5th graders all across the United States work on state reports as well as learning each state's capital. There's no doubt that learning all 50 states and capitals can be a difficult feat! Try mixing it up with some friendly classroom competition, teamwork and music! Check out a few different ways to help your students become geography masters by transforming rote memorization of states and capitals into fun and engaging activities they will beg for.
Flashcards have always been a way to memorize important school concepts. However, these U.S. States and Capitals Flash Cards are way more engaging than standard flashcards. They go beyond just identifying the state and capital for each state by also sharing "must know" information with interesting facts about each state. These facts include additional information such as the state bird, flower nickname, etc. I love how each card shows where the state is located on a United States map. The best part is that the bundle comes with 3 sets of flashcards, so you can easily use these in a center!
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I shared previously how my students do state reports and in addition to making a state float they complete a Color Your Own "All About My State" Poster. My students love researching information about their state and presenting what they learn in various small groups. By engaging with these posters and hearing their peers present, it reinforces a lot of social studies and geography content in a fun way!
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Adding music to learning totally engages students. Adding this Rock 'N Learn® States & Capitals Rap Audio CD & Book to our classroom has been a total game changer! The rap starts out alphabetically, and then there's a mix which adds a little challenge. The students BEG to listen to this each day and it has helped their memorization of the states and capitals more than any other trick I have tried in the past. The book has the lyrics too! We even created a rap battle review where we added in these Learning Resources® Lights & Sounds Buzzers . I called on two students to "battle" aka quiz them using this rap. The students "buzz out" when their opponent answers faster or out raps them.
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Looking for a fun way to informally quiz your students on their states and capitals memorization? If so, then these State & Capitals Matching Puzzles are the perfect fit for you! In my classroom we like to add in a little bit of competition. I have each table group work together and compete table vs. table. The students quietly and quickly work in their table groups to find each matching pair. I have two student helpers who help me check the progress and accuracy of each table group. I call them, the President and the Vice President. They check the answers of the tables who finish to make sure there aren't any mis-matched pairs. The table group that accurately matches the puzzles first earns a prize.
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