Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion word searches, value?

I also loved, and still really like, word searches. However I do not see academic worth in them except for the younger child who is learning to organize their searches, remember spelling to find the word, etc. They seem like just filler.

I vote for busywork / drivel, too.

I vote fun for kindergarten and grade 1, but inane otherwise.

Our kids did word searches frequently in 6th grade science. Seriously? And hangman, and crosswords. It drove us batty and became a family joke.

As much as I can find fault with the 7th grade science teacher, he gets a gold star for not having given a single word search this year.

My very verbal DD with great visual skills, excellent reading skills, and incredible spelling skills hates word searches. She likes mazes, though, and Sudoku (both of which I think engage higher thinking than word searches). She's good at them. She just thinks they're a drag.

She also hates word unscrambles, which she has been getting a LOT of this year...and they're things like "key manufacturing outputs of Tennessee" (METAL FASTENERS).

Here's something I found on a google search. There are some references listed as well:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed...m01/Five-Hallmarks-of-Good-Homework.aspx

"In an effort to create appealing tasks, teachers sometimes compromise learning. A word search may look like fun, but it has little value in reinforcing spelling and can be a torturous task. A better task would be for students to create their own pattern of content-related words, as in Scrabble. Likewise, crossword puzzles are fun, but students may benefit little from matching definitions with words when the focus is on solving the puzzle. A better task would be for the students to find connections between the concepts that the words represent. For example, students might group words as "feeling words" or "action words," as nouns or verbs, or as words with one or two syllables."