How many times in your classroom has a student asked you, "How do you spell _____?" It doesn't matter how many times I tell them to stretch out the sounds, chop up the word, listen to the syllables...I still get, "How do you spell ____?" It was enough to make me pull my hair out!
I had to find a solution. Something that would be able to support their spelling for all of those strangely spelled but common words. Then I found it: a sound wall! My students are great at being able to identify the beginning sound but soon get lost after that. They can hear the main consonant sounds but struggle when it comes to vowel teams or phonics teams.
My sound wall is set up by the beginning letter. If the word sounds like it starts with an s, then it is found under the "s" tab, even if it starts with a c! This helps to develop their phonological awareness before they are ready to move on to spelling.
I have used a sound wall in my 1st and 2nd grade rooms for several years and LOVE it. Students feel confident when writing and no longer ask me to spell words for them. They love taking charge of their writing time instead of depending on me to spell out words for them.
However...Covid put a damper on things. How was I going to implement my sound wall now that we weren't allowed to all touch the same thing without sanitizing it? Then it hit me: a VIRTUAL sound wall!!
This is housed under Google Slides, however don't worry if your kids are not Google savvy! This can also be exported as a PDF and used literally ANYWHERE. Everything is linked to the beginning sound already so all you have to do is post it to your site (or your Google Classroom, or Seesaw, or Dojo, or WHEREVER!) Students click on the beginning sound and then search through to find the word they are looking for.
The other cool thing about this Virtual Sound Wall is that all of the words are spelled out phonetically for them as well. Parts of the phonetic spelling:
✨Short vowel symbol
✨Long vowel symbol
✨Phonics teams highlighted
✨Blends underlined
✨spelled how it SOUNDS
I have already imported Fry's first 500 words into this Virtual Sound Wall. Don't need all 500? Simply delete the ones you don't want to use! Want to add more words you don't see on there? Simply type in what you want! The entire document is editable so you can make it do whatever you need it to!
Additionally I also added a few category pages for words that kids commonly use, such as weather words, food words, hobby words, etc. Most of the have a small picture icon next to the word so they can find what they're looking for quickly. These categories include:
-school words
-food words
-color words
-summer words
-people words
-fall words
-animal words
-winter words
-calendar words
-spring words
-weather words
-house words
-body words
-hobby words
Feeling a little overwhelmed on how to work with a virtual sound wall? I've got you covered. I've made easy to understand video tutorials on the most common topics when working with a virtual sound wall. These include:
✅Virtual Sound Wall Preview
✅Adding/Deleting Words
✅Color coding
✅Linking in Google Docs
✅Making it a PDF after editing
✅Sharing with your students with Google Slides
✅Embedding the Google Slides document on your website
Along with the videos you get 2 PDFs (a full-size and a compressed version) of the ready-made Virtual Sound Wall. You also get access to the entire editable Virtual Sound Wall on Google Slides.
✋Love your word wall and not ready to commit to a sound wall yet? No problem! This is easy to adapt to a word wall idea instead - just move the words over to where you need them. Everything is completely editable!
Have questions? Want more info before purchasing?? Email me at craftyteacher246@gmail.com I'll be happy to answer any questions you have!
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Why teachers LOVE this resource:
✨ZERO prep for you! ALL 500 (1-500) Fry Sight Words are already imported and phonetically spelled so you don't have to do a thing! Just share this with your students and watch them write with ease!
✨Teachers can edit whenever they need to. Have a word that your kids use all the time but it isn't on the document? Just add it! Too many words on the page? Delete some!
✨Easy to use for students - yes, even 6 year olds!
✨Fun, bright, and colorful to keep kiddos engaged.
✨You can use this even after we go back to the regular classroom!
✨Embed this easily on your website for seamless updating! Your kids will be able to go to the virtual sound wall right on your website.
✨Video support for the teacher helps them feel confident with this resource. Even teachers who struggle with technology can successfully implement this in their classroom.
What teachers are saying:
✅ "This is a total game changer! I can't believe I went this long without a sound wall in my room. My kids LOVE it!"
✅ "My students use this every day to help them with their writing! Such a great addition to my classroom."
✅ "So grateful I found this resource!"
✅ "Perfect resource for my kiddos! Very organized."
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