Starter word lists by grade and pattern, plus a five-step setup.
Word wall words are the high-frequency words, phonics-pattern words, and unit vocabulary students need to read and spell during the day. At Chalkbox, we build free worksheet makers and puzzle tools, and every list on this page can be typed or pasted into them. Post 3 to 5 new words at a time, at student eye level, in large and clear print.
A word wall is a posted display of words students need to read and spell, arranged in alphabetical order or in groups. Three kinds of words belong on it: high-frequency words, words from the phonics pattern you are teaching this week, and subject vocabulary for the current unit. Set one up in five steps.
Each type of word on the wall has its own trigger for going up.
| Word Type | Example Words | When To Add |
|---|---|---|
| High-frequency words | the, and, you, said | When students meet them in books and need them in writing |
| Phonics-pattern words | cat, cake, tree | The week you teach that pattern |
| Tricky or heart words | was, they, one | When they first show up in shared reading |
| Subject vocabulary | add, habitat, community | At the start of a unit |
| Words from student writing | Words misspelled this week | After you read a set of student writing |
Alphabetical order suits high-frequency words, while pattern or unit grouping suits words that share a sound or a topic. The table below lays out the tradeoffs.
| Criterion | Alphabetical | By Phonics Pattern | By Unit or Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| How students find a word | By first letter | By sound or spelling | By topic |
| Fits | Sight words | Short vowels, silent e, digraphs, vowel teams | Math, science, and social studies terms |
| Watch for | Students who cannot find a word by first letter yet | Tricky words that fit no pattern | Cards left up after the unit ends |
| Verdict | Default for sight words | Pick for students still learning spelling patterns | Separate board, cleared each unit |
A two-board setup is a sensible starting point. Keep an alphabetical wall for sight words and a smaller board for the current unit. Choose the split by the wall space you have.
The lists below are common sight-word examples to start from. Choose words by what your own students need, and skip any they already read and spell.
These come from the Dolch pre-primer list, which Chalkbox's Dolch page also covers:
a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you
Start with the words that appear in the first books you read together. Add the rest as they come up in reading and writing.
These are common first grade sight-word examples:
after, again, an, any, as, ask, by, could, every, fly, from, give, going, had, has, her, him, his, how, just, know, let, live, may, of, old, once, open, over, put, round, some, stop, take, thank, them, then, think, walk, were, when
If your students keep trying to sound out words like of and once, move those cards to the tricky-words column.
For second grade and up, pick from the lists on the Fry sight words page. Take more of the new cards from phonics patterns and unit vocabulary. For more lists, see the sight words page. To turn a list into practice sheets, use the sight word worksheet generator.
A phonics-pattern wall gives each spelling pattern its own column, with a few example words under a large label. Here are starter groups:
Add a column the week you teach that pattern. For more short-vowel examples, use the CVC words and word families pages, and match the wall to the phonics worksheets you use in class.
A subject word wall holds the vocabulary for one unit and gets cleared or replaced when that unit ends. Basic starter words for each subject:
Put a small drawing or worked example beside math terms like greater than, so a student can see the meaning at a glance. An anchor chart next to the unit board can show the same words in use, such as a labeled number sentence for sum and difference.
Short daily games give students a reason to look at the word wall. Pick one or two and rotate them through the week:
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Wordwall, the game-making website, shares this name. In the guides we publish here, it has its own page on Wordwall alternatives.
Words students can read and spell without looking should come down or move to a mastered section. To check, say the word and ask students to write it with their backs to the wall. A small mastered strip to one side keeps the main wall short while still showing the class how many words it has learned.
Five mistakes keep a word wall from getting used, and each has a quick fix.
A full word wall does not fit a class whose students already read and spell every posted word without looking. In that case, replace the cards with harder pattern words, or shrink the wall to a single unit board. If you have no free wall space, give each student a personal word list taped inside a writing folder with the same words.
This page does not cite research on word walls. How much a wall helps depends on the class.
Change the layout if students keep misspelling words that are already posted. Switch that section from alphabetical to pattern grouping, or move the cards closer to where students write. If students ignore a section for weeks, take it down and spend the space on the current unit.
Write the next 5 words your students misspelled in their writing this week on cards, and post them tomorrow as your newest word wall words.
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A word wall is a posted display of words students need to read and spell during the day, arranged in alphabetical order or grouped by phonics pattern or subject. Keep it at student eye level in large, clear print. Point to it during reading and writing.
High-frequency words, words from the phonics pattern you are teaching, and vocabulary for the current unit belong on a word wall. Give tricky words like said, was, and they their own column. Add words your students misspell in their own writing.
There is no set number, and this page does not cite a research-based count. A practical starting point is to add 3 to 5 words at a time. Take down words students can read and spell without looking, so the wall holds only words the class is still learning.
Start a kindergarten word wall with letter headers from A to Z at student eye level, then add 3 to 5 high-frequency words at a time. Words from the Dolch pre-primer list, such as a, and, the, see, and go, make a good first set. Read each new card with the class, spell it aloud, and use it in a sentence before it goes up.
An alphabetical layout works well for high-frequency and sight words, because students look up a word by its first letter. Students still learning spelling patterns may do better with words grouped by pattern. A good starting point is an alphabetical wall for sight words plus a separate column for the current phonics pattern, and the final split is a judgment call for your class.
Add 3 to 5 new words each time you introduce a new set, and remove words once students can read and spell them without looking. Subject words come down or get replaced when the unit ends. The exact pace is a judgment call based on how quickly your class learns each set.