A sound wall is a tool used to help students learn the connection between letter sounds (phonemes) and letters (graphemes).
In this article, we’ll discuss how a sound wall differs from a word wall and the benefits of using one in your classroom.
Sound walls are a great resource to use when teaching phonics, especially for students who struggle with spelling. They provide explicit instruction of phonemes and also help students identify logical spelling patterns.
Explicit Instruction of Phonemes
When students begin to learn the alphabetic principle, phonics instruction can help them recognize and decode new words. The instruction focuses on teaching students the relationships between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes).
Explicit phonics is an essential part of a structured literacy program. It teaches children the letter-sound relationships in a step-by-step, logical sequence, which makes a big difference for struggling readers.
This phonics approach enables students to turn unfamiliar words into automatic sight words, which improves their reading comprehension and ability to comprehend written material. It also allows children to read more accurately and quickly, which is important for learning and success in school.
The phonics wall, sometimes called a “vowel valley,” has all the vowel phonemes displayed in groups. Usually there are pictures of kids’ mouths making each sound, as well as a list of alternative spellings for the most common ones.
Explicit Instruction of Spelling Patterns
The explicit instruction of spelling patterns in a sound wall is a great way to help students learn foundational English word knowledge they need for reading and spelling success. It can also be a motivating way to help students practice their writing skills.
Children often have implicit knowledge of spelling patterns without having been explicitly taught them. For example, studies have shown that students may know the legal spelling cluster CK without being told.
If a student is studying a word that has an irregular spelling pattern, he or she should say the word, write each letter, and then check it against a correct model. Then, he or she should practice the spelling again as many times as necessary to master it.
It is preferable to group the common spelling patterns together so that students can directly see and hear when they occur in words. This is especially important with long-a, short-a, and diphthong words.
Visual Support
A sound wall helps students understand the connection between speech sounds and the letters they use to spell and read words. It also helps students identify and manipulate individual sounds within a word, which is an important step in learning to decode.
Unlike a traditional A-Z word wall, where words are classified by their first letter, a sound wall categorizes words by their sounds. This is important because it makes sense to a learner, and they can easily locate the spelling of a word by its sound.
This is especially helpful for young learners or students who are having difficulty reading and spelling due to specific learning disabilities. These students often require a lot of exposure and repeated practice to develop their reading skills.
Teachers can use a variety of visuals on a sound wall to help students identify and manipulate speech sounds and the graphemes that represent them. For example, if a student is having trouble with the sound /th/ in a word, they can look at a picture of an articulator to see how they can make that sound using their mouth.
Motivational Drama
A sound wall is a great way to add motivational drama to your classroom. It helps students connect the sounds they are learning to read with the letters (graphemes) that represent them.
Unlike word walls that have words sorted by the first letter of each word, a sound wall will show how the different phonemes are made and how to spell and say words that include those sounds. It also includes articulatory photos or image references that show children how the lips, teeth and tongue move to produce these sounds.
You can also make your sound wall a little more exciting by using locks or yellow covers to cover up the different sounds. Uncover them one by one as you teach.
K-dramas are a great source of inspiration for college and high school students. The characters in these dramas deal with real issues and emotions, and have a strong desire to pursue their dreams and goals.