Word Searches used in First Grade as a teaching tool??

[dbsam]

Do/did your kindergartener or first grader complete word searches?
Do you think they help with spelling? grammar skills?

My children had never done word searches. This year, in first grade, they were told to make their own word searches with their spelling words. I felt it was busy work but made up a grid and asked them to write in their spelling words and then fill in the blanks with misc. letters. My daughter refused to write any word backwards, vertically, or diagonally saying it was ‘wrong’. (In the past, she occasionally wrote words backwards and it took a lot of convincing to show her it was backwards.)

Tonight one of their homework sheets was this - they were not spelling words; it was to teach action verbs. They were given the first page only. I told them they didn’t need to finish since it was taking them forever to find the words and I couldn’t see the value when they had other homework. I did ask them to identify the action words and nouns. Was I wrong? What is the value of the word search?

I guess I need to add practicing word searches to our study schedule. The teacher said most children did them in Kindy; mine didn’t.

[sapphire_chan]

Off the top of my head, I'd would expect a word search to:
1. Help with finding your place on a page.
2. Help with spelling--from looking at the letters in particular so much as opposed to considering the whole word.
3. Help with reading text outside of books, e.g. vertical signs.
4. Help with remembering something long enough to use it in a task.

Now, to save time on them, there are various tricks. Such as looking for double letters, going row by row, column by column, looking for the shortest and longest words first.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I agree with the last poster. It does have value, and is intended to be a 'fun' way to practice something that's repetitive.

[ollyoxenfree]

I believe there is value in this kind of word play, and other word puzzle games. I think it helps with the decoding process, since you have to identify a collection of letters that make a word as opposed to random letters. Another trick is to spot "ion" and "ing" and "er" or "ed" and other common suffixes and prefixes inside the word search and then look for the full word.

I understand how she feels about the backwards words though. I always had a prejudice against them in a word search puzzle too, but I can't explain why . I see vertical words all over the place in signs, and I can stretch to accept diagonal words too. If it's in English though, I expect a word to be written left-to-right!

[Owen'nZoe]

I have to agree with the others - it seems like a great way to practice decoding words. You really have to pay attention to the spelling to find a word, and she is probably going over the spelling of any given word multiple times as she does the puzzle.

I do understand your frustration, though. In my son's class last year, they rolled dice and added the numbers on the dice for practicing simple addition. It was a cute idea the first few times I saw it, but by the end of the year he seemed to be bringing home dice-rolling worksheets every. single. day. and I had to wonder if he was really getting that much out of it.

[dbsam]

Thank you all for the insight.

I had fun with word searches when younger. I guess part of the frustration (for them and me) was that this was too difficult for them. Once they practice and get familiar with word searches I can see them having value. I guess this level of search isn't too difficult for most first graders.

[sapphire_chan]

How about they help you with the word search? Or have them collaborate by finding a few words each then sharing where the words are?

[Alyantavid]

My kid did but I don't remember if it was in first or second. They made their own and had other kids solve them.

This was hugely helpful for my child. He loves word searches, cross word puzzles, all of that. So he loved do it and it did help reinforce the words he was learning and since he tends to be very "by the book", it helped him learn to look harder for things instead of having them just there like they should be.

[BCFD]

My kids go to a Montessori charter school and honestly I hate worksheets of any kind. But I get that some kids like them and that they can be beneficial and/or fun. In this case, I would have your child approach it as a fun puzzle and just explain how it's ok for the rules to be broken a little with spelling backwards and vertical. It's funny because just yesterday my first grader pointed out a RR crossing sign and said, "Look, that sign is an X!" and I asked her to read it to me. I thought it was kinda funny because she noticed it was a different kind of road sign (something she has been obsessed with reading in the car lately!).

[dbsam]

Originally Posted by BCFD

My kids go to a Montessori charter school and honestly I hate worksheets of any kind. But I get that some kids like them and that they can be beneficial and/or fun.

My children went to a Montessori Kindy...They, and I, don't care for the worksheets either.

[eepster]

DS goes to a Montessori as well, but he loves things like word searches. I buy him coloring/activity books, and word searches are often one of the first parts he does. Just after mazes, but before color by number.

[FedUpMom]

busywork

Word searches are completely unnecessary busywork. Your kids would be better off reading an actual book for 5 minutes than doing a word search for 20 minutes. If they don't like it, it's doing nothing but turn them off school and learning.

[One_Girl]

I loved word searches as a child and did them often by choice. They are meant as a fun way to do spelling. They can be really effective because it takes a lot of focused work to find words in a word search so I wouldn't call them busy work at all. I like the idea of having them make their own.

Getting my dd to practice her spelling words with me for any amount of time is like getting a cat to voluntarily take a bath, and it really doesn't help when the words are longer and have tricky letters that don't follow phonics rules. I may suggest she try it that way or make one up for her so she can just learn her words that way. She has done them in the past and enjoyed them. The one your kids got looks too complex though.

[ollyoxenfree]

I know a few puzzle-loving children who enjoy word searches, crosswords, and other word games. They will happily complete word games rather than sit with a book for 5 minutes. For them, it isn't busywork at all. Considering most daily newspapers devote some space to word puzzles, I think there's a fair proportion of the population that enjoys them too.

If a child detests word puzzles and only wants to read books, then that's a different matter. If that's the case, it's worth having a discussion with the teacher about what kind of class work and home work are necessary and whether there's any room for accommodation.

[dbsam]

OP here, I could see the value if the searches were spelling words. (Originally they were told to create their own word searches using spelling words.) But the newest homework (I linked the actual word search in my original post) was not spelling words. I also thought the difficulty level was a little high. A few parents mentioned their children couldn't complete it.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by dbsam

OP here, I could see the value if the searches were spelling words. (Originally they were told to create their own word searches using spelling words.) But the newest homework (I linked the actual word search in my original post) was not spelling words. I also thought the difficulty level was a little high. A few parents mentioned their children couldn't complete it.

Did you let the teacher know? Most open-minded teachers won't mind if you tell them that something was harder than usual or took longer than expected.

It may be that she misjudged how tough it would be. It may be that she wanted to see how the class would perform with a difficult task at this point in the year. It may be that other parents complained that the word searches were too easy and their kids wanted something that challenged them, so she was trying to satisfy them.

I've mentioned it to teachers when an assignment proved really troublesome . Sometimes the response has been "Oh, yeah, that didn't work out how I expected. I won't be trying that again" or "Yes, next time I'll adjust [whatever]".

Good teachers are always tweaking lessons, trying new things, adjusting to the level of the students in a particular class. Sometimes those tweaks and adjustments don't hit the mark. So the teacher goes through another iteration. Thinking that a teacher has to get it perfectly right every time out of the starting gate is a pretty high standard (OP, I'm not saying that you think this, but some parents do).

[dbsam]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

Did you let the teacher know? Most open-minded teachers won't mind if you tell them that something was harder than usual or took longer than expected.

yes, I wrote her a note explaining why they didn't complete the assignment. Several parents told me they completed it for their children. I felt it was better to be honest. (But then their children will get a completed grade and mine will not. This happened with another assignment and my children were penalized.)

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

Thinking that a teacher has to get it perfectly right every time out of the starting gate is a pretty high standard (OP, I'm not saying that you think this, but some parents do).

Maybe I'm being too critical since there are so many things about this particular teacher and her style I do not care for. (My biggest complaint is the way she treats the children - no respect or compassion.)

[One_Girl]

I think you should tell her that you heard from some parents that they are completing their children's work for them and let her know that this has happened a few times and you don't feel it is fair that your kids are penalized. I would also ask if she wants you to start doing the work from now on or if she plans on addressing this in a way that is fair to your kids. I would tell the teacher the names of the kids personally and ask that the school treat it as plagarism because it is plagarism and it is unfair for kids who do their homework to be compared to adult parents who have nothing better to do. Plagarism becomes a very serious thing later in life and I think it is important for the kids to learn that now by getting a 0 rather than in high school when they are expelled.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by dbsam

yes, I wrote her a note explaining why they didn't complete the assignment. Several parents told me they completed it for their children. I felt it was better to be honest. (But then their children will get a completed grade and mine will not. This happened with another assignment and my children were penalized.)

This really seems like the real problem. It makes it very hard for the teacher to find the right level of challenge for students if parents just do anything that is hard. This of course become a self perpetuating problem, as the teacher raise the challenge level and quantity of work since the students seem to be breezing through it.


I would schedule an appointment with the teacher to discuss the issue. I wouldn't name names, but if the teacher knows it's happening it should be pretty easy to spot (slightly different hand writing from work done in class, and such.)

[HipGal]

I was a teacher before having kids and I have never seen any research supporting the use of word searches. I also have not seen them used in any standard curriculum. Word searches are sometimes used by substitutes to keep the kids busy and quiet, but I wouldn't waste classtime or homework time on them. If you child enjoys them, of course they can be fun. I would maybe put it as an "optional" page for homework if some of the kids liked them.

Making their own word searches with spelling words sounds OK to me if it didn't take too much time. It would be similar to asking them to write their spelling words one time each. Maybe not the most efficient way to study the words, but not too bad. Completing random word searches does sound like busywork to me.