Description
The Memorial Day Puzzle Stations will take students on a secret mission around the classroom, reading comprehension passages, and answering questions! This escape room has students decode interesting facts about the history of Memorial Day, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and how to honor those who sacrificed their lives.
The Memorial Day Puzzle Stations is a great reading comprehension activity with a twist of fun that has students deciphering codes. The codes include ciphers, morse code, cryptograms, Polybius squares, and a final 4 digit code based on the decoders/clues.
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.
Christine S –
I have purchased many of these Escape Room activities, and my students are always engaged, and learning. Thank you.
Dina G. –
My students enjoyed using this resource. I like that it’s set up exactly the same for different holidays, so if you have used them before, students know what to expect. That makes it easier to assign! Thank you!
ESL Teacher on Call –
Students enjoyed cracking the codes to these Memorial Day puzzles. It’s a fun way to ease students into the Memorial Day Weekend.
Stephanie F. –
My students enjoyed this resource very much! I will use this again next year.
Dawn D. –
Fun way to keep students engaged the last week of school while teaching them about Memorial Day!
Samantha M. –
My students love these! They are so engaged and really learn the material through this activity.
Julie Y. –
This was a great way to keep students engaged. I let my students work with partners, which worked out great. It challenged students, but not enough to make them frustrated. The first page was the most challenging for my students, and required the most assistance from me. The rest students students were mostly able to figure out with minimal or no help.
Kim K. –
This was a great way to supplement our curriculum for our year end review. My students love doing the escape rooms. It is amazing how putting “Escape Room” on an assignment has them so eager to complete review worksheets! Thank you!
Tammy W. –
This was a great activity for my students to learn about Memorial Day.
Carmichaelfa321 –
My students and I love all of these! They are so engaged and have fun learning
Evonne C. –
I left this as a packet for a substitute to do with my class. They were arranged in pairs and worked together to solve the clues. When I returned, I asked my students what they had learned. I was very impressed with the details they were able to share about Memorial Day, especially the new information they picked up from the reading.
Kenzig’s Kreations –
I love these resources, as they are simple for students to complete. However, I had students complete this entire thing in less than 15 minutes. I would definitely suggest this for younger kids (I teach 8th) if you are wanting it to take longer. I of course had kids not finish at all, but I would say most groups were done within 25 minutes or less.
This was a good activity for when 1/4 of my students were on their DC trip and we were done with our lessons for the year.
Debra C. –
My students enjoyed doing this activity. It fit my class schedule perfectly. There was a lot of information included.
Scenic City Learning –
This was a challenging yet fun activity for my 4th graders to do after testing. Thanks!
Jennifer H. –
I love Think Tanks because the students learn WHILE they’re having a lot of fun! I use Think Tanks to supplement our social studies curriculum because these resources make the history come alive. History is so important, and with these resources my students are able to have an enjoyable learning experience!
RACHAEL M. –
My kids absolutely loved this! We did another one similar to it for Pearl Harbor and they were excited to use this one as well! I love that they learned interesting facts about Memorial Day and had fun while learning. They stayed engaged through the whole thing! Highly recommend!
Angelina E. –
Students really enjoyed
Stacey C. –
Thank you for this clear and concise resource.
Mande J. –
I love this resource!
Cassi Countryman –
Loved using this for my classroom!