Vocabulary Square Puzzle

I have a total love hate relationship with manipulatives.  When the kids use them, it is GREAT!  They are all in and invested.  It can take so much time to prepare them though.  And then at the end, when you find ONE piece of the puzzle on the floor and you have no clue which one it is from… it can be so frustrating!  However, recently, I have re-discovered this puzzle from Señor Wooly which all of my classes loved and requested again.

To create my puzzle, I created a 5X5 grid for my students.  I wrote matching words and definitions on each side.  I cut up the squares, and students had to match them.  I put a few “repeat” words on the boarder.  This made it harder for the students.  Initially, I created Spanish and English translations.  However, as the year progresses, I could easily write the definition in Spanish.  I broke my class up into pairs to recreate the puzzle.  While that did mean more cutting for me, it meant that all of my students were involved.  Literally all of my students were into this activity!  I will have to repeat this one soon.