Teaching Strategies

Teaching Strategy: Topic Word Board

In Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing (2000), Patricia Cunninghamdescribes many variations on the traditional word wall concept. One such variation is a topic word board. Topic word boards are temporary sorts of word walls to be changed as students move from one unit to another in their content area subjects.

To utilize topic word boards in your classroom, consider the following suggestions and steps:

1. Pre-read new chapters in your content area textbooks with students. Teach students to skim the text, looking for textual cues to important words. Cues such as bold letters, sidebars, italicized words, and chapter objectives can all indicate to the reader that such designated words are important.
2. Next read through the chapter together, either silently or taking turns orally. Instruct students to make note of the specially designated words as they encounter them, and to be prepared to tell you how they know they are important, and what they think they mean.
3. After students have completed reading the chapter, ask for volunteers to tell you vocabulary words they encountered, how they know they are important, and what they think they mean.
4. As each word is listed, write it in bold black letters on an index card and post it on your topic word board.
5. Once all of the words have been listed and posted, brainstorm with students other words that were not listed but could possibly be useful in this unit. Post these words on the topic word board, as well.
6. As you encounter new words in further chapters of the unit, or as students find new, appropriate words in newspaper articles or other media, add those words to the board.
7. Remind students that, like their word wall words, they are expected to spell the topic word board words correctly anytime they are using them because the board is there for them to reference.
8. Review the topic word board words periodically throughout the unit, and consider leaving them up as a word bank for students to use during their unit tests.