States and Capitals Warm-Up
Clane Hayward,
Burnet Middle School
6-8 ESL
Purpose: This lesson plan is intended as a class warm-up that is scaffolded for
use throughout the semester. This lesson plan is intended for 6-8 grade English
Language Learners with low to intermediate English skills, especially those
students who strongly resist writing and publicly speaking English.
Objectives: Students will learn, memorize, correctly state, and write complete
sentences about the capital cities of the United States.
TEKS Objective: The student understands how to construct and interpret maps
and other graphics. 205 Create thematic maps, graphs, charts, models, and
databases representing various aspects of the United States. (10A)
Materials: Index cards, colored pencils, Creating America 8th Grade Social
Studies textbook, scratch paper
Stage 1: Student will trace or freehand draw 3-5 states, one state per card, using
page R34 “Facts About the States.” Students should not include the name of the
state but should write the name of the capital within the borders of the state.
Repeat for each class period as a warm-up, until all states have been
represented. Laminate the index cards.
Stage 2: Using 2-4 laminated index cards, the student should identify the states
by shape and capital, using page A7 US Political Map. Students should write the
state and the capital using examples of proper sentence construction on
blackboard/whiteboard/overhead (“Austin is the capital of Texas.” The capital of
Texas is Austin.” “Texas’ capital is Austin.”) Spend 5-7 minutes each day verbally
quizzing students: students should correctly state United States capitals in
English from memory.