Brain Breaks - Wordle Challenges for Students and Classrooms

I've long been a huge proponent of finding creative ways to give students a break. Call them "Brain Breaks" or whatever. I believe these types of activities have real benefits for students. These breaks can also be a fun way to interact with students outside of the content or they can be connected to your content in creative ways. I find that my students typically are able to refocus and are usually more productive after we engage in a quick creative brain break. 

Today I wanted to share something that could be a great brain break that has connections to words and critical thinking. 

Wordle is an online daily word game that has became a popular social trend in 2021 and continues to be played and shared in 2022. 

Wordle is a browser-based puzzle game that’s easy and quick. The goal is to guess a five-letter word with no hints or clues. When a player types a word, different colors will indicate if they’ve gotten some letters right. Green indicates a correct letter in the right spot, yellow shows that the letter is right but the placement is wrong, while gray indicates that the letter isn’t in the word. Players have six tries to get it right. 

Wordle is can be a great critical thinking activity for the brain. I think it is also a good way to build some word and vocabulary skills, even if if users are only exploring 5 letter words. Wordle can be a individual student classroom brain break or even a collaborative session for groups or the whole class. 

Quick tip: If you are displaying the Wordle on a projector and want to play with multiple classes throughout the day, consider using Google Chrome Incognito Mode. It will be the same word each day, but it won't remember or show your last attempt or block your from trying again. 

When the correct word is discovered the answer and guesses will be displayed on the screen and  the player can also share their score without exposing the answer to the world. 

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜

⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜

⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Teachers can even create Wordles with custom words using My Wordle.  I think this could be a great way to practice vocabulary or spelling! 

The New York times has a great article about the creator of the game. 

Wordle is a Love Story

If you are stumped and down to your last guess, you can always explore a list of words using a site like Best Word List to help find the answer. These types of sites won't give you the answer, but they will help you explore possible words when all else fails. 

If you are looking for additional Brain Break resources and ideas for you students, be sure to check out these resources.

• Wordle Inspired Games for the Classroom (Tony Vincent)
• Brain Breaks - Primel Number and Ooodle Number Challenges for Students and Classrooms
• Brain Breaks - Google Games and More
• Incredibox Brain Breaks - Curious Engagement Matters
• Brain Breaks - Primel Number Game Challenges for Students and Classrooms

Let me know if you have any questions. #HappyLearning