Description
The California Gold Rush Reading and Puzzle Escape gives students a chance to decode puzzles and read passages, all while actively learning! This reading and puzzle activity covers the following topics: California Gold Rush, boomtowns, ghost towns, mass migration and Westward Expansion.
Students will practice reading comprehension and critical thinking skills as they rotate around the room solving puzzles and visiting 6 reading/puzzle stations. Great addition to your Westward Expansion unit.
Students will work in pairs (or individually) and race to complete 6 puzzles. A friendly competition always increases engagement. Students will use reading comprehension skills to complete the 6 short passages, 12 multiple choice questions and 6 puzzle phrases.
You do NOT need a lock! You do NOT need fancy envelopes! You do NOT have to cut out puzzle pieces! This product is meant to make your life easy! This is a NO PREP, print & go escape room style activity!
This activity can be used for individual work, partner activities, anticipatory sets, unit review, sub plans, extension activities, early-finishers, gallery walk, stations, or just for fun the day before break. No prior knowledge is needed.
What’s Included?
- 6 Half page reading passages
- 6 Puzzle decoders and puzzle phrases
- 12 Multiple choice questions
- Teacher directions
- Answer key
- Student directions
- Hint cards
How are these different than the original Think Tank Escape Rooms?
- New leveled reading passages (same relevant information)
- 4 of 6 NEW puzzles and decoders!
- Less paper and ink!
Types of Puzzles
- Cryptogram
- Qwerty
- Atbash
- Text Message
- Pigpen
- Polybius
In addition to learning or reinforcing the subject matter, these escape rooms encourage teamwork and critical thinking. As a “timed” challenge, students will be engaged from beginning to end!
Skills Used:
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Peer Collaboration
- Problem Solving
To prevent students from simply decoding the puzzles, ALL questions need to be answered correctly in order to solve the final code. This ensures understanding!
Benefits of Use:
- No Prep
- Print and Go
- Cross-Curricular
- Highly Engaging
- No Locks Needed
- No silly envelopes to stuff
- No fancy shapes to cut out
Options for Use:
- Anticipatory Sets
- Unit Review
- Early Finishers
- Gallery Walk
- Stations
- Sub Plans
- Rewards
»»» Comprehension Challenge: Click HERE
»»» Printable ESCAPE ROOMS: Click HERE
»»» Interactive Google Slides™: Click HERE
»»» Digital Secret Message Activities: Click HERE
»»» Digital ESCAPE ROOMS: Click HERE
»»» Color by Number – Text Marking: Click HERE
»»» Digital Reading Passages: Click HERE
»»» Interactive Game Boards: Click HERE
»»» Reading Passages and Text Marking: Click HERE
»»» Back to School: Click HERE
»»» Collaborative Posters: Click HERE
Copyright Information :
© Think Tank Teacher LLC. Please note – all material included in this resource belongs to Think Tank Teacher LLC. By purchasing, you have a license to use the material but you do not own the material. You may not upload any portion of this resource to the internet in any format, including school/personal websites or network drives unless the site is password protected and can only be accessed by students, not other teachers or anyone else on the internet.
Ms Cheng Math –
A fun activity for my 8th grade students. I taped the stations around campus to add to the thrill of the escape room. Some of the codes were a little confusing for my students at first so I recommend doing this activity yourself first, and being there to clarify instructions (instead of using it as a sub plan.)
Suzannah E. –
This was a fun way to review what we had learned! The kids were super engaged. I had them in mixed ability groups of 3. They worked for about 25 minutes, skipping around if stuck on a code. I appreciated having the code hints to display after that time. The students loved the activity, and asked to do more like this.
Rebecca T. –
I absolutely love lessons and activities created by Think Tank. They incorporate critical thinking skills and allow students to apply their knowledge on the topic.