A sound wall is a way to organize and display the different sounds (or phonemes) we hear in speech. In this post I’ll share explicit steps for how to begin using a sound wall in the classroom. You’ll also get details about my own phoneme sound wall resource with mouth articulation photos that has all the materials you’ll need to get a sound wall up and running in your classroom.
Word walls have been around for as long as most of us can remember! While I think we all have good intentions, all too often it ends up being more like wallpaper than an effective tool for teaching and learning. We now know there is a smarter way to support students in their reading and spelling. It’s called a sound wall.
In my last post, I shared general information sound walls, discussed their benefits, and how they are different from and more effective than traditional A-Z word walls. But even armed with that knowledge, making the transition from a word wall to a sound wall can feel overwhelming. The information I’m sharing today is here to help ease that stress!
Today I’m excited to share a step-by-step guide for how to introduce and use a sound wall in your classroom, as well as my Phoneme Sound Wall with Mouth Articulation Photos resource that has all materials you need to easily get a sound wall up and running in your classroom!
Introducing the Sound Wall
There is not one exact way you have to introduce students to a sound wall. To help you envision what it could look like in your classroom, I’ve organized some steps for how I would introduce and use a sound wall in my classroom.
1. Start Slowly!
The sound wall should be empty at the start of the year. You’ll slowly grow it one phoneme at a time.
When you introduce a new phoneme ask your students what their lips, teeth, tongue and voice are doing and how the air is flowing through their mouth. Talk about the vibration we feel when we make sounds like /l/ and teach your students that it is called voicing. Some sounds are voiced, others are not.
I recommend giving your students each a *small pocket mirror so they can see what their lips, teeth, and tongue are doing when they say the phonemes. It is particularly helpful when you’re working with vowel sounds.
This video does a great job showing the differences in the position of the teeth, tongue, and lips for each sound category. I think it is helpful for both teachers and students!
Add the graphemes and mouth pictures as they are introduced. Just be careful you don’t introduce similar sounds in sequence. It just gets too confusing for students! Here is a helpful guide for deciding on an order to teach the phonemes.
2. Once the phoneme is introduced, teach the most common letter or grapheme that represents the sound.
Add the graphemes and mouth articulation photos to each phoneme you introduce. For example, after introducing the phoneme /f/ you would tell your students that f is the most common spelling for that sound. You can also attach a keyword and picture to help students remember the sound.
3. Review the articulation of each phoneme each day.
I’ve said it before but it’s definitely worth repeating… The mastery of phonics requires students to have plenty of opportunities for review and repetition. All too often we underestimate the amount of time it takes for our students to master phonics skills. It just takes a few minutes to go through the sounds that have been taught on the sound wall, but it is really so valuable for your students.
4. Explicitly teach students how to use the sound wall.
Finally, you’re going to have to spend time teaching and modeling how to use the sound wall to help spell and decode words. I like the idea of providing students with their own mini, portable sound wall that they can tape to their desk or notebook for a quick and easy reference. It also provides great differentiated support!
Phoneme Sound Wall Resource
Hopefully, you’re now able to envision how a sound wall could work in your classroom – that’s great! But oh the thought of all the materials that must be created! It’s a lot! I get it! So to help you out I have created my Phoneme Sound Wall with Mouth Articulation Photos resource! It has absolutely everything you need to create a sound wall from start to finish!
To get your sound wall started you’ll get phoneme cards and phoneme group labels to organize the sounds on the wall.
The mouth articulation photos are a wonderful support as you focus on what lips, teeth, and tongue are doing when you produce a sound.
You’ll also get sound spelling cards (both large and small) and sound spelling picture cards to post below each phoneme.
The resource also includes materials for your students! These materials allow you to differentiate and provide the support students need to be independent readers and writers!
The student materials include:
- Vowel Valley Chart (2 versions)
- Consonant Chart (2 versions)
- A-Z Sound Spelling Chart for student folders
- Alphabet Chart (color and b/w)
- My ABC Dictionary
I love this resource because it has everything (and more!) you need to get a sound wall up and running in your classroom. The only thing for you to do is print the materials, cut and laminate if you wish!
Taking on an instructional shift (like adding a sound wall to your classroom!) isn’t always easy. It is SO helpful to have all the materials set and ready to go. Rather than spending hours creating the materials yourself, you can focus your time on planning and providing smarter phonics instruction to your students. And isn’t that the way it should be??
Using a sound wall can transform your phonics and writing instruction and help your students grow as readers and writers. I hope the information I’ve shared today has helped you better understand the value of a sound wall and motivated you to try one in your own classroom!
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Phoneme Sound Wall with Mouth Articulation Photos – SoR AlignedProduct on sale$28.00
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*This post contains an affiliate link. This means that, at no cost to you, I earn a small commission should you choose to make a purchase through the link.
can u should me how to get this on tpt
Hi Marie,
Here is the link! Thanks for your interest,
Christina
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sound-Wall-Phoneme-with-Mouth-Articulation-Photos-Science-of-Reading-6313999
I want to make the switch from a word wall to a sound wall, but I am a little confused. Once you have the materials for the sounds wall up, do you add words like sight words (heart words) onto the wall also? Or do you only have the sounds and picture cards up? If you do add more words, do you organize them by beginning sound?
Hi Nicole,
Yes, you should add words with that sound. You can put the sight words (heart words) under the “tricky sound” and highlight or put a heart around that part!
This resource looks absolutely amazing and is at the top of our list to buy for our school.
-Do you introduce the phonemes as you would with your phonics curriculum? For example, we start with o, a, d, g, c… would you put those on the sound wall in that order? If so, are you putting all of the sounds that go with it underneath at the same time?
Hi Brenna,
YESSSS!!!! It’s important to make the sound wall an interactive learning tool for students.
Once the phoneme is introduced, teach the most common letter or grapheme that represents the sound.
Add the graphemes and mouth articulation photos to each phoneme you introduce. For example, after introducing the phoneme /f/ you would tell your students that f is the most common spelling for that sound. You can also attach a keyword and picture to help students remember the sound.
I’m so excited for you to make the switch!
–Christina
I was wondering if there are any teacher’s guides anywhere like maybe a book I could reference that would show maybe an example lesson plans on the sound wall?
Hi Renee, I don’t know of one. I would suggest using your sound wall to support your phonemic awareness and phonics word study lessons. I’m planning on write more blog posts in the next few lessons because so many teachers are asking for support, I hope you’ll follow along. You can join my email family for Tuesday morning emails! Thank you, -Christina 💕
Ok great! I will follow your blog posts and use it with our district adopted Language Arts program.
Do you recommend starting with a blank wall for second graders or go ahead and post short vowels and consonants since they should know those?
Hi Cynthia,
First I would look at the scope and sequence that the first grade teachers used, but I’d put up all the sound cards and as you review or explicitly teach the spelling patterns you’ll add the graphemes and mouth photos. You can cover the more “advanced” graphemes with a post it (for example on the card /c/ cover the _ck) and make it a big deal as you reveal it, then add the keyword and mouth photos. You’ll be building the sound wall throughout the year. I also like to print a second set at a smaller scale for my small group teaching table. 🙂 -Christina
This sounds so amazing! I just downloaded your cards. Im still a little confused. So once you teach the sound/phoneme do you put ALL the graphemes that represent that sound? For example, if you introduce/f/ would you tell them that f is the most common spelling BUT would you also ff spelling and ph spelling? Would you do that for each sound that has more than one spelling pattern to it? I hope I am making sense. Or do you just add the common spelling? And add the others later on? Thank you!
Hi Cree, thanks for your purchase! I’m excited for you! I like to put up all the sound cards only. You can cover the more “advanced” graphemes with a post it (for example on the card /c/ cover the _ck) and make it a big deal as you reveal it, then add the keyword and mouth photos. You’ll be building the sound wall throughout the year. I also like to print a second set at a smaller scale for my small group teaching table. Hope this helps! -Christina
I have looked at a lot of Sound Walls on TPT, and this looks amazing!! Next year our district is still offering virtual learning to those who preferred it, and I will be teaching it for 1st grade. I was wondering if this was available in a digital version?
Hi Christy,
Thank you so much for your kind feedback! At this time it does not have digital components but I am not opposed to adding it. Since I have not taught in a virtual classroom, I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around how you’d like it formatted and I want to make it a valuable tool for teachers and students. If you are interested in sharing, email me directly to share your ideas and I can get a digital sound wall added!
Thank you! -Christina 💕
christina@mrswintersbliss.com
I love this but teach 3rd grade. Do you think you would use it in 3rd also? Any changes you would adjust to fit 3rd graders?
Hello Heidi!
I absolutely think a sound wall would be a valuable tool in 3rd grade! If you are implementing, I’d review the 1st and 2nd grade scope and sequence of foundational skills that were taught -or even better use BOY assessments to know what sounds to do a quick review of and post on your sound wall and which sounds you will explicitly teach! I have a few blog posts coming in the next month, but I just added this video that might give you ideas for setting up your sound wall! Let me know if you have any questions! -Christina 💕
I teach K. We use Fundations and Heggerty. We don’t introduce all sounds in the vowel valley. For example the oo sound or aw. Do I still need to put them up? Thank you!
Hi Carson, for Kindergarten I don’t think you HAVE to put them up but if you have the space I would, you can also refer to the sounds as they naturally come up, for example, oo in look. The key thing to keep in mind is to build the wall with your students, I just made a video on this: https://youtu.be/xlsUskiQzRI Let me know what you think! 🙂 -Christina 💕
I am new to 1st grade come September … I usually teach 5th grade. I am a little rusty on all this phonics stuff … we use Fundations at my school … do you have information on how to go about this … idk what to teach first, how to start, where this would lead yet … I want to be as prepared as possible to teach my kids … any advice ?
Hi Genesis, If you are up for it, I highly recommend reading the book A Fresh Look at Phonics and Equipped for Reading Success. I’ll link them both so you can take a closer look. I have a blog post that I think (actually I have several if you search: phonics) will help you start mapping out phonics units to teach if you don’t have a scope and sequence given to you. In addition, I am working on a teacher’s manual to go with the sound wall that will help you learn about the benefits and guide you from the beginning in implementation! You can join my email family if you want to know when it is ready! Thanks, -Christina
I just bought this and am very excited to use it in my classroom. I am hoping this will help students with sight words. I am a first grade teacher and was wondering the order that I should teach all of it. We use Literacy Footprints, not a phonics program.
Hi Veronica, I am very excited for you! I’d suggest adding the sound cards to your wall as you introduce or review the phonemes that are integrated with your phonics lessons. If you don’t have good a scope and sequence given to you, check out this blog post. In addition, I am working on a teacher’s manual to go with the sound wall that will help you learn about the benefits and guide you from the beginning in implementation! You can join my email family if you want to know when it is ready! Thanks, -Christina
I am setting up my sound wall (SO EXCITED)
I have my vowel valley set up, but cannot find a photo of how to set up the consonants using the spelling cards? I hope this makes sense. Thank you!!!
Hi Karin, I’m excited for you! If you purchased my sound wall resource there are photos of both of the walls at the beginning of the resource. In addition, I have student printables (they are in the landscape section) and you can see exactly how to group the consonants! Let me know if you need anything else! -Christina 💕
Hi! Is there any way to get blank sound spelling cards with just the sound pattern? I would love to be able to have some blank ones printed and on hand so that we can hand write new words (fill in the blank with the spelling pattern printed already) we discover throughout our year to add to the sound wall. Thanks! I’m SOOO excited to try this out with my firsties this year!
Hi Ariel,
Can you email me? I’m not really understanding what you’d like but I am happy to try and help! -Christina christina@mrswintersbliss.com
Do people ever have an interactive notebook that students add common sight words to that uses the sound wall icons rather then alphabetically adding them?
Hi Kelly,
This is a great idea, I’m actually finishing up a Sound Wall notebook right now. It will have teacher lesson plans and a student notebook to support learning with a sound wall. Stay tuned, it should be ready next week! Thanks so much for sharing your ideas, -Christina 💕
Hello,
I was just wondering if there were more pictures for the sounds? I love the sound wall and all that is attached. Just wanted to make sure before I purchased. I want to make sure the pics are diverse to make sure they represent the children I service.
Hi Alicia,
The mouth articulation photos were updated in May (after this post was published) look at the preview file to see if these faces will meet the needs of your students! https://mrswintersbliss.com/product/phoneme-sound-wall/
Thanks for your interest! -Christina
Do you offer an instructional guide for the sound wall?
Hi Amber, I’m excited for you to implement a sound wall. You are just like so many teachers who are eager to get started but have questions. I’m actually just putting the finishing touches on a sound wall teacher binder. It will be ready on Wednesday, this resource will help you learn about the benefits of a sound wall, guide you from the beginning in implementation, and explicit lesson routines! Join my email family if you want to know when it is ready and get a BIG discount! https://mrswintersbliss.com/join
Thanks, -Christina
Dear Christina,
I purchased the sound wall and the teacher guide. I am a little overwhelmed trying to get a handle on what to do to get ready. I have looked at many of your blog posts about sound walls, but have a question. Somewhere I read, I think, that you teach one sound over 2-3 days. I teach 1st grade and am the first in my building to start sound walls. Do you only teach 1 sound per 2-3 days? I felt that it will take so long to get through. We usually do an alphabet review in the beginning to refresh their Kindergarten learning. Please advise.
I am excited to start this to address those reading difficulties that I encounter with students.
Thanks,
Gladys
Hi Gladys,
I’m so excited for you! My suggestion for you is to look over the kindergarten scope and sequence that your kinder teachers use as a starting place. I’m assuming that all basic consonants and short vowels were explicitly taught last year and your first graders are secure in the letter name and sound of each. Leave those uncovered and do a quick review/introduction to them (3-5 per day) on the sound wall (what phoneme group, what articulation gesture, hang the keyword…). Then start on your scope and sequence, I’m guessing you might be starting with short vowel word families. It just depends on your time in your schedule, the full lessons might take 2-3 days. The important thing is that you’ll be interacting and referring to the sound wall as a tool! I hosted a FB live last night and put the video on YouTube, this might help you to see the routine modeled! Thanks so much for your purchase! -Christina. https://youtu.be/uxNVlBTze24
Hi! I purchased your sound wall recently. How do you suggest we use the dictionary? Should students add words based on their initial sounds and not necessarily by their their starting letter? Examples – adding the word “write” under the Rs and the word “phone” under the fs
Hi Ashlee,
Thank you so much for your purchase! Each page of the dictionary has a page for the phoneme. As you explicitly teach the graphemes (letters that represent the sound) you can have your students add words under the keyword. Then later they can add more words if they’d like. For example, when you teach /f/ you’ll study words spelled f like fish. Then later you’ll study _ff words like huff and off etc. Hope this helps! -Christina
I have an ESL classroom for K-2. I only get the kids for 30 minutes a week. The kiddos are at all different ability levels. Some cannot identify letter names or sounds. Some are reading sound-by-sound (not blending yet). (Most have trouble with vowel sounds.) Others mostly need help adding to their vocabulary. We currently have a fairly empty word wall. I’m interested in using a sound wall (also/instead of). What would you suggest? (BTW, I am “creating” the curriculum as I go along, trying to meet everyone’s needs.)
Hi Heather,
It sounds like many of your students need an explicit phonemic awareness program. I just wrote a blog post with some PA activities but I suggest you do an inventory of their abilities to see which skills they need help with. A great resource if you don’t have a program is Equipped for Reading Success. David Kilpatrick has explicit daily 1 minute activities for you in the book.
I would also suggest a sound wall as you are starting with phonemes and connecting to the graphemes. Check out this post, I’ve shared explicit lesson plans and how to use them. Once students have learned a few consonants and a vowel they can start blending words. Many teachers like to start with s, a, t, p, i, n so students can start word building and blending right away.
Hope this is helpful!
-Christina