Description
The Oregon Trail Puzzle Stations will get students up and moving around the classroom while they visit four stations! Students decode interesting facts about the Oregon trail, Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.
This puzzle stations activity has students reading passages and decoding a puzzle. The puzzles include ciphers, Morse code, cryptograms 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.
Carmella W. –
Great way to start the groups off teaching them how to work together to be more successful
Jennifer O. –
Thanks for a great project for OR Trail! It worked well for me.
Alishia Y. –
I was so excited for to find this resource. It was engaging and nostalgic for me!
Mischief & Magic in the Middle –
This was a great resource and met my needs nicely.
Kelsey J. –
This worked well in my classroom for my students, thank you!
MARLISE D. –
Great activity, would recommend for life skills special education.
Susan Burdick –
This resource is great for my life skills class. Thank you!
Teaching in T-shirts –
We did these activities for a review of the Oregon Trail before we dove into notes and learned more about this during the history of education chapter with my future teachers.
Sarah Reynolds –
This is a great resource! My students really enjoyed it. Thanks!
stefanie G. –
My students were so engaged with this resource. It allowed them to enjoy learning about the Oregon Trail.
Layla W. –
I used this resource with my juvenile detention population and behavioral program students. This was excellent and adequate for the multiple levels. Students were actively engaged.
Kendra H. –
The students were super engaged with this activity. It fit perfectly with our Oregon Trail and Westward expansion unit!
Rebecca S. –
This was a great closing task for my 7th graders. They had just finished their simulation on the trail and then they competed for fun Friday to accomplish the puzzles.
Megan G. –
My students absolutely love your escape rooms. They were so intrigued about The Oregon Trail and this was a great addition to our lesson.
Crystal G. –
This was a fun way to learn about the Oregon Trail and move around the room.
Kathleen C. –
I used this as a no-prep activity for a substitute. The kids loved it!
Jennifer L. –
My students love these puzzle stations! So much fun!
Michelle M. –
My students truly enjoyed this lesson and learned some key components of the Oregon Trail. I had students read and highlight main ideas then make two quiz questions from the reading that we could use in a blooket. Then the solved the puzzles. Incoming classes said “I heard we are doing a fun activity today.”
Joanna M. –
These puzzles were fantastic. My students really enjoyed using them, and they provide a great basic introduction to a unit on the Oregon Trail/Westward Expansion/Pioneers. They were challenging enough to be fun for my higher kids, while still being accessible for my lower readers with a little more direct support from me.
cheryl L. –
Great resource! My students were actively engaged and loved the puzzle solving!