classroom.

Again, these findings were surprising based on the earlier prediction made in this project.

Before conducting the primary research (i.e., collecting the survey data), I predicted that the

teachers who were analyzed would report that, if they had word walls in their classroom, they did

not utilize them frequently in instruction. Contrarily, the pleasantly surprising result of this

question indicated that every teacher with a word wall in his or her classroom used it at least one

time per week. This result suggests that of the teachers surveyed, the ones with word walls seem

to be actively using them in weekly, if not daily, instruction. It is gratifying to see these teachers’

commitment to using word walls in the classroom, however briefly they were integrated during

the school day. It should be reiterated that these findings do not reflect the practices of every

elementary and middle school teacher, but it is nonetheless encouraging to see evidence of word

walls being referenced.

The survey also addressed the second research question. The second research question

sought to understand was of a more subjective nature than the first, although some quantitative

data resulted from the findings. This question sought to discover which content area teachers

perceived that their students had benefitted the most in through the use of the classroom word

wall. The majority of teachers surveyed (eleven out of fourteen qualifying teachers) answered on

the survey that they believed their students had benefitted most in the content area of writing.

Two teachers even wrote in specifically the activity for which they utilized their classroom word

wall: “Writer’s Workshop.” Furthermore, one teacher selected that his or her students seemed to

benefit the most from in the content area of reading. Additionally, three teachers selected both

writing and reading. Only one of the fourteen teachers opted to fill in the blank in the “other”

content area that existed as a third option. This particular teacher checked the boxes for reading
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and writing, and wrote the content areas of science and math (i.e., checked four different content

areas). The visual representation of this information is depicted in the pie chart below.

Impact of Word Walls Across Content Areas

Writing Reading Other

Other
6%

Reading
25%

Writing
69%

Figure 2. This pie chart reveals the content areas in which teachers perceived word walls to be
effective or have a positive impact on student learning.

Overall, this result was gratifying since the original aim of this project was to evaluate,

even by means of a relatively small survey involving only fifteen educators, whether teachers felt

that their students had benefitted positively from word walls in the areas of reading and writing.

Since 69% of teachers and 25% of educators indicated that their students benefitted most in

reading and writing as a result of the word wall, it seems possible that there is a positive

relationship between word walls and increased reading and writing skills. No definitive

correlation can be drawn between the two events, especially because this project’s results reflect

only a small population of elementary and middle school teachers. However, it is valid to admit

that the teachers surveyed seem dedicated to frequently using their word walls as instructional

tools and perceive this tool as a having a positive impact on their students’ writing and reading.

Recommendations
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Based on the data collected by means of the teacher surveys, as well as the literature

reviewed, word walls seem to have a positive impact of students’ writing and reading, especially

when referenced more frequently throughout the week. The literature reviewed indicated that

word walls can be used across elementary school and middle school settings and are most

effective when referenced frequently, used in conjunction with activities, and when interactive.

However, there are some limitations to this action research project that must be

acknowledged. First, it was limited in the population that it reflected, since it only surveyed

fifteen elementary and middle school teachers. Secondly, after the surveys had been handed out,

it was noted that the surveys should not have been turned back into the administrator of the

school. Even though teachers could answer anonymously, if they had to hand the survey back in

to the administrator face-to-face, they could have felt pressure to skew or exaggerate their

answers to better represent their instructional practices with word walls. In the future, if this

experiment were repeated, the surveys could be placed in a box anonymously, to be collected by

a certain date. This would hopefully eliminate any pressure on the educators to make their

answers seem more desirable to the eye of an administrator. Recognizing the limitations of this

research benefits any further research that may be conducted on the topic of word walls.

In regards to future direction for research, an extension of this project might seek to

distribute the survey to a wider population of teachers, perhaps extended across schools and

regions. Teachers from rural, urban, and suburban schools could be evaluated. Additionally, this

survey did not measure whether or not the word walls within the classrooms of the fourteen

teachers were interactive or not. Since the research reviewed indicates that this is an important

attribute of truly effective word walls, teachers might be to identify if students helped in the

creation of the word wall and describe how exactly students can interact with that word wall in
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an ongoing way. Questions to address this aspect of effective word walls could be added to the

teacher survey.

Moreover, this project was also limited because it was not implemented throughout the

entire school. In one of the literature reviews described above by Yates et al., (2011), when word

walls were implemented in the hallways and classrooms of every eighth-grade class in one

school, the eighth graders demonstrated significant improvement in all content areas. All of the

eighth-grade teachers within the school that participated in this study were fully committed to the

implementation and use of word walls. It would be interesting, in future research, to assess

whether the same rural Southern school that was assessed in this project would likewise benefit

from such a school-wide adoption of word walls.

Ultimately, the combination of literature reviewed and the action research conducted

within this project serves as a contribution to the ever-increasing pool of educational research.

Informed by both research and experience, educators should constantly seek professional

development and be self-reflective practitioners. This project is especially pertinent, then, for any

educator who desires to enhance the reading and writing skills of his or her students through the

implementation of a relatively straight-forward, engaging strategy. In the hands of such

educators, the word wall can be a influential tool for enriching instruction. More importantly,

when used effectively, word walls can empower students to approach new vocabulary words

with bravado, hone reading and writing skills, and prepare students to communicate competently

in the print-rich world of words.

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References

Baumann, J.F., Ware, D., & Edwards, E.C. (2007). Bumping into spicy, tasty words that catch

your tongue: A formative experiment on vocabulary instruction. The Reading Teacher,

61 (2), 108-122.

Duke, N.K. & Martin, N.M. (2011). 10 Things every literacy educator should know about

research. The Reading Teacher, 65 (1), 9-22.

Harmon, J., Wood, K., Hedrick, W., Vintinner, J., & Willeford, T (2009). Interactive word walls:

More than just reading the writing on the walls. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,

52 (5), 348-408.

Jasmine, J. & Schiesl, P (2009). The effects of word walls and word wall activities on the

reading fluency of first grade students. Reading Horizons, 49 (4), 301-314.

Neumann, M.M., Hood, M., Ford, R.M., & Neumann, D.L. (2011). The role of environmental

print in emergent literacy. Journal of Childhood Literacy, 12(3), 231-258.

Reutzel, D. R., & Cooter, R. B. (2012). Teaching children to read: the teacher makes the

difference. Boston: Pearson.

Yates, P., Cuthrell, K., & Rose, M. (2011). Out of the room and into the hall: Making content

word walls work. The Clearing House, 84, 31-36.

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Appendix A

Word Wall Survey for Teachers

1.) Do you have a word wall in your classroom?

YES
NO

2.) How many times a week do you refer to your word wall during instruction?

NONE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
DAILY
3.) If daily, how many times?

______ TIMES DAILY

4.) Do you believe that word walls have positively impacted your students’

knowledge?

YES
NO

5.) If answered “yes” to #4, in what content area have you seen students

demonstrate the most improvement?

WRITING
READING
______________(SPECIFY OTHER AREA)