The Leap Pad teaches state capitals, and I think it is a great way to learn them. That way they learn to read and maybe spell the capitals too. Of course, it is not everyone learning them at one moment. The Leap Pad can be used with headphones which makes it a great center for use by those who finish their work and need something else to do. Besides recognition of states and capitals, it also has population density and distance between states all on the same page.
When my grandchild came to visit the summer he was five, I planned to teach him the states that border his state. I was astonished to learn that he had used the Leap Pad to learn all the state and all the capitals.
Another resource you may want to check out is a book called "Yo, Sacramento!" by Will Cleveland. It uses auditory and visual cues to provide ways to remember. For example, the capital of New Hampshire is Concord. The cartoon shows a nude hamster (which sounds like New Hampshire) riding on the Concorde jet. It's very funny and my students learn the capitals and the presidents this way every year.
I have a "Fifty Nifty" song, but it only teaches the names of the states in alphabetical order. Is there another with the capitals? Do you know who sings it?
By the way, if you are looking for a great song for not only teaching the names of the states, but their locations on the map, I highly recommend "Sing and Say the U.S.A." by Nancy Thomas Roberts. It was advertised on this website and I (and my students) love it!
The 50 State Capitals Song
Tune: Turkey in the Straw
Author Unknown
Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Indianapolis, Indiana;
And Columbus is the capital of Ohio
There's Montgomery, Alabama south of Helena, Montana
Then there's Denver, Colorado under Boise, Idaho.
Texas has Austin, then we go north to
Massachusetts, Boston; and Albany, New York
Tallahassee, Florida; and Washington, D.C.
Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Nashville, Tennessee
(Elvis used to hang out there a lot, ya know)
Trenton's in New Jersey north of Jefferson, Missouri
You got Richmond in Virginia, South Dakota has Pierre
Harrisburg's in Pennsylvania and Augusta's up in Maine
And here is Providence, Rhode Island next to Dover, Delaware.
Concord, New Hampshire, just a quick jaunt to
Montpelier which is up in Vermont
Hartford's in Connecticut, so pretty in the fall
And Kansas has Topeka, Minnesota has St. Paul
Juneau's in Alaska and there's Lincoln in Nebraska
And it's Raleigh out in North Carolina
And then there's Madison, Wisconsin and Olympia in Washington
Phoenix, Arizona and Lansing, Michigan
Here's Honolulu, Hawaii's a joy
Jackson, Mississippi and Springfield, Illinois
South Carolina with Columbia down the way
And Annapolis in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay
(They have wonderful clam chowder.)
Cheyenne is in Wyoming and perhaps you make your home in
Salt Lake City out in Utah where the buffalo roam
Atlanta's down in Georgia and there's Bismarck, North Dakota
And you can live in Frankfort in your old Kentucky home.
Salem in Oregon, from there we join
Little Rock in Arkansas, Iowa's got Des Moines
Sacramento, California; Oklahoma and its city
Charleston, West Virginia and Nevada, Carson City.
I teach a multiage class and my first through fourth graders love the song Rap of the states found at plank road publishing...you can download for .99 and it is really fun. My parents love that they know the states and capitals at age 6.
email if you want more info
lmacdonald@woh.rr.com
This song can be purchased on CD. You may recall several years ago, a cartoon titled "Animaniacs". It was a Steven Spielberg conceived cartoon from Warner Brothers. They released an album of songs from the show, one of which was the song Fifty Nifty. It's not called that on the album, but it's word for word as posted by Mrs C. There are also songs on the album singing about the names of the planets and the nations of the world.
I am a student in Troy, Michigan, I have a states and capitals test coming up and i wanted an easy way to remember them all. Thank You very much for your help.
When I was a kid, there was a show called Animaniacs, and the Warner Bros. (and Dot) sang a song that listed all the states and their capitals. I loved that song and can recite it to this day.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Indianapolis, Indiana;
And Columbus is the capital of Ohio
There's Montgomery, Alabama south of Helena, Montana
Then there's Denver, Colorado under Boise, Idaho.
Texas has Austin, then we go north to
Massachusetts, Boston; and Albany, New York
Tallahassee, Florida; and Washington, D.C.
Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Nashville, Tennessee
(Elvis used to hang out there a lot, ya know)
Trenton's in New Jersey north of Jefferson, Missouri
You got Richmond in Virginia, South Dakota has Pierre
Harrisburg's in Pennsylvania and Augusta's up in Maine
And here is Providence, Rhode Island next to Dover, Delaware.
Concord, New Hampshire, just a quick jaunt to
Montpelier which is up in Vermont
Hartford's in Connecticut, so pretty in the fall
And Kansas has Topeka, Minnesota has St. Paul
Juneau's in Alaska and there's Lincoln in Nebraska
And it's Raleigh out in North Carolina
And then there's Madison, Wisconsin and Olympia in Washington
Phoenix, Arizona and Lansing, Michigan
Here's Honolulu, Hawaii's a joy
Jackson, Mississippi and Springfield, Illinois
South Carolina with Columbia down the way
And Annapolis in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay
(They have wonderful clam chowder.)
Cheyenne is in Wyoming and perhaps you make your home in
Salt Lake City out in Utah where the buffalo roam
Atlanta's down in Georgia and there's Bismarck, North Dakota
And you can live in Frankfort in your old Kentucky home.
Salem in Oregon, from there we join
Little Rock in Arkansas, Iowa's got Des Moines
Sacramento, California; Oklahoma and its city
Charleston, West Virginia and Nevada, Carson City.
that states and capitals song is really awesome!!! i spent hours trying to memorize it, i finaly got there! it helped me alot because my test was on 4-26-07 and i hadn't studied until like 4-23-07! the good news was that sence i memorized it, imade a 98! but i didn't miss a capital, i missed an abrv. boy do i wish there was an abrv. song!
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10-13-2005, 10:38 PM
