Dianne Draze

Word Bogglers: Visual Words and Idioms, Grades 3-6 Dianne Draze

Are you looking for a motivating way to combine problem solving, visual discrimination, and language? Word Bogglers is just the thing. A word boggler is a puzzle, a brain teaser, and a lesson in language, all rolled into one. These clever visual puzzles use words and phrases to build flexible thinking and word literacy.

Each word boggler is a word or phrase that has been written so that its meaning is conveyed via the position, number or size of the words and letters. Some of the puzzles are words and some are familiar idioms and clichés. Thus, it is an opportunity to develop vocabulary and knowledge of often-used phrases in the form of motivating brainteasers.

Each page features six of these visual puzzles. Students analyze the way the words are written (size, position, direction) to solve each boggler and match it with its definition. A way to further reinforce the understanding of each phrase is to have students use the phrases in a written sentence. Using Word Bogglers this way gives you a unique way to provide a short daily writing experience. You can use these puzzlers in a variety of ways: put on the overhead for a quick daily thinking challenge, use as starting points for daily writing exercises, use a page for a weekly challenge, form groups to work together solving the puzzles, put them in a learning center, or have students make up their own puzzles.

Bring Words Bogglers into your classroom today. The result of using these word puzzles is lots of fun, lots of challenge, and increased knowledge of the meaning of common idioms and words.

For more word puzzles see The World's Greatest Brain Bogglers and Brain Twisters!

Grades 3?6