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Discovery Education: Puzzlemaker
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Activity Description
Students practice vocabulary or grammar (parts of speech) using customized puzzles you create with this site's online puzzle-making tools. The puzzles can be used for supplemental practice activities, fillers, or as homework. Puzzles types include word search, criss-cross (crossword), double puzzle, fallen phrase, letter tiles, cryptogram, and hidden message.
Screenshot of Discovery Education's Puzzle Maker page
Preparation
- Choose vocabulary words from a unit you plan to teach or are currently teaching.
- Make a list of the words.
How-To
- Go to the Web site, which is free and does not require registration (see Web Site link above).
- Choose the type of puzzle you want to create. The options are the following: Word Search, Criss-Cross (crossword puzzle), Double Puzzle, Fallen Phrase, Letter Tiles, Cryptogram, and Hidden Messages.
- Follow the on-screen instructions (see Puzzlemaker instructions and samples of all the site's puzzle-making tools on the document above titled "Directions for Using Discovery Education's Puzzlemaker and Samples of Puzzles."
- Print, photocopy and distribute to students.
- Explain to students how to complete the puzzles, modeling as needed.
Teacher Tips
- Word search puzzles can be used as more than time-fillers, in that they aid students in word recognition and spelling skills. For other free puzzle-making tools for ESL see Word-Search Maker at A to Z Teacher Stuff's Word Search Generator and TESL: Lesson Preparation Tools.
Program Areas
- ABE: Adult Basic Education
Levels
- All Levels
Documents
- Puzzle Maker.png - Screen shot of Discovery Education's Puzzle Maker page
Tags
reading, writing, criss-cross, crosswords, cryptograms, discovery, Discovery, discovery education, Discovery Education, Discovery Education: Puzzlemaker, double puzzle, fallen phrase, handouts, hidden message, letter tiles, printable, puzzlemaker, Puzzlemaker, puzzles, spelling, vocabulary, word search