Have you tried incorporating puzzles and games in your
ELA classroom? Well, I’m here today to talk about my favorite ways to do so,
and the benefits I see in students. Using puzzles and games in the high school
classroom is a great way to build collaboration, critical thinking, and a
growth mindset. Puzzles can be particularly powerful in the ELA classroom
because they allow students to approach words logically, mathematically, and
visually, creating cross-brain connections.
I’ve talked before about my love of puzzles at my blog, and how I’m good at some (jigsaw puzzles, woot woot!) and terrible at
others (tanglement/mechanical puzzles… you know, the metal or string ones that
supposedly pull apart? Yeah, those are tough for me), and today I want to
extend that conversation and offer up some new ideas.
1. Word Games
Word Games are the easiest thing you could possibly
integrate in ELA, and they have so many benefits! They foster critical
thinking, extend student vocabulary, and create multilingual connections. I’m a
huge fan of word games, such as Taboo® or Scattergories®. These can be great as
filler games, but they can also be incorporated into your teaching, too. They
make fantastic reviews.
You can use the Taboo® set-up to review any list of vocabulary
words, characters, or actions in a novel or short story. Simply create five
words that students aren’t allowed to say when giving their clues. You can also
have students create these for another team or group. For example, I split my
class into groups of four or five, and have each student create five cards.
Then, I have them duplicate the cards, creating two piles. Their whole group
combines the cards into two duplicate sets. Then, they pass these sets to two
other groups. Now, each group should have two sets of 20-25 cards, for a total
of 50.
I also LOVE sharing Cryptograms with students. A
Cryptogram is a single puzzle (often a quote or a list) where a cipher has been
used to encrypt the message. Generally, this is a simple substitution cipher (A
transforms to F, B transforms to X…) and the player must figure out the
message. These are incredibly powerful in the classroom because students have
to think about common letter clusters (t-h-e, s-t) and common double letters to
begin unlocking the code. They have to develop a sense of patterns and possibilities
and rarities (h-h isn’t a possible double letter in English, and the letter j
is pretty rare).
Download these free literary-themed Cryptograms to get started using these in your classroom today. :)
2. Team Bellringers
I’ve also introduced Team Bellringers in my classroom.
I love going to play trivia each week at a local
restaurant, and they have an ongoing competition where our points add up for
the whole month. Our team members are committed to coming every week because we
know the group is counting on us to win the grand prize.
I decided to introduce the same concept in my classroom.
I created two sets of forty mini-quizzes (similar to one round of trivia) to be
used as bellringers, and students split into teams of 3-4 and keep a running
score over the course of a month. Each mini-quiz is focused on literature,
movies, and music, and has some sort of word game twist to it. For example, one
mini-quiz asks students to identify classic novels and authors based only on
their initials. Another asks students to identify the children’s book depicted
as a cake. There’s also a literary math puzzle that I love (“The number of
Winnie the Pooh’s friends minus the number who are female…”)!
These mini-quizzes can be used as daily bellringers or
exit slips, a closing activity on a Friday, or as an entire reward day. They
encourage collaboration and challenge students to think critically. They are
also engaging and make use of everyone’s expertise.
3. Escape Rooms
Lastly, I am planning on incorporating Escape Rooms in my
classroom next year. In a traditional Escape Room, you are led through a series
of puzzles that eventually culminates in you receiving a key (to “escape the
room”). You can also play Breakout Boxes, with the end result of the puzzles
being a key to access a box that has some sort of prize.
I recently developed an Escape Room Review Game for Romeo & Juliet to use with my
students in the fall. As a test review, I wanted to make sure that each puzzle
focused on a different element (Plot, Character, Conflict, Figurative Language,
Quotes, etc.) of the play.
Making a “room” takes a lot of work (luckily, there’s
TpT!), but students are engaged and motivated throughout the review. You’re not
exactly fooling them (they know they’re reviewing), but you’re giving them
stakes for the review beyond the grade. Also, it’s exactly what I would have
liked to do when I was a student, so there’s always that. ;)
What are your favorite tips for teaching with puzzles and
games? I’d love to hear more from you in comments!
Also, check out these great resources from the other
Coffee Shop teachers.
Grammar Games Bundle by Room 213
Grammar Races by The Classroom Sparrow
Word Puzzles by Presto Plans
Board Game for Any Novel by The SuperHERO Teacher
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Grammar Games Bundle by Room 213
Grammar Races by The Classroom Sparrow
Word Puzzles by Presto Plans
Board Game for Any Novel by The SuperHERO Teacher
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