The Gold Rush word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

The Gold Rush word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this Gold Rush puzzle set for my 3rd and 4th graders during our westward expansion unit. The kids had heard about people finding gold but had no idea why everyone rushed to California in 1849 or what life was like there. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like gold, rush, California, 1849, forty-niner, miner, pan, pickaxe, claim, strike, boomtown, supply, fortune, hardship, and prospector. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the vocabulary finally make sense.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about whether most miners actually got rich. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple gold pan and pickaxe drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 3rd through 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers name one challenge miners faced on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.