High Frequency Word Wall

I recently did three days of professional development focused on Teaching with Comprehensible Input (TCI). We spent three hours one afternoon learning (or better yet, acquiring) Chinese with an experienced TPRS/TCI teacher.

Any time I switch roles and become the language learner, I’m reminded of just how hard the process of language acquisition is. It requires an immense amount of focus and cognitive work. I felt like my brain was getting overheated from all the gears turning! 😉 Don’t let anyone tell you TCI isn’t rigorous! We were exhausted afterward! And the coolest part is I still remember all the Chinese I acquired two weeks later!

One thing that the Chinese teacher did before her lesson was put up a word wall with high frequency vocabulary she wasn’t targeting as part of her lesson, but might be useful while circling or co-creating the story she’d planned. It inspired me to create these high frequency vocabulary words to add to my ever-growing word wall! I used a list of 100 Most Frequently Used Spanish Words as a starting point – excluding verbs. I already have my Top 20 Verb Wall posters for those! In the end, I have 64 high frequency word wall posters I can put up and switch around as needed.

Another thing the Chinese teacher had posted was some visual reminders of her classroom rules and some fun rejoinders that she could point to whenever the perfect moment arose. It’s a good thing I have plenty of blank wall space to work with in my new classroom! There is just so much helpful language you can make available to students that will ensure your lessons are not only comprehensible but also engaging.

Do you need to revamp the word wall in your classroom? You can find both of my word wall sets as a Posters Bundle in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for quick and easy use in your own classroom!