Sound Walls Just Make Sense!

Research has shown that students learn how to read much easier when they are taught explicit phonetic skills. Students need to learn the 44 speech sounds and the different options for spelling of each sound before they jump into reading. In many older literacy curriculums, it is commonly stated that students just need to spend quality time with books, and then reading will come naturally. I don’t believe this to be true for all students. Sure, some students grasp things a lot quicker than others, but I think it’s vital to give all students the explicit knowledge (sound decoding) in order to “unlock” texts. When you do this for students, they begin to excel in reading, writing, and spelling. And that’s the main goal, right!?

One easy way to help ensure that your students are learning about the 44 speech sounds and spelling options is to use a Sound Wall in your classroom. I’m going to briefly explain a few things about Sound Walls and why I am such a huge advocate for them in the classroom.

What do I need to do to begin using a Sound Wall in my classroom?

I begin prepping my Sound Wall by hanging up all the sounds that I will teach throughout the year. Don’t be alarmed though, I know this sounds super overwhelming for students and you’re right. That’s why I use “question mark cards” to cover all the sounds once I hang them up. As I explicitly teach each one, I will take the question mark card off the sound to uncover it. I’ll continue doing this throughout the year until all sounds have been taught and revealed. You can see this in the image below.

Teaching or “Revealing” the Sounds

I also print out a larger set of Sound Wall cards that I use to hold while I teach. To review sounds that we have learned daily, I run through all the sound cards (that we have learned) with my students as we say the sounds that are attached to each letter combination. My students have even attached hand motions to the sound cards, and they get really into it!

When introducing sounds, begin with speech sounds and then add print. As you introduce each sound, show students the proper mouth articulation for each sound. Giving students mini mirrors while you work in small groups can help them see how their mouth is forming the sounds. This will help them as they read, because they will understand the articulatory features (mouth, airflow, voicing) that will happen as they read the different sounds that they learn.

By introducing each phoneme, you are giving students an organizational structure to understand the foundation of our language. You will eventually be asking children to blend and segment words with all the speech sounds. Segment the sounds in cook, /c/ /oo/ /k/. You wouldn't teach students to read with /oo/, but they use the sound in their speech all of the time. Why not teach the sound explicitly and discuss how we make that sound, what it looks like, and feels like? Once the sound is obvious, it will be much easier to attach the different graphemes for reading and spelling.

Sound Wall Success Tips:

1.     Review sounds you have learned DAILY and discuss new sounds that are introduced.

2.     Engage in activities using the Sound Wall (play games with it, refer to it often, use it in small groups)

3.     Give students a small version of the Sound Wall to keep in their desks. They can pull it out while they read or write.

4.     Refer to the Sound Wall during writing time. Ex: If a student asks how to spell the word “seat” then I tell them to use the /ea/ like “leaf” sound. Since we have already learned that /ea/ makes the long /e/ sound, and the picture on the /ea/ Sound Wall card is of a leaf, then the student understands that particular spelling pattern for long /e/ is used in the word “seat” as well.

Using Mouth Photos

Using mouth photos along with your sound wall isn’t necessary, but it does help young readers see the proper mouth formations of different sounds. I use these when teaching or introducing different sounds, and we review the mouth formations in small groups that may need help with this as well. The mouth formation cards are included in my sound wall bundle for you.

Check out a few fun ideas to use my sound wall cards in other ways below

(you don’t JUST have to hang them on the wall)!

Hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about Sound Walls! I promise they aren’t as scary as you’d think. I used to be an avid “word waller” until I discovered the Sound Wall and I’m completely on board now that I’ve seen the success rate in my own classroom! Let me know if you have any questions about Sound Walls or my Sound Wall resource. Here are a few stats on my Sound Wall Resource that’s on TpT. It can be found here.