In the first part in our series, “Classic Novels Through Crossword Puzzles,” we reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird. Now, we’ll cover Animal Farm, George Orwell’s warning of how those among us can easily become corrupted by power. Although shorter in length, this classic novel has many details teachers can cover in an Animal Farm crossword. Make your crossword puzzle now, or find examples below.

Ways Teachers Make Animal Farm Crosswords

Although each classic novel has specific details and insights to cover, certain trends carry from novel to novel. Most teachers create vocabulary crosswords for Animal Farm and other classic novels. Many also create crossword puzzles for specific chapters in Animal Farm. Crossword puzzles are also a great opportunity to go over general review.

Then, teachers make Animal Farm crosswords in ways that wouldn’t apply to other classic novels. The characters, for example, provide a rich area for test (and therefore crossword puzzle) material. While other crosswords for classic novels will review who the characters are and what role they play in the plot, Animal Farm crosswords have the unique opportunity to dive into the allegory of the story. Students will answer questions such as, “Who does each character represent historically?” and, “Who does each animal represent in terms of class?” The puzzle below provides an example of how to review Animal Farm characters through crosswords.

Crossword puzzles could also go beyond Animal Farm into George Orwell’s larger body of work to include 1984. Since both of these works focus on similar themes, a crossword might focus on those themes. A crossword could also highlight common words he used (if any), and how his work represented a certain time in history.

Making and Sharing Puzzles

With examples of how other teachers made Animal Farm crosswords in mind, you can make your own. As you’re making your puzzle, think about how you phrase your clues. For example, vague or obscure clues will be more difficult to solve.

A crossword built solely for vocabulary might be completely solvable without reading the book. Mixing and matching clue types, on the other hand, will ensure both reading comprehension and vocabulary building.

As with most classic novels, you’ll also want to ensure that your crossword can only be solved by reading the book and not through other materials. For example, you’ll want to make sure your crossword puzzle clues and answers aren’t available through SparkNotes. One sure way to make sure your students read the book is to give evocative but insignificant imagery that wouldn’t make its way into SparkNotes. If one character has a unique outfit, it might have no larger meaning but a reader would remember it.

Once you’re ready to share, you might want to introduce your crossword puzzle as review for a test. If you administer quizzes for the novel, make a puzzle with clues that help students reassess difficult questions. In fact, your puzzle could even serve as an alternative to a fill-in-the-blank style quiz or test. There are a number of ways to make a crossword for your class.

Embed with the link below:

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Teachers are always coming up with wonderful new ways to turn classic novels into crosswords and word searches, too. Be sure to like and follow us for the next in the “Classic Novels Through Crossword Puzzles” series. And if you’d like to see a post on a specific book, let us know in the comments! We love to hear what your class is currently reading.