Puzzles as Clues in our Call Number Scavenger Hunt

 4th and 5th graders are beginning a new series of lessons where they learn to better use our library catalog. The essential question is 

How can I find what I want in the library? 

I used a series of puzzles as clues in a call number scavenger hunt to launch the unit. It served as a fun and engaging entry point, and students were able to successfully apply the learning the next week.

4th grade students work through their clue.


Ultimately, I want students to be able to 

  1. Identify their need or interest 
  2. Use their skills to find a book using the catalog 
  3. Locate what they want/need
In the past, I have found students to be moderately successful using the catalog, but not nearly as successful locating the books they want. I found students frustrated.  I decided to start with the ultimate goal and practice these skills first.

After a brief conversation about the different library "neighborhoods" and what we could find there, students broke into teams and began the scavenger hunt.

jigsaw puzzle
Students scanned a QR code & solved a 10 piece puzzle to find their clue (a call number).

students look for books on library shelf
Students located a book with their given call number.

Groups took a picture of the spine as proof of their finding and moved on to the next clue.

There were 5 neighborhoods in total and a majority of groups found all 5. The following week, students did their first library catalog lesson of the year and identifying the call number on Destiny was SO much easier than it was in past years. Many students then applied their learning and located the book that interested them. I didn't have to help anyone with this part. They were proudly self-sufficient.

student worksheet and chromebook demonstrating success
This student then located this book and checked it out. Success!

Creating the puzzles


There are SO many steps to creating the puzzle, but I worked out the kinks when I did this previously.

1. Create the image needed for the puzzle. I used google slides and downloaded a jpg.
call number image used for clue


2. Upload the jpg to imgur. (Click the "New post" button to do this)
new post button on website

3. Right click on your uploaded image and "Copy image address"

4. Go to Jigsaw Explorer and paste the image address (from part 3) in the box for image URL (the first box)

5. Decide on the number of pieces you want and click "Create the Jigsaw Puzzle." Try one!

My takeaways

Any time I take our learning and gamify it I feel like I have more students interested and invested in the activity. They were determined to finish all 5 challenges. They got competitive.

Starting the unit with a "game" set a fun, engaging, and active tone. On day 2 when we began our Destiny Discover catalog thinking, students were invested - they were able to exercise their skill from week 1 and many students asked if we could do the scavenger hunt again.

I created the puzzles with 10 pieces for a reason. 10 pieces felt like the right size challenge. If there were fewer, it would have been too easy. If there were more, it would have taken too much time away from the real "meat" of the activity. Students were able to complete these in 1-2 minutes and move on to the "scavenger hunt" part of the activity.

Time: An activity like this takes time to create. I actually created 2 sets of clues so not all students were going to the same shelves. Creating and uploading 10 images and then creating 10 puzzles was time consuming.   I definitely can not take this amount of time to create every lesson, but it was worth it and I absolutely can and will reuse it.




Location: Massachusetts, USA

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