How to Play Hangman to Help Teach Reading and Spelling

Whether you teach in a classroom, a home school or a Sunday school a game of hangman can help you engage with your students while reviewing valuable skills. They think they are playing a game but you know that you are building their spelling and reading ability. Here is how to make a game of hangman into an enjoyable learning experience.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Chalkboard or white board
• Chalk or marker
• Eraser

1. Set up the hangman's noose on one side of the board. It looks like a capital letter I but the top of the I only extends to the left of the long vertical line. The bottom of the I is longer than usual. Make the noose about twelve inches tall in all. That way you can embellish the person (or animal) which you plan to hang with lots of detail. I like to tell classes that I am going to hang a bunny or a turtle or a snowman. This amuses classes to no end. Often the students suggest other things for me to hang with ghoulish delight.
2. Choose the word or phrase which you are going to challenge the class to solve. You can use the game to review a specific list of vocabulary words or spelling words.
3. Let's say that you are teaching fourth graders the states and their capitols and you want to use this game to review them. If your words are Jefferson City, Missouri you should arrange a series of nine blanks followed by four blanks followed by a comma followed by eight blanks like this: --------- ----, --------.
4. Ask students to raise their hands and tell you a letter that may belong to the puzzle. There are two letter e's so if that letter is guessed, fill in both e's. If a letter "p", which does not belong in the puzzle is named, write it next to or below the noose. Then draw a piece of the person or animal you are hanging.
5. Continue play until the puzzle has been completely solved and filled in. Do not allow the puzzle to be solved until all the letters have been named. That way your slower students will be given the same opportunities for review as your quicker ones.
6. Know that if you draw the man, bunny, turtle or whatever you are hanging before the class solves the puzzle, you win. Then choose another puzzle. Of course, you can extend the length of time it takes for the class to lose by adding whiskers, articles of clothing, facial features or other embellishments to the victim.

Tips & Warnings

• This is a convenient way to engage the whole class's attention while you are taking attendance. Call the name of each student and let them suggest a letter to solve the puzzle. This accomplishes several things at once: You interact meaningfully with each student during the first 10 minutes of the class period; you provide a review of spelling, vocabulary or literature; and everyone has fun doing it.