crossword craziness

Here's how you take an ordinary crossword puzzle and turn it into a great speaking and listening activity. First make two copies of the crossword puzzle. Cut off the clues from the part of the puzzle that the students will write in. The separate the 'Across' clues from the 'Down' clues.
Now you should have two copies of the actual crossword puzzle, the part with the boxes and numbers on it. On one of those copies, fill in all the 'across' words. Then glue the half-filled in crossword onto a separate piece of paper. Next glue the 'across' clues below it.
On the other copy of the crossword puzzle fill in all of the 'down' words. Glue this and the clues for the 'down' words on another piece of paper.
Now you have your master copies of the incridible crossword speaking activity. Make copies of the two sheets of paper to distribute to your students.
In class, pair the students up. They take turns asking each other 'What is 1 down?' or 'What is 3 across?' Their partner will then read them the clue and they will guess the answer.
This activity is great listening and speaking practice for the students, as well as vocabulary review, not to mention its tons of fun. And the best part is it will work with any crossword puzzle!!!

Cheers,
Jordan -South Korea