Word Wall

It seems that in today's schools, there has been this shift towards rote memorization of so many things. Multiplication facts, sight words, and so much more. While the ultimate goal may be to know these things so well that the learner can recall them without assistance, this process of committing information to memory is much, much different than the straight rote memorization of facts. I know from personal experience, as do many others, that this method of memorization is ineffective and is only useful for a short period of time. For example, in Marching Band, we are required to memorize our music. Most of the time that means cramming it in 20 minutes before a performance. Do I remember that music 3 weeks later when I need to play it again? Nope! However, I was in the Steely Pan Steel Band for three semesters. We always had our music right in front of us, but there were a few pieces we played so often that I eventually just began to realize that I knew them from memory and didnt need to rely on the sheet music right in front of me anymore. I learned it, and memorized it because I played it over and over again. And I could still go back and recall and play those pieces again today if I needed to.
This is why I feel a Word Wall is important. It is there as a tool for children to use and refer to as they attempt to commit basic information to memory. Some people are opponenets of the Word Wall and view it as a crutch for lazy children who dont want to learn or memorize. But it is unreasonable for us to expect our students to commit something to memory without seeing and using it many many times. I will certainly not expect that of my students.
Simply putting the Word Wall up with no explanation of the words that are displayed on it does absolutely no good. I really liked the "five words per week" rule we talked about in class. I also think it is really important to remember not to introduce any more new words to students once there is only six weeks of school left. My favorite activity to use with Word Wall words that we talked about in class was the "Read My Mind" activity where students were given clues and had to guess the word the teacher was talking about. Not only is it a fun activity for kids, but it also gives them a little practice and experience using context clues to figure out if their word is right or wrong, and if they should choose another word or not. I think that would be a great activity for me to use in my classroom. I was really amazed at how many activites came up on Google when Dr. Koppenhaver searched "word wall activities". It is good to know that there are so many resources right at our fingertips. We should definitely be taking advantage of them! One of the webistes I visited had suggestions for activities children could do at home with their sight words. I think that sending home a list of suggested activities such as that is a brilliant idea! It is a great way to keep kids practicing constantly, as well as a great way to get parents involved in their child's education and what is happening at school. The one thing I would be careful of is to not make it a homework assignment. If the child is wanting to practice at home and is excited about showing their parents what they have learned, that is one thing. But I think daily homework with sight words would be overkill, especially keeping in mind the small amount of instructional time that is really needed to teach and practice these words and concepts in class, as well as the overall ineffectiveness of homework.
Just like I want to encourage my students to use their resources(word wall, etc) to help them figure out things they dont know, I also want to continue to use my newly found internet resources to keep fresh ideas and activities in the back of my mind at all times!