Puzzles are a superb way to flex some major brain muscle. (I know, I know- Science gurus the brain doesn’t actually have muscle it just controls it.) But adding puzzles for vocabulary practice is an added element of fun and thinking.
Every unit or short story I teach I will include a puzzle for students to work on. Once you make a template, (or download the editable one on my TpT site) it is super easy to change out the vocabulary terms. I have shared my template with other language teachers and other departments (think Science terms, Social Studies, Music, etc.) too!
Here are a few different ideas on how you can incorporate and manage puzzles into your lesson plans:
- Make it a fast finisher activity. To begin the year, I have my fast finishers work on the puzzles as a brain-teaser. Once they have figured out the concept of the puzzles it makes it easier for them to be the leaders when I assign it as a whole class.
- Have students complete these in pairs. Two heads are better than one and gives students a sense of team-building and success when they complete it together. (Some kids like the challenge of completing solo-so that is an easy way to differentiate.)
- You can make it a race to see how fast students can complete the puzzle. If students have already completed it and others still need to work through the terms you can set a timer and see if those students can beat their previous times. I typically like to do this activity as a closure so there is a sense of urgency to finish the task.
- Have the students create the puzzle! If you send them the blank template you can have them practice setting up the words, spelling, and making those vocabulary connections.
- COLOR CODE the different sets. I cannot tell you how BIG of a time saver this is for me. A piece falls on the ground? (It always does.) No big deal, they are all different colors.
- If you don’t have access to different sheets of colored paper or want to go a step further- I even number all sets on the back of the puzzle pieces. That way, when I have two sets of purple I can just see which set the piece belongs to and stick it back into the envelope.
Lastly, if you don’t have a Guillotine paper cutter-you need to invest in one. They are SO SO SO handy for the multitude of projects and activities in class.
Let me know if you do puzzles in your class / what you think about them!