Wordle in the classroom

What is Wordle?

Created by British software engineer Josh Wardle in October of 2021, Wordle is a web browser-based word game that has recently become a viral hit, particularly among high school students. Upon opening the game, the user is met with a five by six board of squares and a keyboard. The user then has 6 attempts to guess a five letter word.

Once you type in a five letter word and press enter, the screen reveals how close that word is to the correct word by displaying letters in yellow if they are in the word, but not in the correct spot, and in green if they are in the right spot. The letters are grayed out if they are not in the word.

The correct word is the same for every user, and resets every twenty-four hours. Players try and guess the word in the fewest guesses and as fast as they can, competing with themselves and others.

The game is also extremely accessible, since it is based in a web browser. No need to download an app.

Once you complete the day’s game, you are shown your statistics: how many games you’ve played, your current streak, longest streak, how many guesses it has taken for you to guess the word, and the percentage of games you have played successfully. You can share your results through a series of yellow, green, and white squares that match the results of your sequential guesses.

On January 31st, the New York Times announced that they had acquired Wordle for a “low seven figures.” But don’t worry, the game will remain free to all players.

Nevertheless, Wordle’s popularity is still growing. In fact, people are creating games that follow the same or a similar formula, focusing on different topics. For example, Taylordle is a game resembling Wordle almost exactly, except each word is related to Taylor Swift. Or Globle, in which users try to identify a country based on its shape. 

The above was provided by guest author: Anna Grace Riegle

Wordle in the classroom

Have a few extra minutes before the bell rings? Pull up Wordle on your projector and play as a class. If all of your students have a device, they could each pull it up independently and see who gets the word first.

You could have students compete in groups over a number of days and give the group with the best Wordle stats a homework pass (or something else they would value) at the end of the week.

You can also have students create their own Wordles! Read this post to find out how.

Here are some more posts you might find helpful or to explore on your own start here.

Create your own Wordle

Keeping track of parent contact

5 Snacks teachers love

5 ways to handle first year teacher stress

Survival Mode

Basic student teaching goals

Advice from students

If you found this post on Wordle helpful, make sure to pin, post, and tweet to share it with other new teachers who might also benefit from it!

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