How to Create a Word Search Puzzle for Middle School Students

Middle school students may be tired of "childish" games, but they still love challenges. Use word search puzzles to play on their sense of competition and keep their minds sharp. Create them to suit your students' interests and areas of study so they'll be interesting as well as helpful.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Choose a website that will generate the word search puzzle after you've simply input your list of words. The words have to be at least three letters long and without punctuation like hyphens or apostrophes (see Resources).

2. Use words that pertain to the class subject or current unit of study. If you're studying insects in biology, for example, include their Latin names, characteristics, predators or prey. If you're just using the word searches to keep students occupied, use words like pop culture references, the names of popular bands, movies or books.

3. Vary the size of the word search grid to accommodate the students' abilities and the time they'll have to complete the puzzle. Choosing a 15 by 15 grid with overlapping words, for example, will challenge most students since words will appear in a variety of directions.

4. Encourage the kids to complete the puzzles by creating a timed competition. Divide the class into small teams and conduct a relay race in which each student has to find a word and then run to the back of the line. Give the winning team members a small treat they can enjoy at lunch.

5. Offer the students extra credit points if they use the website to create their own puzzle with words that fit the current class project. Distribute them for the other kids to complete at home for additional credit.

Resources

• Create puzzles with simple online templates.

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