Connect Four
Connect Four lays out sixteen English words hiding four secret groups — students work out which four words belong together, four times over. It’s a free, addictive connections-style puzzle that pushes vocabulary and reasoning, with words from CEFR Pre-A1 to B1 and nothing to prepare.
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How to Use Connect Four in Class
Connect Four lays out sixteen English words hiding four secret groups of four. Students work out which words belong together, four times over — a free, brain-teasing connections puzzle for the projector.
Ways to use it in class
- Starter puzzle: open the lesson with one grid to wake the class up.
- Group competition: teams race to solve the four groups first.
- Explain the links: winners describe what connects each group in English.
- Consolidation: build a grid from a finished unit’s vocabulary to review it.
Why it supports learning
Spotting the hidden groups makes students test and discard connections — a problem-solving process that strengthens the semantic links between words and gives working memory a proper workout. The discussion it sparks (“no, these go together because…”) produces a lot of reasoning and language, turning vocabulary review into an active, collaborative challenge.
Who it’s for
Best from A1 up, where students can read several words at once; vocabulary is CEFR Pre-A1 to B1.
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