words

Geography
States and Capitals

Osmo

Grades

4th / 5th / 6th

Environment

Individual station, Groups of 2-3, or whole class using projector

Materials

Osmo base + Osmo Words app + Letter tiles + iPad 2 or higher

Objective

This activity is both an engaging and fun way for your students to memorize all 50 states and capitals. Meets 5.9 History Social – Science Content Standards for California Public Schools.

Difficulty Level

  • First letter shown (states)
  • Medium: Entire word (states)
  • Hard: First letter shown (capitals)
  • Very Hard: None

Activity

Part 1 – Before the Lesson

    1. Go to my.playosmo.com/words

on the iPad

  1. Create an account.
  2. Enter link in the url bar: my.playosmo.com/words/public/album/1p8of3ztog
  3. Click ‘Download to iPad’
  4. Congrats! Now you have the album available in your Osmo Words Library.

If you are using multiple iPads, go to my.playosmo.com/words on each iPad, log in, and download the album.

Part 2 – After teaching U.S. states and capitals

  1. Open the Osmo Words app and click on ‘Library’
  2. Deselect all other albums and select only States and Capitals
  3. Hit ‘Play’
  4. Start the lesson by having your students play on ‘Easy.’ If they are new to states, have them play a second round on ‘Easy.’ Once they are familiarized, have them play ‘Medium’ which has no hints!
  5. Play ‘Hard’ and ‘Very Hard’ if you want to challenge your students’ knowledge on state capitals.
  6. Give your students printable maps or states / capitals index lists when the pace is going slow.