Word Wall Activity Website!!!

WHAT.  The website, https://wordwall.net/ is a great find for teachers and therapists. It has the title 'Word Wall' (and I have developed many activities to support word walls, as described in Wonderful Word Walls:  Tips, Tools, and Templates), it can be used for so much more!

WHY.  Save time!  Build engaging activities!  Look at all of the templates that are available!  I have only used about 6 of them, but with wonderful results.

Another great reason to use this site is that you can get data.  

Plus, the customer support is fantastic.  They had a feature that allowed you to change fonts.  Needless to say, that is HUGE for students who are struggling learners!  Then it disappeared.  I contacted them and heard back immediately that they are working on restoring that feature!

And the final reason is engagement!  Students are so motivated by these activities!

HOW.  You can use their templates to make a wide range of materials.  Then you can duplicate your activities, saving the features you have included.  I find that many of the activities can be quickly created.  

Sample:  Games for Fun.  Colleagues shared this site with me when we were planning fun activities for the ISAAC virtual conference.  One of our social events was a 'beer night.'  Yes, you heard right – a beer night.  My colleague had found some fun facts, and I was able to quickly enter them into game format, complete with timing, and with images from this website.  I used the Open the Box template with questions.  Voila – a fun game.  The game is shown on the right, and I made it public, so you can access it using this link -  Beer Drinking Game.

Sample:  Find This.  I play many variations of 'Find This' – finding the core words of the month, finding the five new Word Wall Words, finding an example from a category on an AAC system.  The image on the
left shows the words for the December Core Words from the first year of core words from PrAACtically December - AAC Resources.  It offers another fun way to introduce words.  (Many more fun tools and strategies will be included in the upcoming TPT book, AAC Generalization:  Rehearse and Practice).  Here is a link to the Find This December words.  You can change the theme - the one shown is the TV Game Show.  

More to Come!  Future blog posts will show many additional ways to use the Word Wall website.  Enjoy!

Dance with the Girl You Brought!

 What?  I know that many of you have heard me say this . . . 

And maybe you've seen my meme . . . 

It's one of my Pinterest AAC & Literacy Quotes

Why?  Dance with the one you brought means flexibility to me.  It means thinking carefully about how you can be as effective, efficient, and engaging every day!

How?  Here are a few examples.  

* Figure out what works with the students you have, making accommodations to fit their needs.

• Use the light tech tools you already have (e.g., dry erase cubes, velcro cubes, paddle boards).  

• Use high tech tools you are familiar:  For example, a sorting activity for word walls, math, or making words, etc.  may work equally well on Google Jamboard, Smartboard, Microsoft PowerPoint, or the iPad   Sticky app.  

•  Pick a task to suit the time.  For example, at the beginning of the day, many students are more primed to focus and work on harder tasks, such as guided reading.  Many phonics tasks feel quite game-like (e.g., What Makes Sense, Speed Bingo) and can be fun afternoon activities.

Where?  The book Wonderful Word Wall Fun:  Tips, Tools, and Templates (Musselwhite, 2021, Teachers Pay Teachers) provides many examples of using the 'Dance with the one you brought' concept!!