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Recommendations for Teaching my 3rd/1st Graders the States


kagmypts
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My 3rd and 1st graders are learning states and capitals this year as well. Our Co-Op is doing a state study this year with lots of activities, but at home it's just a supplement so all we're doing is CC Cycle 3 memory work (basically just audio of states and capitals by region) and flashcards. They've got 20 down so far and we're only 6 weeks in. It's not the most thrilling for me, but they honestly are loving memorizing them.

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I have a 1st and 3rd grader too. I use this lapbook (free!)

 

http://marinecorpsnomads.com/2009/02/united-states-lapbook.html

 

I also found a state workbook in the target dollar spot back in August.

 

We just recently started using this online software for review (great to be able to select a region instead off all 50 at once)

 

http://sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm

 

 

Hope this helps!

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The girls learned the names of the states by memorizing the Fifty Nifty states song and the capitals by memorizing Wakko's States and Capitals song. Location is reinforced with Scrambled States (books and game), puzzles (Scrambled States puzzle and GeoPuzzles, my eldest is working one right now for fun), and online games.

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Stack the States AND Stack the Countries! My kids are addicted and I like how the full version of the app also teaches flags and capitols as well as national parks! And seriously, I am not joking when I say the kids are addicted and learning a ton.

 

We also don't have a firm curriculum for it, but we do current events and every time we do it they have to look the state up on a map. Just by doing that, they know most of them. It can be relatively painless to teach that way.

 

Cindy

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Thank you for all of the options! I am intrigued by Stack the States, but we don't have any Apple product (or Smartphones for that matter) so apps don't work for us.

 

For those who worked with 1st graders, did you also do capitals at the same time? I am leaning toward just teaching him the state names for now.

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... we're just using the Stack the States app at the moment; and I may add States and Capitols Wrap-Ups. This is a timely and useful thread -- I'm glad to know of these resources, thanks to all!

 

ETA: regarding first graders: the Wrap-Ups are very age appropriate for learning capitols, if you want to do that.

Edited by serendipitous journey
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The girls learned the names of the states by memorizing the Fifty Nifty states song ...

 

I learned this song in elementary school and can still list the states alphabetically :)

 

I bought my kids the Melissa and Doug License Plate Game, and my dd8, learned all the capitals in 3 days by quizzing anyone she could get to play along. It is intended to be a travel game, but it is also a fun way to learn to identify the states and their capitals.

http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-License-Plate-Game/dp/B001QVI9CI/

 

We are also using the book Smart About the Fifty States.

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My kids learned the states pretty early by reading Scrambled States of America over and over again. I also had a wooden state puzzle (the kind for preschoolers with knobs on the pieces) and then we moved into a 100 piece state puzzle. Playing with various flash cards and coloring Dover state coloring pages. Looking at wall maps over and over again. Writing a list of the states with abbreviations to practice spelling and then quizzing for fun.

 

We're working on capitals and some brief histories of each state now. We're using a state quarter collection and Sea To Shining sea for that.

 

Great States Jr is a fun game as well.

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We're using A Helping Hand's State study and love it. You can do it at any pace you want. We've chosen to do all 50 states in two years, so we do a state a week, and when we come to our state, we'll do a 6-week study on it. So far, we've only covered three states -- start our fourth state tomorrow -- but we review the dates the states entered the union (they teach the states in the order they joined the union) and the state capitals. We also make a meal or dish that is characteristic of each state each week.

 

If you don't want to take two years to go through the curriculum, they have schedules for finishing in a year, etc. You pick which speed is good for you.

 

Oh, and we're doing the state study in conjunction with the state geography study, also by A Helping Hand. It's very interesting to see why the states are shaped the way they are, etc. Very interesting stuff.

 

We also do have Stack the States, which they love, but they also look forward to our state study each week too.

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