ESL PHOTO

CROSSWORD
PUZZLES
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By Paul J. Hamel

T A T I O N

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ESL PHOTO
CROSSWORD
PUZZLES
By Paul J. Hamel

ESL Photo Crosswords is an e-book collection of 20 puzzles and detailed lesson plans
on how to present the crossword and provides a variety of suggested vocabulary building techniques. The worksheets are appropriate for any level of ESL teaching and appeals to students of all ages. This collection of crosswords includes ESL survival and
life skills vocabulary relating to everyday subjects such as the names of animals, fruits,
vegetables, body parts, car parts, clothing, common used verbs, food containers, food
menu items, home furnishings,, household chores, means of transportation, occupations, opposites concepts, professions, school items, and tools. The worksheets can be
used at home, school, or for any other independent setting. The e-book opens in a PDF
and can be printed out from that page.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Grateful acknowledgments are due to Michael A. Breyer for his feedback on the content of these lessons
and for proof reading.

Copyright 2010 by Paul J. Hamel

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means electronically, mechanical, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of
the copyright owner.

INTRODUCTION
The crossword puzzle has been around since Egyptian times. They first appeared in
English during the 1800s in London. Ever since 1913, when the first American crossword
puzzle appeared in the New York World, the crossword puzzle has become an important
vocabulary learning tool both in recreational and educational terms.
Simon and Schuster produced the first crossword puzzle book for recreational use in the
1920s. Today, crosswords are found in daily newspapers, magazines, and crossword
books.
The crossword puzzle has become an effective vocabulary learning tool and
unquestionably plays a prominent role in education. The value of crossword puzzles in
teaching English as a Second language is clear.
Crossword puzzles help students:

build research skills using a dictionary

develop dictionary skills
develop writing and spelling skills
have fun in doing challenging vocabulary building assignments
improve reasoning, spelling, deciphering, and word attack skills
keep their minds active
learn new words on a topic
make inferences, evaluating choices, and drawing conclusions
refresh and help retain the vocabulary they have just learned
visualize the new words through photos

Crossword puzzles help teachers:

extend their lessons

keep their students interest
provide extra homework or classroom assignment to improve English skills
provide pronunciation practice
provides additional method of vocabulary building
reinforce new vocabulary words
supplement other vocabulary building methods
use a review tool that is less intimating and less threatening than tests

Paul J. Hamel, June, 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE

ITEM #

PAGE

Animals

0130

5-6

Body Parts

0131

7-8

Car Parts

0134

9-10

Clothing and Accessories

0132

11-12

Common Verbs 1

0142

13-14

Common Verbs 2

0143

15-16

DO or MAKE Expressions

0146

17-18

Food Containers

0092

19-20

Food Menu Items

0137

21-22

Fruit

0066

23-24

Home Furnishings and Appliances

0139

25-26

Household Chores 1

0144

27-28

Household Chores 2

0145

29-30

Occupations

0140

31-32

Opposites Concepts

0147

33-34

Professions

0141

35-36

School Items

0133

37-38

Tools

0136

39-40

Transportation

0138

41-42

Vegetables

0065

43-44

Other Educational Materials by Paul J. Hamel

45

ESL Beginning Level

Crossword Puzzle Vocabulary Building

Common Animals

Directions: Fill in the boxes with the names of the animals in the photos.
1 down
2 down
4 down
5 down
3 down

down

1S
3

H
E

down

11

down

8
9

10

11

12

down
15

13

down

13

14

16

17

18

19

down

20

14

21

down

22

23
www.CrosswordWeaver.com

15

10

down

aross

20

11

across

19
18

down

across

across

elsworksheetsandlessonplans.com

12

across

15

across

20

across

across

21

across

across

across

16

22

across

across

across

17

across

23

across

Paul J. Hamel 2010 Lesson 0130

ESL Beginning Level Crossword Puzzle Vocabulary Building: Common Animals

Teachers Notes

Before distributing the worksheet, begin the lesson with a conversation. Ask your students general
questions about common animal names such pets, farm animals, birds, and pests. Ask them to name
and describe as many as they can. List them on the board. Make sure that the lists include some of the
following animals:
sheep
turkey
bear
chicken
donkey
frog
mosquito
rabbit
snake
bee
cow
duck
goat
parrot
rat
spider
butterfly
deer
fish
horse
pig
seal
squirrel
cat
dog
fly
monkey
pigeon
lizard

Distribute the worksheet and identify and discuss each animal item. Ask simple questions about their
shapes, sizes, colors, sounds, where they are found, and any other distinguishing features.

Working from the board, show your students how to form the plural of the names. Spelling Rules: Note
that both the singular and plural of deer, fish, and sheep are the same. In the words butterfly,
fly, and turkey the final y changes to ies.

Demonstrate how to do a crossword puzzle. Explain the concept of DOWN and ACROSS. Then, show
the students how to fill in the puzzle using the visual clues. Do a few examples with the whole class.

Allow some time for your students to complete the crossword puzzle. You may want to have students
work in pairs or assigning it as a homework assignment.

Correct the answers by projecting an overhead transparency image directly onto the board on which
students can take turns writing the answers on the board. See solution below.

Encourage the students to think of as many other animals that they can name such as those that are
found in the wild, in zoos, or on the farms of other cultures.

Play a crossword puzzle game. Draw or project a grid onto the board or screen as
well as a list of the new animal names. Divide the class into two teams and flip a coin
to determine which team goes first. Have the first student of the first team go to the
chalkboard and write a word that uses one letter of an existing word in the crossword.
If the word fits and is correctly spelled, then give one point for every letter of the new
word. Then, go on to the first student of the other team. If the word is incorrect, erase
it and go to the opposite team.

As an additional activity, play Tic-tac-toe: Draw a tic-tac-toe grid and fill it in with animal names. Divide the
class into two teams, each team assigned the symbol X or 0. Then flip a coin to determine which team
begins. Have the students take turns in an orderly fashion by going down the rows. Tell the first student
of the first team to use any word from the grid in a sentence. If the sentence is correct, replace the word
with the teams symbol (X or 0), otherwise, leave the word. Go on to the first person on the other team.
Continue in this manner until one team wins by having three consecutive Xs or 0s in a row vertically,
horizontally or diagonally. Keep score by giving one point for each game won. After each game, replace
all the words in the grid with a different group of animal names each time.

s tuden t s
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CROSSWORD PUZZLE SOLUTION:

DOWN: 1 sheep, 2 bee, 3 bear, 4 chicken, 5 squirrel, 6 frog, 7 dog, 8 rabbit, 9 fly, 11 pigeon, 13 turkey,
14 lizard, 15 mosquito, 20 seal
ACROSS: 4 cat, 5 snake, 6 fish, 7 deer, 10 parrot, 11 pig, 12 butterfly, 15 monkey, 16 rat, 17 horse, 18
ant, 19 donkey, 20 spider, 21 duck, 22 goat, 23 cow
elsworksheetsandlessonplans.com

Paul J. Hamel 2010 Lesson 0130