Theme of the week
A board full of letters, a riddle for a theme, and one word that runs from edge to edge and ties it together.
When to use it
A Monday starter that introduces the week's topic without naming it. The puzzle corner of a team newsletter or a class wall, solved in people's own time. A five-minute warm-up before any unit that has a clear family of words behind it.
What makes it this
Built on the Strands generator with these changed. Everything else is the default.
- Theme
In the builder: Theme words
- Spangram
In the builder: Theme words
Preview
View only — copy it to play.Theme of the week: tuning up
Trace a word by dragging through touching letters in any direction, or tap them one at a time and tap the last one again. One word stretches right across the board and names the theme. Every letter belongs to exactly one word, so the leftovers give the last ones away.
7 words
Why the example is built this way
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Seven words from every part of the theme.
Take words from each section of the topic, not just the obvious corner. A player who guesses the theme early still has to name parts of it they hadn't thought of.
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The theme is a riddle, the spangram its answer.
The Theme card sits above the board as a hint and the Spangram names it outright. If the two say the same thing, the riddle is spent before the first word.
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Count the letters before you start.
There is no size setting: the board is worked out from the total letter count, and only some totals fill one exactly. The spangram also has to be at least as long as the board is wide.
Build it yourself
- 1 Open the Strands builder and fill in the Theme words tab.
- 2 Share the link with your players, or embed the activity in your own site.
Or skip the building: copy this example and swap in your own content.