"Beyond Handout: Creative ways to use Wordsearches and Crosswords in a Lesson"

an article for teachers by Neil MacQueen, Sunday Software
for use with Bible Crossword and Wordsearch CDs

Years ago, lesson plans stuck crossword and wordsearch puzzles at the END of a lesson to "fill time" or "go home." A lot of those handouts never made it out of the classroom or past the floor of the family car.  They were viewed as "extras" and "fillers."  And I have to admit, I was one of those who viewed them as such.

But then I started using puzzle making software with my students DURING the lessons. Back in the day there was hardly any Bible story software in existence!  What I discovered was that we had been MISSING THE BOAT on what puzzles in the lesson plan were all about. Rather than give puzzle handouts to kids, we needed to be letting them MAKE the puzzles on the computer, -because the process of "making" the puzzle forced them to deal with the content, and helped them remember it.

Suddenly, I had kids thinking they were programming wizards. They would eagerly make puzzles --which they would then complete themselves, or have a fellow student come to their computer and take it onscreen. They also usually wanted to print it out to "show mom".  It was like discovering candy.

And it was a teaching epiphany.

The handout that I couldn't get to leave the classroom was now center-stage in our lesson, helping the kids WRESTLE with content, extract and define keywords, and want to show people how good they were at it.   And it was all thanks to the computer. They love that machine, and it was helping them dissect the scriptures, understand them, memorize them, and feel good about it!

That's the big secret:  Let the kids do this. Don't make puzzles FOR them if you can possibly avoid it. The hook of using the computer compels them to wrestle with the concepts and words. In doing so, they are sinking the vocabulary and concepts deeper into memory. 

That's the 'other' big secret here....  The resulting puzzle they create isn't your final goal, it's the carrot on the stick of getting them to THINK, and giving you plenty of opportunities to explain and offer insights (i.e. teach!)   Suddenly, whether the printout made it home wasn't so important, because their brains did make it home!

Put the Puzzle at the CENTER of the lesson, not the end of it.

You will create the puzzles after basic Bible study. AND, you use the puzzle-making time to FURTHER DIG into the meaning of the words. This is not a "return later to see what they came up with" approach.

• This will take time in your lesson plan, -20 minutes or more.
• You may need some older helpers.
• Get in there elbow to elbow, don't walk away. This is teaching time!
• Younger kids will need more time, but will enjoy simple puzzles, and get a lot out of them if they have help.
• The first time you do puzzles, you'll need to train the kids how to work with them. Start out with something YOU have made in advance, then show them how to edit your puzzle.
• If you're short on time, start the puzzle ahead of time for them. Add in some clues/answers/words.
• You can let them work individually or in small groups to create the puzzle. 2 kids per workgroup works well.
• Put the Bible in their hands to create the puzzle.
• Have someone in each group responsible for spell checking, so there are no problems when trying to later complete the puzzle on the screen.
• Print an answer key, in case, the kids misspell something or forget an answer. The software allows you to do this. (Of course, you can see their puzzle words/clues in the editor mode as well.)

When it comes time to "do" the puzzle onscreen, you can decide whether or not they can have the Bible at hand to do so. If the puzzles are really hard, such as, in the Stump the Teacher puzzle, let the kids browser through their verses to find the answer!  ...after all, ultimately that's what we want them to do, --get a handle on scripture!

LESSON TECHNIQUES for MAKING PUZZLES

You could just dive in and have them turn verses in to wordsearch puzzles and crosswords, but here are some interesting techniques to take it even deeper.....

VOCAB and KEYWORDING

Kids decide to create a wordsearch or crossword of all the key vocabulary in a passage.
Kids come up with list, and then debate the list.

In crossword puzzles, for example, the kids come up with a definition of each puzzle answer.

Example:   2-down's clue is = "Guide"

The kids look through the psalm and decide that "shepherd" is the likely answer. So they type into the puzzle.

Additionally...  After inputting the key vocab into the software, and playing each other's puzzles once, have them discuss what they think are the "most important" vocab words in the passage. Have them re-edit their puzzles to use only 5 keywords.  (The resulting puzzle is not the point!  It's getting them to do the work of distilling vocab and mulling over meanings.)

SYNONYM  ...  CONCEPTING

Create a wordsearch or crossword puzzle that only explains the concepts in the verse.

Example:  Say you're working on, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures."  In your Wordsearch puzzle, the kids would type in words that are synonyms for Shepherd, such as, "want", "lie down", and "green pastures"

In your Crossword puzzle, create clues for words such as:  "Shepherd = Guide" and "lie down = feel safe".

SCRIPTURE MEMORY

Take an entire verse and put it into the wordsearch, or create crossword slots and clues for each word.

Example:  "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures."  So in Wordsearch the kids would put each word in the puzzle. In crosswords, they'd only put in the main words.

Crossword "Blank Clue" Variation: For short verses, such as Ps 23:1, leave all the 'clues' blank by typing "X's" in the clues slot in place of the real letters. This will create crossword boxes to fill in that are the right length for each word, but not give any clues. So now the students must figure out what to type in the  2-Across: xxxx  (which is a four letter slot).  "Lord" would work!   In your edtior, you'd type "Lord:xxxx".  This would make the clue in the puzzle look like "xxxx" but the correct answer to type is "Lord".  Pretty slick!

Alternate Words Variation: Have kids come up with their own version of Ps 23:1, telling them that they must make a wordsearch of that verse, but cannot use any of the same keywords found in the verse itself.  Example:  "Christ is my Guide, I don't need to worry."

STUMP THE TEACHER

Kids will create a puzzle for the teacher, or for a designated "Brain Trust", or for another group, ...trying to stump that group with cryptic, funny, or creative clues.  This is similar to some old Christmas Song stumpers we used to do in youth group.

Example:  "Baa Buddy" = shepherd     "Place where you watch your step" = pasture   "My Cup" = "My crib"

If you create a "Stumper" crossword puzzle, you can't input a lot of words or clues or it gets too confusing. But what you CAN do is have the kids write down longer clue explanations for each crossword answer as "hint" that you can verbally ask for.

For example: The correct answer for 2-Across = "pasture" and the clue in the software is typed as "careful of stepping here".  If you can't figure out "pasture" you can ask for a hint, and the kids would say aloud, "a lot of grass here."  

Of course, you've already STUDIED the Bible verse, so you can SCAN THROUGH the passage and see their clue must be about "green pasture".  We're not trying to make this really hard, just really MEMORABLE.

Kids can create these wordsearch puzzles for themselves, and for each other... printing their results to share with other students.

Note about Older Students

Sometimes with older students, you can tell them they will be "making a puzzle pack" for the younger grades. This sense of "contribution" often helps add the right amount of structure and quality to their output.

<>< Neil MacQueen, neil@sundaysoftware.com