Grade 6 Medieval History word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

Grade 6 Medieval History word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this medieval history puzzle set for my 6th graders during our social studies unit. The kids had heard of knights and castles but had no idea what words like feudalism, serf, or manor meant when we started learning about the social structure of the Middle Ages. They also kept mixing up the roles of lords and vassals and didn't understand how the system worked. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like medieval, knight, castle, king, queen, lord, lady, serf, peasant, feudalism, manor, chivalry, joust, siege, and Middle Ages . I also included a few like "cathedral" and "crusade" because they kept coming up in our class discussions . Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the vocabulary finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess or independent practice. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about the spelling of "chivalry" (it's a tricky one) or whether a serf is the same as a slave (it's different but complicated—they always have opinions about it) . The crossword I use for partners or as a review, and I usually have a feudal pyramid diagram nearby for the kids who need the visual support to see the hierarchy of the medieval social structure . I added a couple simple castle, sword, and crown drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 6th through 7th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers write one fact about life for a serf or a lord on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.