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Creative Uses for Textbooks
Crossword Mania

Conducting the Activity
(with students learning to create puzzles)

Take what follows as a suggestion.  Feel free to modify it in any way you think appropriate given the group with which you work.  I leave the time allotment to you.  You know best how long it will take your group to complete a given task, and whether it is best done in class where you can observe and help, or as an out of class assignment.

  1. Divide the class into pairs for the activity.

  1. Make a textbook reading assignment to be completed by the entire class.   Do not proceed to the next step until all students have finished it.

  2. Distribute and review with the class the step by step guide to building a crossword puzzle

  3. Teaching step 1 - Selecting a topic

  1. Teaching step 2 - Selecting words for the puzzle.

  1. Teaching step 3 - Writing clues

  1. Teaching step 4 - Word layout

  1. Teaching step 5 - Numbering words and blocking the grid

  1. Teaching steps 6, 7, 8 and 9  -  Preparing the final puzzle and key

  1. Instead of the traditional reading quiz on the assignment with which you began this activity, try this.  Select the best words and clues from the student submissions; then combine them into a puzzle to use as the quiz.


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original web posting: Monday, September 14, 1998
last modified: Friday, July 04, 2003