Let me explain that title. There are so many great puzzles and so many ways to incorporate them in the classroom! Let’s count just five ways! In this post, I’ll focus on word puzzles.
FIVE WAYS TO USE WORD PUZZLES IN YOUR CLASSROOM:
(1) TO INTRODUCE A LESSON ~ A word puzzle is a great way to reveal a new topic or focus students as you begin a lesson. This fallen phrase puzzle was used to introduce students to Time and Date patterns (see this post) and is actually a riddle within a puzzle. Puzzles grab attention and create anticipation. Your puzzle can be a question that leads to brainstorming about the topic or can reveal a little-known fact.
(2) TO SPARK DIALOGUE ~ If you facilitate Socratic dialogues in your room, a quote can be a great conversation starter. I often used quotes found in Quotation Quizzlers as topics of discussion. So many of these related to our studies in some way. Students would solve the puzzle as a warm-up activity, then write some thoughts and questions about the quote. The puzzle handout then sometimes became part of a one-pager all about what was shared.
It’s also fun to use puzzles in conjunction with literature and novel studies. In his book, Deeper Reading, Kelly Gallagher describes an activity called a Word Scramble Prediction in which students predict what might happen in an upcoming chapter in a novel they are reading. This kind of anticipatory set promotes flexible and creative thinking as well as conversation!
(3) TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS / COMMUNITY – Puzzling with others can reduce stress, build confidence, and promote optimism, so even as warm-up activities, puzzles promote a positive atmosphere in your classroom. Here’s another fun way to incorporate puzzles. If you write personal notes to students or do any kind of compliments activity, you can use Puzzlemaker or some other app to turn your message into a puzzle. This keeps the message a secret (until the student solves the puzzle). The positive effects will linger as students experience the anticipation, and then satisfaction, of discovering a special message. The message could be the most uniquely wonderful thing about that student, perhaps something many classmates mentioned in their compliments. Rolled into a small scroll and tied with a ribbon, this is a fun and unique end-of-the-year gift (just add a snack-size treat)!
(4) TO CREATE AN EVENT ~ Puzzles can also be incorporated into homemade breakout rooms and scavenger hunts! For a mystery event, my 4th-grade class even collaborated to create invitations that were written in coded language.
Incorporate multiple puzzles into one activity such as a mini Think-a-Thon with teams of students racing against one another or the clock as they rotate around the room solving pencil/ paper puzzles and hands-on problems. This might be a fun end-of-the-year or once-a-month break from your classroom routine.
Recently, I came up with the idea of progressive puzzles, and I think it could be a lot of fun to use this type of activity as a team contest. HERE is one you can use at the beginning of the school year, maybe sending it with a welcome letter. You can find several others on the Holiday/Seasonal page.
A very different kind of event my students created that centered around a puzzle is described in How to Turn a Logic Puzzle into a 90-Minute Classroom Mystery.
(5) TO PROMOTE DESIGN THINKING ~ Even word puzzles have origins and new ones are produced each year. It’s fun to share puzzles such as the Daily Word Games from MENSA and discuss with students the creativity that goes into puzzle design. What types of puzzles are a result of combining or eliminating aspects of existing puzzles? One example is Unolingo, a crossword puzzle in which the clues have been eliminated. I recently discovered Alpha-Griddle puzzles, letter/logic puzzles that combine logic with an understanding of cardinal directions.
On this site, I’ve frequently shared my passion for encouraging kids to create their own puzzles. See Kid-Created Logic Puzzles; Kid-Created Word Puzzles: FUNdamental Brain Work! for more on that!
Puzzles have a way of focusing our attention, and teachers can take advantage of this. If there are specific words and ideas that you’d like students to ponder, a puzzle can help with this. Advanced vocabulary just isn’t as intimidating, and students don’t mind looking up definitions or synonyms if it will help them figure out a puzzle. If you haven’t yet, check out the lofty language activity described in More Pun and Games: A Little Language Levity. Even Greek and Latin roots can be incorporated into puzzles, such as in this very brief mini-lesson, one I’ve used for years to make learning etymology seem more like a game.
Have you used a word puzzle in a novel way? Please share in the comments below!
Related Resources:
Two Puzzles Are Better Than One ~ Part 2
The Math Behind the Fun and Games ~ Lessons for Masterminds Who Love Wordle