Are you looking for Wordle classroom ideas for your middle school ELA classroom? In the last few weeks, Wordle has become a very popular word game in many households. However, it is very easy to incorporate Wordle into your ELA classroom, and it really is the perfect word game for students. There are many engaging activities in which you can bring this game right into your middle school or upper elementary classroom. Check out this blog post for exciting ideas on how to use Wordle in your classroom.
What is Wordle, and How Do You Play?
Wordle is actually very simple.
First, the board has six rows and five letters per row. Choose a 5-letter word to place in the first row. It is strategic to pick a word that has different letters like “world” and “stare”.
Once you hit enter, the program will tell you if your letters are in the correct spot by highlighting them green, and if you have letters in the word but are in the wrong spot by highlighting them yellow. If the letter is NOT in the word at all the program will grey the letters.
Next, you continue working your way down the board by using your letters and word strategies to figure out the word. The goal is to try to figure out the word in the least number of rows.
Wordle Classroom Ideas
Here are some engaging classroom ideas where you can incorporate Wordle:
- Use Wordle for a bell ringer at the beginning of class. Have your students logon to the website, and have them work on the word puzzle for the first 5-10 minutes of class. See who can solve the Wordle in the least amount of rows first.
- Have your students work on the Wordle collaboratively. Have your students pair up, and work on the Wordle together.
- Use Wordle as a “Fun Friday” treat.
- Assign the Wordle as an extra credit activity in Google Classroom.
- Have your students create their own Wordle for their classmates. How fun is this? See my FREE template later in this post.
Other Games Like Wordle for Your Classroom
If you are looking for Wordle classroom ideas, check out these other word puzzle websites you can incorporate into your classroom:
1. Word Master – Here is a very similar website to Wordle. Unfortunately, sometimes school districts block certain sites, and this might be a great alternative for your classroom. Is has the same exact premise!
2. Hello Wordl- Similar in both its spelling and website design, Hello Wordl is accessible for free online.
Users follow the same rules as Wordle and try to guess the word in six tries. And players even have the ability to change the number of letters in the word they are trying to guess. If you’re looking for even more challenge in your Wordles, that’s what Hello Wordl was made for.
The best part of Hello Wordl is you can play over and over, and you do not have to wait until the next day! Win!
3. Kitty Letter– If you students are looking for a word app for their phone, they need to check this one out! If they like the game, “Exploding Kittens”, this is from the same designers. Kitty Letter gives players a set of letters from which players have to create words. Every word created, in turn, creates an army of cats. Here are the links to the iOS app and Android app.
4. Ooodle-Fill the Grid– I cannot leave out my math teachers! Here is a Wordle for math! Your students will have to fill in a math grid, and it is perfect for order of operations, addition and subtraction, and other math skills.
Collaborative Wordle Classroom Ideas
Now that you have some ideas on how to use Wordle in your classroom, how would you like a collaborative Wordle Template for your students?
Grab your copy of this template right HERE.
How to Use the Wordle, Oh My! Template
- Once you grab a copy of the template, assign the template in Google Classroom or whatever platform you use with your students. Make sure to set it as “Each student has a copy”.
- Following, have your students pair up, and share their template with their partner, so they can play together (You want to make sure the students can work on the Slide collaboratively). Each student will choose their own five-letter word they will keep hidden until the end of the game.
- The fact in Google Slides they can share the document, makes the game so much fun and engaging.
Other Vocabulary Activities for Your Students
Are you looking for other engaging vocabulary activities for your middle school students? Check these out:
I hope you have so much fun with your students and introducing Wordle into your classroom!