Annotation (Puzzle Maker)

Project(s) created by Randi Vaseleck

Both puzzles are specifically titled and designed for the third grade level.

The value of designing this project for students to use in the classroom is that they are good first day of school activities to engage the students in something fun and educational. Not only will they be solving a puzzle, but they will be putting their brains to use-without even knowing it! This puzzle would hopefully address spelling issues, and strengthen student's spelling skills. It is also a good idea to have the students work in groups to help each other out. It will encourage the use of problem solving skills in the sense that the students will not be able to complete the puzzle until each word is found.

One goal as said before, is to strengthen their spelling skills, as well as get them thinking in the beginning of the year. The other is to introduce them to group work and make them aware that partners are a positive aspect of the classroom.

The subject matter is mainly english. For the word search, the students could complete the puzzle and then take a look in each students desk to see how many of each item is in each desk. This would integrate spelling with problem solving. This also addresses cultural responsiveness teaching because each item on the list is a very common school item, and would most likely not be foreign to any student in the classroom.

The learning styles that would most likely be attracted to this are the visual learning styles.

If done correctly, the instructional strategies utilized are cooperative learning, and creative problem solving.

This is a very self-paced media project. Once given to the students, there is little need for the teacher to get in the way. Unless asked, teachers should sit back and observe how the class is working together.

Learning assessment can be used with this activity, but not grade based. Students need to work adequately on their own or with groups, (Preferably with groups), and solve each word.