This post was sponsored by SMART Technologies.
Word searches are a great way to engage students when learning new vocabulary or studying a new topic. They are also an excellent strategy for practicing and improving students’ reading skills like scanning, decoding, and improving word recognition, all key components for reading fluency. Plus, word searches feel like a fun game!
The challenge when a teacher wants to create a custom word search is that they can be time-consuming and frustrating to make without the right tools. Spending your planning period searching for a custom word search generator, and then trying to create the right format to share with students, only adds to the frustration.
With the Word Search Activity template in the SMART Learning Suite, you can create and deliver a one-of-a-kind word search in five minutes or less.
Why Use Word Searches in Education?
Word searches are great gamification tools for building vocabulary skills and engaging students. Not only do they improve word recognition, but they help support learning context clues. When you read about dinosaurs, it makes sense that you will find words like fossils, bones, footprint, or extinct.
Word searches can also help learners with cognitive challenges that affect their spelling. By presenting words in a simplified and more enjoyable format, they can help to build and reinforce vocabulary in a way that creates small positive moments with each successful word discovery.
Ignite student engagement and help your students develop key reading skills through a classic activity done in a fun, new way.
Create engaging activities in SMART Learning Suite (for free!)
SMART Learning Suite now offers teachers the ability to create and customize word searches for learners at any grade level and across all subjects. Input your own vocabulary, adjust the difficulty level, and easily share with students. You can create your first one today in three easy steps, all while putting more time back into the rest of your day.
Students can access and complete the word search as part of your lessons or a standalone activity on their own device, whether they’re in the classroom or remote. Or, students can engage with a word search and solve it collaboratively at an interactive panel. Get started for free.
What Is SMART Learning Suite?
SMART Learning Suite is web-based software that transforms static lesson delivery with game-based activities, formative assessments, and student collaboration to enhance learning experiences on any device.
Import the lessons you already use, or choose new ready-made resources and enhance them with customizable components including games, collaborative workspaces, and much more. And you can do this quickly and easily, all from a browser, Google Drive, or Microsoft Teams.
Empower students to take ownership of their learning independently and as a group as they easily transition between classroom and distance learning. Hold attention and keep kids showing up, motivated, and actively learning through interactive content on their own devices. Try SMART Learning Suite for FREE.
Colyn DeGraaff is an author, creative director, and intercultural advisor specializing in ed tech solutions. He works as a Demand Generation Manager for SMART Technologies.
