This year I want to find new ways to keep things fresh and engaging with my middle school and high school students. I find that they need relevant and quick activities. I decided I was going to use games from the New York Times for fun and fast language activities.
I have been playing Wordle with my husband for over a year. We love seeing who can complete the word the fastest and in the least amount of guesses. I started to think how can I use this with my students. I also personally love Connections and knew that this would be perfect to use with students.
Wordle
This is a great game to help students apply spelling skills they have been working on and using for years. I thought my older students might be resistant, but they love it. They ask me to play when we have time in a session. Wordle has definitely added some healthy competition to our sessions. I highly recommend playing with your students.
It is perfect for teaching and reinforcing:
- vowel pairs
- consonant blends
- patterns
- vocabulary
Connections
This is my personal favorite. My daughter clued me into this game and after the first time playing it I was hooked and thought it would be perfect to play with my middle school and high school students. I am happy to say I was right.
When I first introduced this game to my students I made connection, no pun intended, to activities we have been working on for years. We read the rules provided and did the first daily puzzle together. I wanted to show them how I make connections, so I vocalized my thoughts as I was reading and connecting words.
I love that this game:
- refeinforeces vocabulary
- teaches new vocabulary
- sparks creativity
- makes them think of multiple meanings
I allow my students to google words that are unfamiliar. This is helpful, because they look at antonyms and synonyms when looking words up. We discuss ways to use and apply the new word in a sentence or connect it to words the student does know. I love how this game is a fast and fun way to teach a skill(s) in a real world application. Playing Connections has sparked some interesting conversations and shed light on things my students know and need to know. I always say I try to be
Mini Crossword
This is the third game we have started to play this year. I find that many of my students hate crossword puzzles. This is a bite size option that gives them success with an activity they typically avoid. I love that it is less than 20 words to weave together. Depending on the student I am working with this activity can be individual or we can fill the puzzle in together. I have a student who now does the puzzle on his own and like to race me. This game is timed, so he loves solving all the words before me.
This game rocks because:
- supports vocabulary
- supports language
- supports content knowledge
- supports real life knowledge
- supports spelling
How to Play
We like to play these games on a desktop computer or a Chromebook. Some of my students will get scrap paper to work out spelling patterns and draw connections. You can have students work independently or work with them, offering differentiated support. We play daily-if we can. I am going to start some sort of progress monitoring for these games. This resource will be posted in my TpT store, so stay connected for that monitoring tool.
Real Life
Playing these games are great for my student sessions, but I love that they are real world/real life games my students can play now and transition into their lives after they leave school. Many of my students have mentioned they know people who play Wordle, often mentioning parents. I find it very interesting that they are embracing something they knew about, but assumed was too difficult for them. I love it when they play on the weekends and report their scores.
I highly recommend giving these free, online games a try.
The Listening Ladybug 