Description
The Transcontinental Railroad Escape Room gives students a chance to get out of their seats and solve clues! This escape room activity covers the following topics: Transcontinental Railroad, workers, challenges and development. No prior knowledge is needed. I prefer to use this as an introduction activity but it could be used for review of a unit as well.
What’s Included?
✅ Four half page reading passages
✅ Four decoders
✅ Questions for each passage (multiple choice, fill in the blank and true/false)
✅ Teacher directions
✅ Answer key
✅ Student directions
✅ Hint cards
✅ How to decode puzzles
✅ How to save time if the activity is taking too long
✅ Words to know: A glossary of terms
✅ Early Finisher Activity: Text marking
Students will practice reading comprehension and critical thinking skills to solve puzzles. Each clue will reveal interesting facts about the Transcontinental Railroad.
You do NOT need a lock! You do NOT need envelopes! You do NOT have to cut out puzzle pieces! This product is meant to make your life easy! Just print and go!
Please look at the preview to determine if this resource/reading level works for your age group. Younger students may need some help with some of the more difficult clues (hint cards and how to). Students have to answer questions about each passage to ensure understanding.
Students may work individually, with a partner or in small groups to solve four puzzles in order to determine the final code. I prefer partner work for best results!
An answer key and easy to follow teacher directions are provided.
Time needed: 45-60 minutes (it really all depends on your students reading skills)
You can decide how much time your students have to complete the activity. Maybe some students don’t finish, but that’s OK! They still learned something new! I often stop once the first three students solve all the clues. Time management strategies are included.
Basic subtraction skills are needed, a calculator may be used if needed. Example: 1629-1624=5
Amanda H. –
I used this as sub plans for my class. Worked out great!
Jessica H. –
This escape room activity was a great addition to our unit on the Transcontinental Railroad. The puzzles for each clue were just the right level of challenging for my 4th grade students to stay engaged while also demonstrating some productive struggle. Will definitely use in the future!
Lisbeth J. –
Used with 4th grade Benchmark Advance Florida as a culminating activity.
Melissa L. –
This was a highly engaging resource for my students to review the Transcontinental Railroad!
Jennifer L. –
My students had a lot of fun with this activity. However, I did not have fun copying it due to the large amount of black ink. The pages were sticking because of it being saturated. So I had to copy it single sided and had to use more paper. I would recommend a second copy of the activity with minimal black blocks to save ink and paper.
Ruth G. –
This activity was so much fun and the kids loved working together to complete.
Taylor C. –
Fun and engaging resource to reinforce concepts learned!
Kimberlee B. –
My kids had a blast with this. It had a lot of information and helped me ensure they were understanding the material
Lesily D. –
It was great and my students enjoyed it. It was easy to prepare and use.
Tempest Shaw –
My students loved this activity. Very engaging and organized.
Ashley W. –
We absolutely LOVED this resource! It was so fun seeing our groups quietly work together to be sneaky about their answers. It made learning this unit so much more enjoyable!
Tammy Smith –
This was a great way to supplement our new social studies book.
Ellen H. –
My class enjoyed this resource. We read about the transcontinental railroad and then used this as a fun way to gain more information. The children were able to complete the task without much help from me. It did take us an hour to complete it. I enjoyed not having to do much to have the activity ready for uses. I plan to use this escape room again next year.
Laura G. –
My students loved this escape room. It was a great review of what they had learned.
Rebecca T. –
My students love escape rooms, and this one was no differents. This was a great review at the end of our unit.
Lacey Degener –
Kids enjoyed it! thanks!
Kathryn B. –
Excellent Resource!
Meaghan H. –
I used this resource with my gifted and talented students as part of our transportation unit. They were so engaged and loved this activity!
Kayla B. –
My students love these!
Karrie T. –
This activity was a fun and engaging way for students to learn about the Transcontinental Railroad. Thank you for a great resource!