Searchsel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A search query with the hidden words “Wikipedia”, “die”, “free” and “encyclopedia”. (Words have been highlighted)

A search puzzle is a type of puzzle in which words or terms are hidden in a letter- filled square or rectangular grid that must be found. Colloquially, search puzzles are also referred to as letter salad, letter grid or word search puzzles due to their appearance. However, the term letter salad is also used for a puzzle form in which letters are randomly distributed over a limited area, from which meaningful words or concepts can be formed.

Areas of application

The Suchsel is used, among other things, in the educational field as a learning game for children to consolidate the learning process, especially in primary school age. Here it is primarily used for exercise and the development of the ability to concentrate and visual perception. This is of great importance in the further course of learning to read, as the text has to be scanned and captured by moving the pages around the word and phrase. In particular, a search engine in which words are hidden in the reading direction trains the eye accordingly. But also capturing a word image at a glance is promoted by a search element.

The area of ​​application of a search item is not limited to preschool or elementary school education . It is also used in conjunction with other letter games to support learning a foreign language up to and including adult education .

In addition, puzzle magazines contain search sels of various levels of difficulty.

Difficulty levels

The level of difficulty can be varied in different ways depending on the application:

  • Search direction: Basically, the words must be searched for in the corresponding reading direction of the respective language, horizontally or vertically. In most languages ​​this is from left to right. In addition, the level of difficulty can be increased by the fact that the words can also be hidden in the diagonal or opposite to the reading direction - for example read from right to left.
  • Size of the search field: The size of the search field can also be used to increase the level of difficulty. The larger the search field, the higher the concentration of the solvent must be.
  • Word count: The number of words hidden in it is very closely linked to the size of the search field and the level of difficulty. The more words are hidden in a consistently large letter grid, the lower the level of difficulty. If one considers both factors together, one often speaks of a word density.
  • Choice of words: The choice of words can also be used to change the difficulty with regard to the area of ​​application. If unknown words are used for the solver, the latter has to concentrate to a greater extent, which increases the ability to learn. If more familiar words are hidden, this serves in a broader sense to consolidate what has already been learned.
  • Notes: Depending on the level of difficulty, various notes are often given. For example, the number of words to be searched for or even a list of hidden words can be given.

literature

  • Hanna Sörensen: Letter games (from the series My friend Conni.). Carlsen, 2005. ISBN 3-551-18436-4 .
  • Christian Fischer et al. (Ed.): Individual support: learning difficulties as a school challenge. LIT Verlag, 2009. ISBN 3-8258-1722-9 .
  • Bernd Wehren: Word search: playfully consolidate and improve the basic vocabulary from A to Z. Brigg Pedagogy, 2012. ISBN 3-87101-837-6 .
  • Andreas Gold, Katja Rühl, Elmar Souvignier, Judith Mokhlesgerami, Stephanie Buick: We'll be text detectives: Teacher's manual. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011. ISBN 3-647-31005-0 .
  • Jochen Vatter: Suchsel for English lessons: vocabulary training with self-control in three differentiation levels (5th to 8th grade). Persen, 2014. ISBN 3-403-21041-3 .

Web links