4th of July Word Wall Cards for Preschoolers
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I love to use word wall cards with all my themes. For me, every theme that is used in a preschool classroom or a homeschool will not be complete without a word wall. A Word Wall is a very useful component and so important, that it is a requirement in many preschool programs. This resource can help your children learn the alphabet, letter sounds, and words related to the theme you are using that week or month.
When you use the word wall as a tool to support what you are trying to teach, it can be a very fun and effective way to complement your preschoolers’ learning process.
With this in mind, I created these free printables, which include two sets of 4 pages each (4 in English and 4 in Spanish). Each set contains 16 cards, 8 with the entire word in black, and 8 with the first letter of each word in red, to make it stand out and make it easier for children to identify the first letter of each word.
All these cards can be used by your preschoolers to develop skills such as:
- Language development – talking about the pictures in the cards.
- One-to-One correspondence – matching magnetic letters with the letters on the words.
- Pre-writing/fine motor development – copying the words with magnetic letters, tracing them with dry-erase markers, and copying them with crayons or pencils.
- Phonological awareness – sounding out the beginning letter or the syllables in the words.
- Pre-reading – when they observe the picture and say its name (word).
How to Prepare the 4th of July Word Wall Cards
As usual, I try to create activities that can be reused and don’t require a lot of materials, to keep the budget low. Because of that, you will only need a printer, white cardstock, laminator machine, scissors, laminator machine, and laminator pouches.
To make it last longer, choose the version you want (Spanish or English), and print out the pages with the cards using white cardstock. Then cut out and laminate each of the cards to protect them. Remember to print more than one set, if you want to place these cards in some centers, besides the word wall.
Where to Place the 4th of July Cards
Display these cards where children can see them. I like to place them in the Reading, Writing, and Quiet Areas aside from the word wall, and use them as a small group activity and during center time as a large group activity as well.
Take one set and place the cards in your word wall under the same alphabet letter of the beginning letter of each word. That way your students will recognize the correct letters.
You can also place one set in the Writing Area to invite your preschoolers to practice their pre-writing skills by matching the words with magnetic letters, tracing them with dry-erase markers, or copying them with patriotic pencils, crayons, or regular markers.
Please encourage your students but don’t force them to do any of these activities. You want the experience to be a positive one.
How to Use the 4th of July Word Cards
As I mentioned in my other posts about word wall cards, I recommend not introducing too many new words with each theme and only using words that are more relevant and easy to understand.
Remember to introduce the word you want to use first using the correct picture, as well as the beginning sound. If you ask a child to name the word (or the picture) and that child uses the wrong word, that is the word that will get imprinted in the minds of the other children, and it will be more difficult to correct the mistake than to learn the right word, from the beginning, because preschoolers learn the first sound they hear.
Use the word wall daily to practice words in a fun way by chanting, and clapping the syllables. Once you introduce all the words, you can also play a matching game, having your children match the written word with the picture. This activity will not only help them recognize printed words but also will help them develop one-to-one correspondence and creating sets skills.
When you are presenting a word, never forget to hold up the picture and tell the students what it is. Repeat the name of the picture several times emphasizing the first sound. Call on a volunteer to place the card under the correct letter on the word wall, or do it yourself.
As the children interact with the word wall cards in the different centers, encourage them to repeat the beginning sound of the card they are using. Do this as often as possible during the day as well.
Other Related Activities
I like to combine several related activities to avoid boredom and keep the children interested and engaged. To accomplish that, I would like to give you some ideas of other activities that you can do in combination with your 4th of July Word Wall Cards. These activities are:
- Use the 4th of July Beginning Sounds Clip Cards & Graph activity
- Read 4th of July-related books.
- Dance to patriotic music.
- Have the children do a 4th of July-related artwork such as painting, coloring, or doing a collage using 4th of July colors.
- Have a 4th of July dress-up day and have a parade.
Pin It For Later
If you are in a rush and don’t have time to read the post and download the printable but want to save it for later, pin this to your 4th of July or Literacy board on Pinterest for later.
Last Thoughts
Remember to use the opportunity that this holiday gives you to talk to your children about the meaning of the 4th of July celebration, and what it means to have freedom. It is a perfect opportunity to tie to your Social Studies domain.
By the way, don’t forget to grab your free 4th of July Word Wall Cards printables! Just choose the one you like, in English or Spanish, or both, and start using them every day in your classroom or at home, during the entire month of July.
And, if you are interested in expanding your collection and giving your children variety and different opportunities to learn and develop their skills, combine this activity with my other 4th of July activities:
Also, don’t forget to check out other holidays’ related activities. They all have free printables, and you can find them at the bottom of this post.
I hope you and your preschoolers enjoy these coming holidays and July becomes a fun and memorable month for all of you.
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.S. If you would like to see an article about how to make something specific, please let me know and I will try my best to write it for you. My goal is to help you in any way I can and I don’t like anything better than to post something that you might find useful.
