Description
The Civil War Reconstruction Puzzle Stations activity will allow students to move around the classroom solving puzzles! The puzzles have students decode interesting facts about Civil War Reconstruction, Civil War amendments, Lincoln and Grant.
The Reconstruction puzzles at each station allow students to decode history! The puzzles include ciphers, Morse code, cryptograms and a final 4 digit code based on the decoders/clues. This is a NO PREP, PRINT & GO activity!
What’s Included?
- 4 Reading Passages
- 4 Puzzle Phrases to Decode
- 4 Decoders
- 4 Differentiated Decoders
- 10 Multiple Choice Questions
- Teacher Instructions
- Answer Key
- Hint Guides – How To Decode
- Completion Signs
Watch the video or click on the preview button to take a closer look at everything included!
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
Give students a chance to decode puzzles, move around the room, and read passages, all while actively learning! Students will work in pairs (or individually) and race against the clock. A friendly competition always increases engagement. No prior knowledge is needed. Each code will reveal interesting facts about the topic.
Puzzle Types:
- Cryptogram
- Morse Code
- PigPen Cipher
- Polybius Square
Options for Use:
- Anticipatory Sets
- Unit Review
- Early Finishers
- Gallery Walk
- Stations
- Sub Plans
- Rewards
Click HERE to grab a F-R-E-E Color by Number Activity!
»»» Thinktivity™ Reading Passages : Click HERE
»»» Comprehension Challenge and CSI Spy Mystery: Click HERE
»»» Printable ESCAPE ROOMS: Click HERE
»»» Text Marking Detective: Click HERE
»»» Scavenger Hunts: Click HERE
»»» Digital Secret Message Activities: Click HERE
»»» Puzzle Breakouts: Click HERE
»»» Interactive Google Slides™: Click HERE
»»» Digital ESCAPE ROOMS: Click HERE
»»» Color by Number – Text Marking: Click HERE
»»» Digital Reading Passages: Click HERE
»»» Task Card Review Games: Click HERE
»»» Interactive Game Boards: Click HERE
»»» Reading Passages and Text Marking: Click HERE
»»» Back to School: Click HERE
»»» Collaborative Posters: Click HERE
»»» Digital Interactive Notebooks: Click HERE
»»» Grades 3 and 4 Escape Rooms: 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.
rachel G. –
Students stayed engaged. I loved that it challenged my problem solvers!
Teaching with Heart 1 –
This is a helpful resource for my classroom that I’ve used as stations and independent work.
Christa W. –
I used this as a review before our unit test on the Reconstruction Era!
A Social Teacher –
I really enjoyed this resource. It was very helpful to use it with my classroom of emergent MLLs with interrupted education, and I did not have to make any revisions.
Sandy L. –
Very engaging way to introduce the topic. Students enjoyed this activity.
Ashleigh –
Thank you for this resource. It is exactly what I was looking for!
Joni W. –
My students loved this as part of our Civil War unit!
Erica G. –
My students loved this. It is a good resource for your classroom!
Renee S. –
These were such a fun way to learn about Reconstruction!
Lurie H. –
My students loved this. Thank you for sharing this!!
Mercedes J. –
My students loved this resource. Anything that I can find that is hand on will always keep them engaged.
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.
Jessica A. –
My students enjoyed using this resource to learn about this topic.
Kimberly M. –
My kids love this resource. They have such a great time and are engaged!
Sarah H. –
This was a great resource to reenforce my lesson on the Civil War, and it was an added bonus that it got my students up and moving during class.
Equipped to Educate –
I loved this escape room and so did my students! Its the perfect level of challenging and stimulating. Every student was so motivated and fully engaged.
I especially appreciate that they learnt so much and gained a lot of knowledge while feeling like they’re just having fun….
Katie T. –
I love these escape rooms. I’ve used two so far and the students love them. The codes are just hard enough to break to make them think, but not so hard that they give up. It definitely helped to refresh their memories after a long break and bring them back into ‘learning mode’ in a fun and interesting way.
Math Actually –
My students LOVED this! They were engaged. We did it in pairs and they were able to complete it within 1 45 minute class period.
Amanda L. –
My kids always love these escape room activities. They like being able to use their code cracking skills and its a good review activity for them.
Adam C. –
Some students have issues with the codes but with a little prompting they can usually do well. And honestly many of them pick it up faster than I expect. I use it every year with 8th grade!