Making our Instructional Environment Accessible to All Students - Great Examples from Ms. Manning and Sra. Mabe!

Making Our Instructional Environment Accessible to All Students

Last time we talked about organizing our classrooms by content so that they are super accessible to all of our learners.  Here is a great example from Ellen Manning's classroom of having content area information in one spot.  This is her science wall.  You will see anchor charts, word walls, and other unit realia in one spot.  This makes it easier for her learners to know where to look for science information.

Here is another tip that will help make your classroom super accessible to all learners.

Organized & Accessible Word Walls

This builds onto the idea of designated areas so students can find what they need.  Word walls need to have an organization built into them as well. Words walls can be organized alphabetically, but usually it makes more sense to organize them by concept.  Check out how this word wall from first grade is organized in categories:

Sra. Mabe and her students organized the words into categories that describe the features or characteristics of rocks. Next to each word is a drawing or a physical example to help the students better understand the vocabulary and recall the definitions.

Besides being organized in a way that makes sense, word walls need to be accessible to students. Words that are posted too high, or on the backs of doors are not easily seen by students. Movable word walls allow for students to borrow the words they need and eliminates the difficulty of tracking across the room that some students encounter. It also makes it easy to re-group words and to examine different word relationships. An easy way to make words movable is to use magnets on your white board (thanks Tate!)

Most importantly, movable and accessible word walls empower students.  They learn to recognize when they need help and independently find a resource that will help them do their job. This helps them to own their learning!

If you want some help around word walls let Janet or Emily know!