I jing the wordle (if you don't know about Jing - you need to! See the info below.), paste it into Powerpoint, print the slide, and then cut it into puzzle pieces. I ask the kids to work with in groups of 4 to put the puzzle together. Once the puzzle is complete, they trade me for a paper copy and 4 different colored highlighters. They take turns telling sentences for the vocabulary words and put a highlighter dot next to the words they use. They are encouraged to make sentences for all the words (as a group). Now you may wonder why, if I give them a paper copy of the completed wordle, I make it into a puzzle. One reason I do this is to give them a chance to work on their cooperative skills, but I also do it because very few kids put puzzles together anymore. I'm always surprised by the number of kids who have difficulty with this activity. Smart puzzle solvers will recognize part of a word and search for the missing part - but most of my kids do not do this without some help.
I am always looking for new ideas. Does anyone have an idea to share reviewing vocabulary words?
(*If you use Treasures for 3rd grade the words may seem familiar, but I skipped the second and third themes and did my own thing, hence some of the words are different.)
Jing is free software to download to your computer that takes pictures of anything on your screen. I use Jing A LOT! It also allows you to make a screen cast. I love it and HIGHLY recommend it!
