Word Hunt

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Look carefully to find hidden words in a school yard.
• Collaborate to put words into sentences that make sense.
• Discuss ideas and observations about word order, capitalization, punctuation, and directionality.

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Materials

For the group:

• Words on cards (See Preparation section.)

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Preparation

• Read and familiarize yourself with the scavenger hunt.
• Copy the following sentences into a word-processing document, or prepare other sentences that are appropriate for the group. Size the words as large as possible to fit on a single page. Use a sans serif font, such as Ariel, Calibri, or Helvetica.
  
  Some very smart children looked for words.
  They looked in the school yard.
  Max looked high.
  Kim looked low.
  Soon they found twenty-four words.
• Print the page and cut out each individual word. Be sure to include the period after the words that end sentences.
• Hide the words in the schoolyard just before the scavenger hunt begins. If weather does not permit outdoor activities, hide the words around a classroom, cafeteria, or auditorium.

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Activity Steps

1. Tell children that today, they will go on a hunt in the schoolyard to find hidden words. Explain that the words are printed on cards.
2. Walk children to the school yard, and point out to them where they are allowed and not allowed to look for hidden words.
3. Call “Go!” to start the hunt.
4. Circulate as children search for word cards. Ensure that they stay in the designated area. Children may search for words individually or with a partner.
5. If children have difficulty finding all of the words, tell them when they are getting nearer to a word as they move across the school yard.
6. Have children continue searching until all of the words have been located.
7. Have children form a circle, holding the word cards they found in front of them. You may want to partially redistribute the word cards so that each child has at least 1 card.
8. Invite each child to read aloud the word or words they have found. Help children define words as needed.
9. Have children put all of the words in the center of the circle.
10. Lead children to collaborate to lay out the words in 5 sentences that make sense. Encourage them to explain out loud their thought process. Direct children to use clues such as capitalization and punctuation to help determine word order.
11. When the group is satisfied that the sentences make sense, have a volunteer read the sentences out loud.
12. Discuss the results of the hunt. Ask children these questions.
    • What were some of the easiest hiding places? What was the most difficult hiding place?
    • How do you know which words begin a sentence? (These words begin with a capital letter.)
    • How do you know which words end a sentence? (These words have a period after them.)
    • Can any of the words be placed in a different order? (Yes, repeated words can be switched. Names can be switched. Very can be used to describe several words.)

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Variations

1. Modify the words and sentences to meet your students’ needs.

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