Friday Morning Crosswords

I LOVE CROSSWORD PUZZLES. Through them, I've picked up a ton of vocabulary and trivia. They stretch your mind with puns, double meanings, and synonyms: a fantastic way to support the Common Core Anchor Standards for Language:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

On checkout days, I offer word and logic puzzles as an activity; students have one week to return them to me complete and correct. If they do, then they get a free book from the prize box. I was thrilled by how many kids worked together yesterday, using the dictionary, encyclopedia, and almanac to look up answers such as "October birthstone" (which is opal).

Here they are in action:

This group all finished before the end of class!
I think I'll be giving them a two-star difficulty puzzle next time.

Choosing from the prize box.