Vocabulary Puzzles 1 . . - Grade 1 - K-2 Top Picks - audio-visual review

Instructor, April, 2002 by Warren Buckleitner, Ann Orr

School Zone Interactive, Win/Mac, $19.99, www.schoolzone.com

First graders will find terrific exposure to hundreds of words and reading skills in 30 straightforward and fun vocabulary puzzles. They'll complete page after page of puzzles with instructions and text readalouds. The valuable early-reading practice is great for emergent readers, offering tasks that are nicely tailored to children's developing skills.

Kids will match shapes of words to their outlines, find words that belong in categories such as "things" and "people," and make words plural by adding the appropriate endings. There are fun word searches, mazes, and puzzles that provide practice with number words, months, and days of the week. The arcade games, which include a game with a balloon-popping clown and one with a ball-swatting cat, add variety to the rote skill practice.