In a recent survey I conducted, most of my younger students complained that Moodle is not ‘fun’ enough and that they would like to see more use of educational games. I have already discussed and quickly reviewed the ‘Game’ module but today I’d like to focus on the ‘Crossword’ component of the module.
Below is a video showing you the crossword in action
I have found the crossword to be versatile and have used it for the following:
- Vocabulary learning & revision
- Very useful for exam groups in subjects where a lot of topic specific vocabulary is used, spelling tests etc.
- As a ‘fill in the gap’ activity
- A – – – – – – – cannot change its spots
- As a ‘synonym’ activity
- I am a synonym for the word famished: – – – – – – –
- As an ‘antonym’ activity
- I am an antonym for the word hungry: – – – – – – – –
- As a research activity/quiz
- I am the capital city of Vietnam: – – – – –
- As a means to test my students’ knowledge on a topic
- A different take on a test, which appeals to some students, but not all
For the activities above, make sure you use a ‘hidden’ glossary so that students cannot see the answers.
I love the fact that the grades can be stored in the gradebook automatically. It provides me with an extra tool to monitor my students’ progress and make sure that the activities are completed.
Students between 11 and 18 years old at my current school really enjoy using the crossword and I have found that it has helped my less able students learn and retain vocabulary. This is probably due to the fact that they can try as many times as they want, until they get ‘100%’, but I have no way to be sure of that.