European Acrostics

In addition to the puzzle and solution, there is commentary accompanying each puzzle which contains information about the author and his or her writing. All solutions, questions and commentary are in English.

As well as being a set of very challenging puzzles for private individuals to solve, European Acrostics has also been designed as a cooperative learning activity for Intermediate and High School classrooms whose language of instruction is English. What follows is a sample lesson plan, subject to teachers' modifications:

Students work in small groups using electronic devices as learning aids to solve each of the puzzles cooperatively.

The teacher provides one copy of the same puzzle for each group which then competes with the other groups to provide correct answers. This is then followed by:

a) Discussion of the solution excerpt
b) Individual written assignment due at a later date
c) Marks awarded for each group for its order of presentation of the correct solution
d) Individual marks for the written assignment

Questions in each puzzle include the following topics: