How to use these states & capitals flashcards
Memorizing the capitals is a rite of passage in 4th and 5th grade social studies, and a classic homeschool geography goal. Fifty cards is a lot to quiz all at once, so most teachers break the deck up by region. The full list is loaded here, so you can print everything or delete down to this week's region before printing. At 8 cards per page the deck takes 7 sheets of paper, printed on both sides.
- Print all 50, or delete lines to keep one region (the Northeast, the South, the Midwest or the West) for this week.
- Choose 8 or 10 cards per page; state names fit in large type even on the smaller cards.
- Print double-sided on the long edge so each capital lands right behind its state.
- Cut on the dashed lines. The small number in the corner matches each front to its back if the deck gets dropped.
Tips
- Quiz both ways: turn on "Swap sides" to put the capitals on the front for a harder round.
- Pair the cards with a blank map: students place each card on its state before flipping.
- For a review game, BingoSheet turns the same list into bingo cards with the capitals as the calls, and CrossSheet has a state capitals crossword.