Teaching your students to play SUDOKU has so much more value than just fun. Working on these puzzles gives your learners experience with problem solving skills, critical thinking abilities, perseveration practice, and improved focus. If you haven't introduced SUDOKU to your class, let me help you.
Use this animated PowerPoint presentation to break the process down into digestible bits.
Once you've given your students the tools to solve the puzzles, give them puzzles! These are differentiated:
I use SUDOKU for:
- a critical thinking center
- differentiated instruction for enrichment and gifted students
- challenging fast finishers
- an anchor activity
- indoor recess
- a class reward
You may wish to provide "pre-sudoku" practice with Latin Squares. They give similar practice on 3x3 through 7x7 grids. Here's an example:
