Word Puzzles to Help Reading Skills
Word puzzles provide an interactive way to improve reading skills among students. There are many different types of word puzzles, and children enjoy doing them. Building vocabulary is a key part to becoming a strong reader, and word puzzles are a way to do this. Word puzzles can also build spelling skills.
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Crossword Puzzles
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Crossword puzzles enhance students' vocabulary, critical thinking skills, spelling and reading. Crossword puzzles challenge students to come up with an answer using a clue. To do this, they need to be able to define the word which is the answer, spell the word properly so that it fits in the puzzle and use their critical thinking skills to decide what the answer is.
Scrabble
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Scrabble is also an educational game to play with students to help reading skills. Scrabble encourages players to create words out of game pieces, while providing lessons in vocabulary acquisition and retention. It also requires spelling skills. Because more than one person can play at a time, students will learn from each other's word choices when they question them and the player has to define it and explain it to the rest of the players.
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Word Searches
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Word searches help students practice their word recognition skills, a key concept in reading. Word searches help children recognize letters and words. It enhances the puzzle if students are told to read the word aloud and define it prior to searching for it. Some word search puzzles online quiz students on the word prior to allowing them to search for it. Otherwise, if it is on paper they can look the word up in the dictionary. This activity makes word searches a vocabulary activity as well.
Online Word Games
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Several online word games are separate from conventional word games. One example of these is Bookworm. In Bookworm, tiles next to each other each contain a letter. The goal is to spell as many words as you can with tiles that touch each other. To do well students have to use vocabulary and try different words and patterns, as well as think fast and recognize words.
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