Word WallsWord walls are used throughout all levels of education, as a more visual way of learning vocabulary. They are mandatory pieces to most curriculum, and are used in all subject areas. We all learned vocabulary in school, this is the same thing - they didn't reinvent the wheel.
How are word walls beneficial to ASD kiddos? Good question! The biggest learning strategy for ASD students are visuals. They are concrete learners. Word walls allow for concrete evidence of words. the fact that we leave the word wall up, even after the lesson is over, allows for the students to continually have access to them. Most ASD children are what I like to refer to as "lockers." Once they have learned something, it is locked in. Most of them do not use the phonics I teach. They learn the word, and it locked. They do not need to learn how to sound it out, they are not interested in the mechanics of the letters. That is why it is important for them to correctly know and use the word from the beginning. It is SO HARD to retrain. So start smart!
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Websites about word walls:
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_walls http://specialed.about.com/od/wordwalls/a/morewordwalls.htm http://thisreadingmama.com/word-wall-activities/ |