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Subjects

• Arts & Humanities
  --Language Arts

Grade

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12

Brief Description

A class crossword puzzle makes a great back-to-school activity or bulletin board.

Objectives

Students

• share unique information about themselves.
• listen as others share information about themselves.
• solve a crossword puzzle based on clues that come from the information they shared.

Keywords

crossword puzzle, puzzle, icebreaker, back to school, back-to-school, bulletin board

Materials Needed

• information about each of your students
• an online crossword-puzzle tool [links provided] or crossword-puzzle making software

Lesson Plan

This is a fun activity for the second day of school, or anytime. Students solve a crossword puzzle that includes clues about the students in the class.

At the start of the year, you often do icebreaker activities that help you and your students get to know one another. As you do those activities this year, take notes about some of the unique things you learn about each student. You will use those unique characteristics as clues for creating a crossword puzzle that has each student's name in it.

Once you have compiled a list a clues -- one clue per student -- you are ready to create the crossword puzzle grid. Use one of the following online tools to create a crossword puzzle that includes the first names of each of your students.

PuzzleMaker

Instant Online Crossword Puzzle Maker

Create a Crossword Puzzle On-Line

Share the puzzle you have created with students. If you use it on the second day of school (based on information students shared on the first day), the students' abilities to solve the puzzle will be a good indicator of the level of their listening comprehension skills.

Extension Activity
Transform the crossword puzzle you created into a giant crossword puzzle bulletin board under a clever heading such as Our Class Has a Clue, We Fit Together, or Working Together to Solve Problems.

Assessment

How well did students listen when their classmates shared information about themselves? Which students successfully completed the crossword puzzle?

Lesson Plan Source

National Standards

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

See more Lesson Plans of the Day in our Lesson Plan of the Day Archive. (There you can search for lessons by subject too.) For additional language arts/reading lesson plans, see these Education World resources: