Procedure

1. Determine what vocabulary, concepts, or skills you want students to practice. Decide whether the focus is on content knowledge (e.g., science terms; historical events) or language skills (e.g., parts of speech).

2. Write a short passage, paragraph, or set of sentences related to your subject. Ensure the text includes key terms or concepts that students need to learn.

   • Write your own passage or consider using an AI chatbot (see Robo-Reads for guidance). 

3. Choose words that are important for understanding the topic (e.g., subject-specific vocabulary, numbers, names, actions).

4. Label the blanks with clues so that students know what type of word to insert (e.g., noun, verb, historical event, scientific term).

5. Have students work individually or with a partner. 

6. Suggested scaffolding: Consider starting students with a silly example to help model the activity before providing the content-specific example. If needed, you can also provide a word bank.

7. Optional Extension: Have students create and play their own Word Play passage.