Learn All Year Long
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Digging for Answers: Become a Dinosaur Word Detective
- Familiarize yourself with the interactive Crossword Puzzles tool.
- Before you read, ask the child to look out for new and unusual words about dinosaurs.
- Read together the book Dinosaur Detectives by Peter Chrisp. Find Dinosaur Detectives at your local library or online at www.wegivebooks.org. Create a free account by clicking “Join” at the top of the homepage. Once logged in, click “Read” in the top header and then search for the title you’d like to read online.
- Open the interactive Crossword Puzzle tool. Have the child enter his or her name and select the 3−5 grade level. Then choose the Play One of Ours option. Pick the Dinosaur Detectives puzzle from the menu.
- Invite the child to solve the puzzle. Keep the Dinosaur Detectives book available for easy reference.
- To check answers, select the Check Puzzle button. When all answers are correct, the tool will say “Puzzle complete.”
- Invite the child to try a different kind of puzzle: a self-created puzzle on any topic! Start by opening the Crossword Puzzle tool again, this time choosing the option to Create Your Own.
- Before creating a new puzzle, talk to the child about what theme the puzzle will have—animals, family members, and summer activities are a few examples. Have the child name the puzzle around that theme.
- The tool will prompt thechild to provide a list of words. Select “Add word” until the child is finished.
- Next, select “Create puzzle.” The child can watch as the puzzle is generated. Answers will be filled in.
- The tool will prompt the child to enter clues for each word. When all clues have been provided, the child can finish the puzzle and print it.
- Go totally dino. Create another crossword puzzle, but use only names of dinosaurs as the words. Can you spell Ichthyosaurus?
- Go dino at the dinner table. Find out how much family members know about dinosaurs. Suggest the child use the dino crossword puzzle clues as questions for a dino trivia game.
- Take this idea on the road: Play the criss-cross game. While driving, ask the child to come up with two words that could intersect in a crossword puzzle. For instance, bone and tooth would work because they could share the “o.” Ask the child to write the words and show you how they’d connect. Which would be down, and which would be across?