Inside: Spanish words for the classroom using a Spanish word wall. How to post Spanish words in the classroom.
Spanish High-Frequency Word Wall
After year one of teaching I knew that I somehow needed to find a way to reinforce the high-frequency words since students were always struggling with remembering words like but, if, and of. Inspired by a post from the Creative Language Class discussing the 100 words that makeup 50% of the conversation, I knew I needed to make these little words a priority, but the question was how?
While in graduate school I spent quite a bit of time subbing, mostly in elementary classes. I was impressed by how every little bit of classroom space was utilized in many elementary classes, and a common feature in many was the “Word Wall.” I decided to use the 100 high-frequency words as the basis for my word wall, sorted by letter. You can download the basic 100 Word Wall here.
What is included in this Spanish Class Word Wall Posters & Flashcards
- ✅ 100 High-Frequency Words in Spanish in an editable Google Doc
- ✅ Two versions – Spanish only version, as well as a version with English as well!
- ✅ 18 Google Doc pages of high-frequency words in Spanish
- ✅ Small words & minimal ink needed to print
- ✅ Either version can be printed on 2 slides per page to save paper & space
* In the cover picture I used black ink, printed on colored paper, using Spanish only
How do you use Spanish Class Word Wall Posters & Flashcards?
- ✅ There are many ways to use them to meet the needs of your class!
- ✅ Print, laminate, and hang in your classroom as a bulletin board all year
- ✅ Add magnets on the back to be able to switch out focus words on a whiteboard
- ✅ You could introduce 10 words each week to study for Spanish vocabulary words & quiz at the end of the week.
- ✅ You could print these on cardstock for each student to use as flashcards to study these important little words that make up a lot of Spanish conversation.
- ✅ Be creative & let me know how you use them!
Reflecting on the Spanish Word Wall
While in theory, these seemed like a great idea, I failed at actually teaching and incorporating this word wall in my daily lessons. It took up the whole board all year, but did students get as much out of it as they could have? Probably not. So today I took it down, and am trying to figure out how I can do better next year.
- Number – Is 100 words too many at once? Should I add a certain number each week?
- Content – Are these even the words I should be focusing on?
- Phrases – Should phrases be emphasized instead of individual words?
- Organization – Should they be sorted by letter? If not, how?
UPDATE – A Focus on High-Frequency Verbs for communication
- High-Frequency Verb Unit to Start Spanish 1
- How to use High Frequency Verb Units
- Super 7 Present Tense Spanish BUNDLE
