Using Word Games and Puzzles in Elementary Classrooms

            In this article in The Reading Teacher, Mark Lauterbach (Brooklyn College) and Marcy Zipke (Providence College) say that playing online word games and puzzles helps elementary students recognize and manipulate phonemes, words, and phrases – a.k.a. metalinguistic awareness. This is an important component of skilled reading; research shows that paying attention to the details of language – phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics, and syntax – improves students’ decoding, spelling, and comprehension. 

            “Developing students’ interest and motivation for uncovering language conventions is an important part of a teacher’s job,” say Lauterbach and Zipke. “Word games and puzzles are uniquely suited for this, in that they can be solved individually, or in groups of any size. They can be tailored to specific student needs, or in support of the curriculum. Additionally, some students find them particularly engaging.” Playing with word puzzles and games also makes students’ thinking about language less rigid and more fun. 

            Lauterbach and Zipke experimented with the use of three New York Times games – Wordle, Spelling Bee, and Connections – with elementary students. Brief descriptions:

• Wordle – The goal is to find a 5-letter mystery word in six or fewer tries. With each guess, the correct letters turn green (right letter, right position) or yellow (right letter, wrong position).
• Spelling Bee – This is a puzzle with seven spaces for letters, six of them encircling one target letter. The goal is to make as many words using the central letter and as many of the other letters as possible. Letters can be used more than once, with extra points for words that use all the letters.
• Connections – The reader is presented with 16 seemingly disparate words and asked to group them into four categories – for example: break, holiday, leave, and recess (time off); holy, wholly, holey, and holi (sound the same, different spellings and meanings); ink, range, lack, and old (colors with their initial letters missing). Four mistakes are allowed. 

With elementary students, the authors found it was helpful to start by modeling playing the game and thinking out loud about different strategies – in Wordle, for example, what letter to start with, how to proceed with a green or yellow letter, strategy with double letters, and so on. Then the class plays the game together, with “gentle feedback” as they proceed, scaffolding, and gradual release of responsibility.

            Where might word games fit into the school day? Some possibilities: in the 15 minutes before lunch; during a brain break; during indoor recess or free time; sending them home as homework; or creating a puzzle center for choice time. For resources, students might use dictionaries, word walls, and brainstorming friends, with Google and Siri off limits. An additional activity might be taking advantage of websites that allow users to create their own versions of Wordle, Spelling Bee, and Connections. And there are plenty of technology-free options, including putting letters on the board and challenging students to make as many words as they can from the letters. 

            “These puzzles and games are an opportunity to create engagement around activities that promote metalinguistic awareness,” conclude Lauterbach and Zipke. “However, as engaging and useful as these puzzles and games are, they are in no way systematic or comprehensive enough to replace the scope and sequence of a research-based reading curriculum.” 

“Wordling with Elementary Students: Developing Discrete Literacy Skills Through Puzzles and Word Games” by Mark Lauterbach and Marcy Zipke in The Reading Teacher, November/December 2024 (Vol. 78, #3, pp. 195-201); the authors can be reached at mlauterbach@brooklyn.edu and mzipke@providence.edu.

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1064 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.