World Music Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

World Music Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this world music vocabulary puzzle set for my 3rd and 4th graders during our music and culture unit. The kids could name a few instruments like guitar and drums, but they had no idea what words like folk, reggae, or samba meant when we talked about music from different parts of the world. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like folk, reggae, samba, salsa, Celtic, flamenco, sitar, mbira, steel pan, didgeridoo, and djembe. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the global music 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 difference between salsa and samba or whether reggae is only from Jamaica. The crossword I use for partners or as a review after we've listened to a few tracks from different regions. I added a couple simple djembe, steel pan, and sitar drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 3rd through 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers pick one instrument from the puzzle and write a sentence about where it comes from on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.