And that's it! HERE you can see the crossword of this tutorial finished.

References

♠ Capuano, B., Short, J.L., Yuriev, E. (2016, March 30). Crossword puzzles for chemistry education: learning goals beyond vocabulary. Retrieved in October 2020 from https://pubs.rsc.org/-/content/articlehtml/2016/rp/c6rp00018e

♠ Seikaly, K. (2017, November 6). Teaching with Educational Crossword Puzzles Based on Research. Retrieved in October 2020 from https://blog.crosswordhobbyist.com/teaching-with-educational-crossword-puzzles-based-on-research/

WEB

Students will work in groups of four on the computers. The teacher will first ask them to go over the tutorial on Printable Crossword Puzzle Maker she has prepared; then, they will make one per group with the vocabulary learnt during the whole year. They will use the online dictionaries to look up definitions and choose the most clear ones (they will have to include between twenty and twenty-five definitions). On a word document, they will paste the definitions and the answers as a key.

Before printing the crosswords and the key sheets, the teacher will revise the work done.

WHAT’S NEXT

The groups will exchange the crosswords and have fifteen minutes to solve them. Then, each group will share orally the definitions they couldn’t complete, as a challenge for the students that haven’t worked on that crossword. If the rest of the class doesn’t know the answer, the group with the key can say the word.

Theoretical support

According to Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy developed by Andrew Churches (2009) as an extension of the original Bloom’s Taxonomy, we can say that students in this lesson have become creators of knowledge. The main idea of this framework is that students are able to move from lower order thinking skill (LOTS) to higher order thinking skills (HOTS): they first start by remembering the vocabulary of the units seen throughout the year and then understanding the use of Printable Crossword Puzzle Maker in order to apply it in the task. After that, they analyze and evaluate the definitions found on different online dictionaries, and finally put the elements together to produce new content: they create a crossword puzzle with the digital tool.

The whole lesson can be thought of in terms of the six main points proposed by the NAPs of LE (Núcleos de Aprendizaje Prioritario de Lenguas Extranjeras”), since they present an intercultural perspective that fosters the acceptance and inclusion of different cultures, and also propose that technological tools should be used to enhance the learning of the language.

1) Oral comprehension: they reflect upon the explanations in the target language given by the teacher and also during the last part of the lesson (what’s next) when they hear the definitions read by the different groups.

2) Reading: they decode and understand words and texts not only when they read the instructions on the tutorial, but also when reading the online definitions of the vocabulary terms and then when trying to solve the crosswords.

3) Oral production: they make use of the target language during the whole class, especially at the beginning when they participate in the oral activity and at the end.

4) Writing: they produce a crossword puzzle and then solve another one.

5) Reflection upon target language: they need to be careful in order not to make mistakes when typing the words on the online dictionaries but also when completing the crosswords.

6) Reflection upon the culture: there is a strong connection between foreign dictionaries and culture, and students reflect on this by taking into account the creators of the dictionary and the audience. Some definitions may be different according to the culture (for example, with the use of autumn and fall).

To see more tutorials and lesson plans, you can visit my blog: https://emicanepa-ict.wixsite.com/myple

References

♦ Consejo Federal de Educación. (2012). Núcleos de Aprendizajes Prioritarios. Educación Primaria y Secundaria. Lenguas Extranjeras. Retrieved in October 2020 from http://www.me.gov.ar/consejo/resoluciones/res12/181-12_01.pdf

♦ Sneed, O. (2016, May 9). Integrating Technology with Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved in October 2020 from https://teachonline.asu.edu/2016/05/integrating-technology-blooms-taxonomy/