How do I Make Crossword Puzzles for Teachers?
Crossword puzzles with well-chosen words can be a useful tool in helping students revise key facts and words in any subject. Designing a crossword from scratch takes a lot of planning, but software makes the task easy. You just provide the clues and answers, and free online software does the rest, giving you a puzzle you can print out and use in the classroom.
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Instant Online Crossword Puzzle Maker
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Go to the Instant Online Crossword Puzzle Maker website and enter your answers in the box, with each entry on a new line, separating each answer and clue with a forward slash. For an English test, for example, answers might include "comma," "period" and "apostrophe." Add each answer with the clue separated by a slash, on a new line. Give your crossword a name, such as "Parts of Grammar," then select the number of letters across and down for the entire puzzle. Leave it set to "Auto" if you want it to automatically set the size. Answer the questions to get a free tip, then click "Create Puzzle" to get to a menu where you can save or print your crossword.
Armored Penguin: Create Your Own Crossword
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This free puzzle maker gives you more options, such as setting font styles for clues and adding a description to go with your title. Children can easily read "sans serif" fonts such as Arial and Comic Sans. Puzzles exist on the server for two months after their creation, so if your students have Internet access, you can direct them to the website to complete the puzzle online. To make your puzzle, select your choices from the drop-down menus, type your words and clues in the boxes indicated, then click "Make Puzzle." Try a crossword to teach the elements of the periodic table, with abbreviations as clues and elements as the answers.
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Crossword Puzzle Games
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This puzzle creator is the most straightforward way for teachers to create crosswords for the classroom, so you may want to use this if you're in a hurry to draw up a lesson plan, or you need a simple last-minute activity. Type in your clues and answers in the boxes provided, and click "Create My Crossword Puzzle." The site suggests making puzzles for holidays and special occasions, such as Easter, Christmas and St. Patrick's Day, so teach children with a puzzle activity that's fun as well as educational.
Eclipse Crossword
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Eclipse Crossword is free software to download to your PC to make puzzles at any time, with or without an Internet connection. The stylish interface is aimed at teachers and other educators. Download the program from the website, then find it in the "Start" menu of your PC. When you try it for the first time, a handy tutorial guides you through the process. An Eclipse-created crossword is an effective way to test your students' spelling. If you have PCs in the classroom, let older children access the site and create their own crosswords to test each other -- the built-in step-by-step tutorial makes it ideal for this option.
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References
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