Articles word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this articles puzzle set for my 2nd and 3rd graders during our grammar unit. The kids could say "a dog" and "an apple" but had no idea when to use "a" versus "an" or what the word "the" was called. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like a, an, the, consonant, vowel, sound, specific, general, one, certain, any, and article. Examples include a cat, a dog, an apple, an elephant, an hour, the moon, the sun, the only one, and the best. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the article rules finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about why we say "an hour" even though H is a consonant. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple apple, cat, and moon drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 2nd through 4th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers write two sentences one with "a" and one with "an" on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.