Emily Hagen

November 6, 2013

Social Studies Instruction

Unit Lesson Plan: The Gold Rush

Overview of the Unit:

In this social studies unit, I will explore many different aspects of the Gold Rush with my

students. This unit will be an interdisciplinary history experience and will also expose my

students to music, art, literature, and mathematics all while learning about the Gold Rush. This

unit is designed for 4th graders living anywhere in the state of California and plans for three 45-

minute social studies lessons every week.

This unit fits nicely into the middle of our school year in 4 th grade. We will have already

completed units focusing on California’s geography and Spanish explorers in California, the

Spanish missions, and the Mexican rancho period. After our unit on the Gold Rush we will

continue our drive through California history by focusing on California becoming a state,

immigration, Los Angeles, and continue into the 1900s with the Great Depression and more. The

Gold Rush clearly connects to California’s content standards for 4 th grade. The opening

paragraph of the 4th grade Social Studies Content Standards states, “Students learn the story of

their home state, unique in American history in terms of its vast and varied geography, its many

waves of immigration…its continuous diversity, economic energy, and rapid growth.” The Gold

Rush is a huge part of what makes California unique, and having this unit lesson in my back

pocket will be helpful since there is a good chance I will teach 4 th grade social studies at some

point during my career.

There are many, many different aspects of the Gold Rush for students to learn about, but I

will place my highest priorities on students’ knowledge of what life was like for different

groups during the Gold Rush – miners, women, Native Americans, immigrants, and

businessmen or entrepreneurs. I want my students to leave this unit with the knowledge that

different people had different experiences during the Gold Rush. I want them to leave more

empathetic than they had been before, more skilled at analyzing photographs, more open-minded

to learning, and more excited that they live in this state.

My vision for social studies instruction is interdisciplinary and “an expanding buffet of

ideas and strategies.” This Gold Rush unit includes plans to learn the California Strut (line

dance), write letters or journals to family members, map out how people got to California,

complete internet research, go through an exciting experiential immigration activity, read books

like By the Great Horned Spoon and The Ballad of Lucy Whipple, create a business plan,

research prices and discuss supply and demand, and pan for gold. Content will be supplemented

with different physical objects relating to the Gold Rush or camp life (gold, fools gold, pan,

clothes, coins, arrowheads, fiddle, campfire songs, pictures to analyze, etc). My students will get

“a little bit of everything” with this unit. I hope to tap into all of the different intelligences and

instructional strategies to make California’s Gold Rush history come alive! We’ve got Gold

Fever here in Ms. Hagen’s classroom!

Content:

How did immigrants, settlers, and families get to California? What different routes did

they take? What were some advantages and disadvantages of each route?

What was life like during the Gold Rush for immigrants? [What different diverse groups

were in California and how were they treated? What jobs did they perform? ]

What was life like for Native Americans at this time? [Did they pan for gold? What were

their relationships like with the influx of new miners and immigrants?]

What was life like for miners? [What was camp life like? Where did miners sleep? What

did they eat? What did they do for entertainment?]

How did the miners mine for gold? [What tools did they use? Was it easy or hard? Was

there tension between miners?]

What was life like for women in California during the Gold Rush? [What jobs did women

have? How were they treated? Were there many women in California?]

What opportunities were there for businessmen and entrepreneurs in California? [Were

they successful? Who were some of these people and what did they do?]

How did the Gold Rush play a role in California becoming an agricultural and industrial

powerhouse?

Value Outcomes

My hope is that this unit will support my students in becoming empathetic learners,

historians, and individuals. My 4th graders will practice walking a mile in someone else’s shoes

and develop the skill of being looking at a situation from many different viewpoints. By the end

of this unit I want my students to understand that the gold rush experience was a varied one, to

say the least. Miners, entrepreneurs, women, immigrants, 49ers from the East Coast, Native

Americans, and children all had different experiences during the gold rush, and in those

categories individuals had different experiences, as well – some struck it rich while others didn’t

make a dime. My students will be exposed to all of these different viewpoints and challenged to

step into the shoes of that person and imagine what they were feeling or thinking. Empathy, the

ability to see or value what another person is feeling or experiencing, is a core skill for building

close relationships and maintaining friendships. By learning to empathize with different people’s

experiences in history, students will also be better able to empathize with people around them.

Many activities and the classroom or small group discussions that follow will help

students cultivate their ability to empathize. The journal entry/letter students write to a family

member will help them empathize with the loneliness miners felt being so far away from their

families and the immigration experience will help students understand how hard and scary it was

for Chinese immigrants to come to America without any English. My students will continue

developing their emotional intelligence in the area of empathy through the interdisciplinary

literature we read (see related literature), which will help them better understand the trials and

tribulations of gold rush life for children their own age.

List of Terms/Vocabulary

*All of these terms will come up and be reviewed in the culminating skit at the end of our unit. I

will start most days with a review of what we did the day before or a quick game of Pepper

asking questions about key vocabulary or questions about the gold rush so students hear the

information over and over again.

*I will assess students’ mastery with exit tickets – students will write the definition of the word

or use the word in a sentence that shows me they know its definition. I will do this at least once

with every word.

John Sutter – the owner of Sutter’s Mill, where gold was first discovered in California. We will

learn about John Sutter when exploring life as a miner and gold first being discovered.

Samuel Brannan – an American settler, businessman, and journalist most famously known for

opening a general store and selling goods to miners. We will learn about Sam Brannan while

studying entrepreneurs.

James Marshall – the first man to discover gold in California in 1848. We will learn about

James Marshall when exploring life as a miner and gold first being discovered.

49er – someone who went to California in 1949 to look for gold

Bonanza – a rich strike or a windfall

Gold fever – greed and the contagious excitement of the gold rush

Jump a claim – steal someone else’s claim. We will discuss this word when discussing life as a

miner.

Grubstake – having enough money to get your next meal. We will discuss this word when

discussing life as a miner.

Eureka! - California’s state motto. We will discuss this word when discussing life as a miner. I

will model/encourage students to use this word throughout the unit (and in other subjscts) when

they’ve discovered something exciting or have a new idea.

Motherload - a belt of very rich gold-bearing quartz veins. We will discuss this word when

discussing life as a miner and panning for gold.

Room Environment

I will use the layout of desks in my classroom (table groups) to foster collaborative group

work, teamwork, and a little friendly competition. Each table group will choose a gold rush town

to name themselves. They will complete various activities as a group, collaborate in discussion

as a group, and earn group points as part of my behavior management plan.

I will also use various bulletin boards across the room to showcase the hard work my

students are doing as they become gold rush experts. I will display their covered wagons and

accompanying writing (see make-and-take section), as well as the brochures they make around

the classroom. I will also display the WANTED signs the students and I create for ourselves (not

amazingly academic, but fun and decorative). The following bulletin board will highlight

important people in the gold rush and what they did. Students and visitors to the classroom will

interact with the flaps of the bulletin board to learn more about the people included.

Collection of Realia

Piece of gold

Pan, cradle, and long tom – the 3 objects used for panning for gold

Levi Jeans

Plaid shirt

Work Boots

Bandana

Pick/Shovel/Lantern/Bucket

Globe (to help with geography)

Introductory Activities

I will use music, images, and a PowerPoint Presentation with accompanying fill-in-the-

blank lecture notes to introduce students to the gold rush. The Social Studies Alive visual

discovery lesson will go along with the images I use. A PowerPoint/engaging fill-in-the-blank

notes (attached) will give students broad, general input about what the gold rush was all about

and why people were so eager to get their hands on some gold. This will be an initial basis of

knowledge that we’ll grow upon in the following weeks. Each student will also be given a sticky

note and will write down one thing that they are excited to learn about. We’ll refer back to these

sticky notes (keeping them displayed somewhere in the classroom) and celebrate all that we’ve

learned by referring back to them!

Related Literature

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman: Students will love reading about Jack and

Praiseworthy’s adventures searching for gold. Fourth graders will especially enjoy the

different characters they meet in this story from Dr. Buckbee, a horse doctor with a peg

leg, to Cut-Eye Higgins, the villain of the story. This book will expose students to

information we’re learning about (the routes to California, the hardships of life panning

for gold, different miners and their stories) in a fictional setting – it will cement what

we’re doing in history lesson and make it come to life in their minds. Students will be

able to relate to 12-year-old Jack and be excited by the adventure and drama this book

contains. There is also a Disney movie version of this book (called The Adventures of

Bullwhip Griffin that the class could watch clips from).

Patty Reed’s Doll by Rachel Kelly Laurgaad: This novel details the Donner Party’s

journey from Springfield, Illinois to California. It is told from the perspective of Dolly,

Patty’s tiny wooden doll at a level that “young readers can appreciate, laugh in the good

times, and sympathizing when the going gets rough and things look hopeless” (News

from the Plains, Oregon-California Trail Assn). I’d use this book to appeal specifically to

the emotions of my students. They realize that traveling to California was dangerous, but

this book will really put into perspective how dangerous and hard it actually was. I like

that this book has a female protagonist and By the Great Horn Spoon has a male

protagonist to appeal to both boys and girls in my class.

I also found a Patty Reed’s Doll Teacher’s Guide blog at http://pattyreedsdoll.blogspot.com/

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman: Another story about traveling to

California, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple is about a girl who wants nothing to do with her

new home of Lucky Diggins, California. This story is great for students to read because

they can easily identify with Lucy – she does chores, makes new friends, and has to deal

with loss, moving, and getting along with her parents. Besides being appropriate for the

social/emotional development of students, I’d use this book to show my 4 th graders what

life was like in a California town through the eyes of a child. I’d use this book to talk

about the language of the gold rush (pulling out phrases that might be odd to my students

but were normal for the time) and talk about gender roles of the time, especially since

Lucy’s mom Arvella loads all her kids up and heads out West after her husband died.

There is also a movie adapted from this book.

Other books I can use: If you Travelled West in a Covered Wagon by Ellen Levine, Boom Town

by Sonia Levitin, Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild by Kristiana

Gregory

Developing Skills in Geography/Economics/Government

Students will develop geography skills as we discuss the different routes that individuals

took to get to California. 1) by land from the eastern United States. It took about 6 months in

harsh weather conditions. 2) by sea. The tip of South America up to California. Boat tickets were

more expensive than traveling in a covered wagon, but it was less difficult and dangerous. 3)

land and sea. People sailed to Central America, crossed the isthmus by boat and mule, and took a

ship to California. This took about 3 months (see attached worksheet).

Students will also develop economics skills as we compare what prices were in the gold

rush era to prices now. We can also take this opportunity to talk about the concept of supply and

demand and how the sudden increase in population raised the prices of goods in gold rush towns.

(See attached Sam Brannan’s Sacramento Store worksheet)

Use of technology

The links below are great resources that students can use independently as they discover

more about a gold rush topic of their choice. The links include age-appropriate information and

pictures about the life of a miner, prospecting, commerce, law, entertainment, and many more

topics. We will use these websites as we research for our group project posters/brochures.

http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/fever01.html

http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/fever12.html

I also plan to listen to background music throughout the unit while students are working

independently or in groups to set the mood. This is a good youtube channel with fiddle

and bluegrass music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VNr08r2qyc&list=PLB4A8A16BB6B58D1E

PBS Gold Rush Strike It Rich Game:

o http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/sfeature/game.html

I also want to teach my students the California Strut Line Dance. This youtube link helps

with that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VUNZmvTVP4

The following link is an introductory video I can show on Day 1 of my unit

o http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/MrsThonus/social_studies.cfm?

subpage=347604

From a teacher’s perspective, the Internet is full of resources and lesson plans. One great

site for quality teacher activities, lesson plans, signs, resources, games, journal prompts,

and interactive notebooks is Teachers Pay Teachers. The following links show a few of

those resources: 1) mining journal 2) resource for By the Great Horn Spoon 3) Gold Rush

trading card activity

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/California-Gold-Rush-Mining-Journal-

594148

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-By-the-Great-Horn-Spoon-

A-Final-Project-DOK-Dodecahedron-653047

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/California-Gold-Rush-Trading-Cards-

415727

Guest Speakers and/or Field Trips

Teaching about the gold rush in the Sacramento Area is perfect because students are

living and learning within miles of where actual gold rush events took place. My fourth graders

will love going on a field trip to Coloma Outdoor Discovery School after we’ve finished this

unit. As the Coloma Outdoor Discovery School website states, the school has a gold rush

program designed for 4th graders that correlates with the California State Standards. At CODS,

“students live the Gold Rush: stories, songs, skits, and characterizations all help to convey the

social and economic community of early Coloma.” They have one, two, three, and four day

overnight programs that fourth graders, teachers, and parent chaperones can experience. These

programs use hands on experiences to teach students where 49ers came from and how they got to

California, if any actually struck it rich, how to identify and pan for gold, the importance of the

American River, effects of the gold rush on California, and much more. This experience supports

over half of my learning objectives, including how individuals traveled to California, how miners

mined for gold, how the gold rush played a role in shaping California, and what life was like for

miners. My students will go into this field trip prepared with an entire unit of knowledge behind

them – so they will be able to engage in discussion and have fun showing what they’ve learned. I

also want to take this field trip as an opportunity for students to learn even more; before we go

we will come up with questions and topics they want to learn more about while at Coloma.

Another field trip option would be taking a trip to the Folsom History Museum. Folsom’s

history began with the gold rush and the arrival of the railroad. Gold was discovered at Folsom’s

Negro Bar and led to the city’s rapid expansion. My students and I can enjoy an afternoon at

Folsom’s downtown and historic Sutter Street where we’ll see artifacts and treasures highlighting

history from the gold rush era. Students could complete a postcard, answer questions while

walking through the museum, or write questions for next year’s students to answer as they

engage with the content of the museum. This museum (which I’ve actually been to) highlights

how businessmen made history in Folsom (supporting my learning objective about the role of

businessmen and entrepreneurs), women’s contributions (what was life like for women during

the gold rush), as well as what life was like for miners and immigrants in the area.

Support for ESL Students

The needs of ESL students are addressed by my use of visuals, technology, videos, and

realia. Stephen Cary emphasized the idea of comprehensible input – teachers can make written

language more available to ESL students by exposing them to visuals, videos, objects, and

meaningful experiences before diving into hard text. All of these strategies are included in my

unit, but I will make sure to preview them with ESL students before I use them in the whole-

class setting. Being exposed to these teaching aids twice will help students to become

comfortable with them and will set them up to be successful in the learning that goes on that day.

Many, many of the activities in this unit have students working with a partner or in small groups.

This is another great strategy for ESL students because it puts them in an environment with

fewer students. Hopefully, they will be comfortable in this setting to speak, read, and write.

Having students work in the same table groups for the whole unit will also help ESL students to

build relationships, helping them to feel more comfortable and creating an environment that has

the least stress as possible.

Interdisciplinary Learning

I plan on making 4th grade one big California history party! From the books we read to

the math problems we do, the theme of bulletin boards, decorations on our door, or even our

classroom theme - why not use California history as an interdisciplinary learning experience to

the best of my ability?

a) In Language Arts/ Reading we will read literature described in the Related Literature

section. We will write journal entries related to these books, create mind portraits of

different characters, and discuss what is happening in these stories as a class and

collaborative table groups. This will be yet another opportunity for students to have

gold rush input so the learning really sticks.

b) In this unit we have one specific math activity where students compare prices and use

math to find out what prices back in the 1850s would translate to today. During math

instruction I create word problems with gold rush background and my student’s

names in the problems. For instance, “Andrew is a 49er and has $6 to spend on

supplies. A pan costs $1.35, a pickaxe costs $1.85, a pair of Levi’s costs $2, and a

lantern costs $1.65. What should Andrew buy to come as close to spending $6 as he

can? This unit will also walks hand-in-hand with the 4 th grade earth science standards

learning about the properties of rocks and minerals. Gold and fools gold will be two

of the rocks we learn about, and as we learn about the properties of these different

rocks and minerals we can pretend to be miners coming across them to discover all of

their different properties. The class can also make connections thinking about what

miners might have used these different rocks for based on their properties.

c) Students will create a readers’ theater dialogue in their table groups as a culminating

project in this unit. This will require students to put all of their heads together, use all

of the knowledge they have, and make the dialogue/play funny and entertaining! I

also plan on teaching students several line dances, including the California Strut

(mentioned in the Technology resources), that people might have danced to at get-

togethers in the mining towns or cities of California.

Make and Take

The students and I will make a covered wagon craft that also acts as a display for some of

the gold rush writing that we do throughout this unit. This art project is simple and fun, but is a

special way for students to show their writing and be proud of the work adorning the walls of our

classroom. The photograph attached at the back (my brother’s 4 th grade covered wagon) shows

what this craft looks like. This activity showcases student’s knowledge of how different miners

got to California, what the journey was like, and what they were feeling at the time.

Independent, Small-group, or whole-class project

My students will work together in their table groups to create a poster about a topic of

their choice that relates to the gold rush. Groups can choose to do this poster on a certain person

from gold rush history, a certain gold rush town, or another related topic. Students will get two

class period to gather resources and read (in the classroom with a textbook or resources I’ve

printed out or the computer lab using some of the websites stated in the technology section of

this unit plan). Students will have the next class period to put this poster together. It should be

colorful and contain relevant content information, but be fun to look at and read. Students will

put their creative skills and content knowledge to the test!

Finished product for permanent classroom or school display

The small-group poster project or readers’ theater culminating experience can both be

used as finished products for permanent display in my classroom or around the school. The

posters will be versatile and informative, so if displayed around the school readers would learn a

lot about many different aspects of the gold rush. We will videotape and take pictures during the

readers’ theater culminating experience. I will display the pictures around the classroom as a

reminder of all of the fun and hard work we put into that experience.

Culminating Experience

My students will create a readers’ theater play to display their knowledge of the gold rush

and tap into their creative side. Each table group will choose a scenario out of a hat to act out -

the different scenarios will cover all of the content knowledge we’ve gone over as a class.

Students will need to write and turn in a script to me that shows they’re making the readers’

theater factual and as authentic as possible. Students will have time to write their skit and

practice in class. I will encourage students to bring props and costumes from home and really

give the skit their all. Students can use their script during their skit, or they can try to memorize

their lines. On the day of our readers’ theater skit performances, I will rearrange our classroom

so a large space is available for a stage. Students will have time to change into their costumes,

grab their props, and practice their skit before performing them in front of the class. My students

and I will discuss how to be a good audience before we begin performing the skits. After each

skit, I will lead a mini Q&A session. I will ask the audience and the group members a few

questions related to the subject and lead the class in a loud round of applause for each group.

Assessment

The following section offers some questions that I can include in an assessment for my students.

The assessment will depend on what my students and I cover and their abilities/skills, so the

following resource will make it easy for me to compile whatever test best fits my students’

needs.

Examples of Free Response Questions I can include:

Yesterday we saw WONDERFUL skits from our classmates about the gold rush. Choose one

skit that you did not act in. Talk about the plot of that skit and include as many historical details

about the gold rush as possible.

What is one thing that you really enjoyed learning about the gold rush? Tell me as much about it

as you can.

How would you have been treated as a Chinese immigrant during the gold rush?

True/False

Those sailing to California around South America during the gold rush were said to have gone

around the horn. __________ (true)

Women and immigrants were discriminated against and could not vote or own land. Some were

even excluded from some mining towns. ___________ (true)

The gold rush was not an important event. A few people came, but it didn’t affect California very

much. _______ (false)

Map

(Include map of America and South America)

Some came to California by sea and some came to California by land. We studied 3 different

routes that most people took to get to California. On the map, draw 2 of the routes. Which route

would you have chosen? Why?

Parent Letter

The following parent letter will be printed on colorful paper and include a border and

pictures. This is a draft of what I would say in that letter:

Dear Parents,

Hello from Room ____! Your students and I are about to embark on a wonderful social

studies journey – learning all about the California gold rush! Students around the nation learn all

about their state’s rich history in 4th grade, and California has some of the most exciting history

out there.

Your students will not only learn factual knowledge about the gold rush, but they’ll also

be challenged to empathize with the different people groups involved in the gold rush and ‘walk

a mile in their shoes.’ Your son/daughter will learn geography related to the gold rush, be able to

identify the different routes people traveled and the hardships they encountered when coming to

California, explain what motivated people to travel west, understand the cause and effects of

supply and demand, the myth of wealth (did miners really become rich?), and the different roles

that miners, women, immigrants, and entrepreneurs played in the gold rush.

Students will have the chance to research a specific aspect of the gold rush that captures

their knowledge and create a poster with a few classmates. They’ll also be writing readers’

theater skits to perform at the end of our unit. Mark your calendars – we’ll be performing those

skits on _____________ and would love for you to be in the audience! As you can tell, we’ll be

doing a lot of hard work together these next few weeks! We’ve also started a new book in

language arts called ____________________, the story of __________________, to go along

with this unit.

One of the most exciting parts of this unit is our field trip to Coloma coming up on

________. Final Coloma information will be sent home shortly. I’m looking forward to

exploring the wild, wild West as your students and I dive deep into California’s history - Eureka,

lets strike it rich!

-Ms. Hagen

Public Relations

Before each social studies unit, I will send a letter home to parents detailing the learning

journey their sons and daughters and I are embarking on (see above). I will also send a letter

home at the end of the unit so parents can hear about how the unit went. This letter can include

many different things, including: pictures from activities, sending work home with the letter that

we did during the unit, paragraphs or phrases from students explaining what we learned or their

favorite activity. This letter can also include discussion questions that parents can ask their

students to prompt family conversations, titles of extra books that students might like to read, or

a survey where students answer what their favorite activity was (or something of the sort). To

keep the community and my principal informed about the wonderful work we are doing, I will

ask to be included in the school-wide weekly newsletter. A little blurb about what we’re doing in

class and an invitation to come to our readers’ theater performance going out to the entire school

would be really exciting for my students and I. I could also ask the local newspaper to come by,

take pictures of the students and I, and write an article about all we are doing.

A “Reduced Unit”

If I couldn’t complete this entire unit, I would try to pull as many handouts and resources

as I could into an interactive binder. When students finish other assignments early, they would

work with a partner on any of the pages in their interactive notebook. With my limited class time

I would still focus on empathy, the different people groups, and what their experiences were like

during the gold rush. I would set up placards/stations to learn about mining life, women, and

entrepreneurs, and immigrants. I would cut the research project and have students put on smaller

skits (just preparing for 15 or 20 minutes) on a Friday afternoon.

Part II:

Rough Outline for 12-15 Class Sessions

The following is a rough outline for 17 class sessions. I have included many resources

and handouts that accompany these plans at the end of this unit lesson plan. I haven’t gotten all

of the resources together, and I won’t necessarily use all of the worksheets I’ve attached. The

worksheets are a good starting point for me to use as I create the nitty-gritty details of each class

session when I use this lesson plan.

This unit will be done in three 45-minute sessions each week.

Day 1 Introduction to California Gold Rush!Visual Exploration with attached images

Pre-reading activity with PowerPoint PresentationStudents will be introduced to the gold rush via visual exploration

images and a guided PowerPoint and pre-reading activity (attached)

Day 2 How Did People Get to California?What Would You Bring? Group Activity

Find Your Way to California Group ActivityJournal Prompt: Students write about how they got to California

(choose one of the three ways we learned about)Groups will become experts about one of the three ways to travel to

California and then share with the class. In table groups, students will have to collaborate and decide what objects they would bring

with them. Students will complete a journal entry writing about the perils of traveling to California

Day 3 MinersLife in Camp

Did Miners Get Rich?We will explore life in camp with images of mining camps and towns set up around the room. We will spend time talking about

John Sutter and James Marshall. We will read out of the textbook and perform mini-skits. We will also explore whether miners

actually got rich.Day 4 Continue the Life of Miners

Skill Builder Activity: Mining (pan, cradle, long tom)Journal: Write A Letter Home

We will continue learning about life as a miner by diving into panning for gold! A skill builder activity will help students

experience discovering gold for themselves using a variety of methods that miners used.

Day 5 Immigrants:Why did people come to America?

How were immigrants treated?What jobs did immigrants have?

What were their living conditions like?The immigrant experiential exercise (described below). Afterwards,

groups will each read a part from an immigrants journal to understand more about immigrants’ experiences during the gold

rush.Day 6 Women

General Roles of WomenWomen to explore in depth: Luzena Wilson, Sarah Royce, Eliza W.

Farnham, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe (Dame Shirley)Students and I will brainstorm about women’s roles and use images as input to show the roles that different women played in the gold rush. Placards will be placed around the room telling the stories of

the different women listed above. Students will draw a picture and a fact about each woman’s story.

Day 7 Entrepreneurs:Levi Strauss & Sam Brannan

Similar to the previous day, only today exploring different entrepreneurs during the gold rush. Define entrepreneur and talk

about business/why businesses became necessary and important for California and the gold rush.

Day 8 Gold Rush Business PlanSam Brannan’s Store Activity

Students will make a gold rush business plan using the attached

worksheet with their group (possibilities of expanding this to a bigger project/class presentation/going around sharing about their businesses). We’ll also complete an economics activity, talk about supply and demand, and discover how much different items cost

back in the day! Day 9 Marginalized Peoples

Journal Entry: how I feel as a marginalized individualStudents and I will have a whole-class conversation about the

people who were marginalized (treated poorly) during the gold rush. Today will be a day especially about empathy, where students

will discuss in groups, as a class, and think-pair-share how they would have felt as a Chinese immigrant, a woman, or a native

American. Day 10 Boomtowns

Create Your Own Gold Rush TownUse pictures and videos to talk about the boomtowns that the gold

rush created in California (specifically San Francisco and Sacramento, among others). Students will also collaborate and

brainstorm to create their own gold rush town!Day 11 Start Poster Group Research

Discuss group research assignment. Each table group will pick a topic they want to explore more. They will do research using their textbook, other classroom resources, and the internet. The group

will collaborate to make either a brochure or small poster displaying their knowledge of the topic, including visuals and

words in a display that’s fun and easy to read.Day 12 Group Research/Poster MakingDay 13 Group Research/Poster Making/Poster SharingDay 14 Culminating Project: Readers’ Theater Writing/Practice

Discuss culminating project and get started writing the script (see below for more detail)

Day 15 Culminating Project: Readers’ Theater Writing/PracticeDay 16 Culminating Project: Readers’ Theater Writing/Practice

Day 19: Culminating Project: Readers’ Theater Performances!

Day 18: Assessment

Applying Social Studies Alive

A. Visual Exploration Activity: On Day 1

Introductory Activities

B.

Skill-Builder Activity – Day 4. Students will

work in pairs discovering the three

different methods that miners used to find

gold (the pan, cradle, and long tom). Students will work hands-on at different stations

around the classroom with the objects and fill out a graphic organizer where they are

asked to draw a picture of the method and write down a few positives and negatives about

that way to pan for gold.

C. Experiential Activity – Day 5, immigrants. Students will discover the harsh realities of

immigrant life for themselves during this experiential activity. Many immigrants didn’t

speak English when they traveled to America and were very out of their comfort zone. To

start the activity, the students will come to class and see signs in different languages all

around the classroom, I’ll be speaking other languages and try to communicate to them

that they need to complete an activity. Students will be very confused and out of their

comfort zone. After spending time in this state of confusion/being out of their comfort

zone, students and I will debrief and discuss what it felt like to not be able to read any

signs or speak the same language.

D. Writing or pre-writing Activity: Day 10 – Create your own gold rush town handout, Day

2 and Day 4 Journal Entries/letters home, Day 14-16 Culminating Readers Theater

Dialogue Script

E. Small-group project: Day 11-13 – poster research project

F. Pre-reading or processing of reading activity: Day 1 Pre-reading notes that go along with

PowerPoint Presentation (I can also change these and make them go along with whatever

textbook my school uses). Journal entries where students process what we’ve learned or

any reading that they’ve done out of the textbook could fall under this category, as well.

G. Interactive Notebook Activity: Gold Rush Business Plan on Day 8, Day 9 Marginalized

People Worksheet

Other Resources:

THE HONEST MINER'S SONGS

The One he Sung at Home.Tune—Susannah

The One he Sings HereTune--Irish Emigrant's Lament

Like Argos of the ancient times,I'll leave this modern Greece;I'm going to California Mines,To find the golden fleece.For who would work from morn till nightAnd live on hog and corn,When one can pick up there at sightEnough to buy a farm?CHORUS: Oh California! that's the land for me,I'm going to California the gold dust for to see.There from the snowy mountain's side Comes down the golden sand, And spreads a carpet far and wide O'er all the shining land. The rivers run on golden beds, O'er rocks of golden ore, The valleys six feet deep are said To hold a plenty more Oh California! &c. I'll take my wash bowl in my hand, And thither wind my way, To wash the gold from out the sand In Cal-i-for-nee-aye. And when I get my pocket full In that bright land of gold, I'll have a rich and happy time: Live merry till I'm old Oh California! etc.

I'm sitting on a big quartz rock,Where the gold is said to grow;But, I'm thinking of the merry flock,That I left long ago.My fare is hard, and so is my bed,My CLAIM is giving out,I've worked until I'm almost dead,And soon I shall "peg" out.I'm thinking of the better days, Before I left my home; Before my brain with gold was crazed, And I began to roam. Those were the days, no more are seen When all the girls loved me; When I did dress in linen clean They washed and cooked for me.But awful change is this to tell, I wash and cook myself; I never more shall cut a swell, But here must dig for pelf. I ne'er shall lie in clean white sheets, But in my blankets roll; An oh! the girls I thought so sweet, They think me but a fool.

A great game to print:

http://magicalchildhood.com/games/aroundthehorn.htm

A Pinterest board about the gold rush: http://www.pinterest.com/jsilcott/gold-rush-unit/

Acknowledgements

*Many of my handouts and extra pages were found at education.com

*I also used resources and ideas from Houghton Mifflin Company, Keith Stenger from Chapman

University, and the various websites and resources I’ve already mentioned.

*A special thanks to my Mom, a current 2nd grade teacher and a former 4th grade teacher, for

helping me organize my unit and brainstorm ideas.