Bryan T. Feci
Holly Oak Elementary School
2995 Rossmore Way
San Jose, CA 95148
408-270-4975
bfeci@eesd.org
Lesson Plan
Eureka!
Subject: Social Studies
Grade Level: 4th
Topic/Demonstration: California Gold Rush
Lesson Objective: Students will write historical fiction diaries to demonstrate
understanding of pioneer life and the California Gold Rush.
California State Standards taught:
4.3.3. Students analyze the effects of the Gold Rush on settlements, daily life, politics,
and the physical environment.
Introduction: (1 hour session)
During the mid-19th century, many Americans in the east coast took the chance
for better lives by moving west. When gold was discovered in California in 1848, many
people were willing to risk everything for the chance of striking it rich. We are now
going to watch a PBS DVD, “The Gold Rush” so you can see for yourselves how people
traveled to California in 1849 and what it was like to search for gold. The video
introduces the following topics:
1. Discovery of gold
2. Routes of travel
3. People of the Gold Rush
a. Forty-niners
b. John Sutter
c. James Marshall
d. Sam Brannan
e. Levi Strauss
f. Chinese
g. Native Americans
h. Californios
i. Mexicans
4. Methods of looking for gold
a. Gold panning
b. Hydraulic mining
5. Problems
a. Health risks
b. Claim “jumping”
c. Landscape
6. San Francisco before and after the Gold Rush
Video Information:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/
Instruction: (30 minute session)
As a class, students read along in their Social Studies textbooks about the Gold
Rush as they listen to the appropriate selections using the textbook CD-ROM version.
Since the CD is being used on a computer connected to an LCD projector, students
follow along visually with the exact same pages on the computer screen. Now that the
students have been introduced to the academic content in the video, they make more
sense of it as they read it in their textbooks as a class.
Guided Practice: (1.5 hour session)
Students reread the textbook selections using the textbook CD-ROM version on
classroom computers and answer 10 review questions. With the CD version, they hear
the textbook selection read to them and read along. In groups of 2 or 3, students refer to
the pages read to answer the basic review questions. Students record their answers on a
Microsoft Word document that contains the ten questions.
Small Group: (2 hour session)
As a class, students embark on a Gold Rush simulation as they travel to along
pioneer trails out to California. A United States map can be created on butcher paper as
long as necessary with trails, rivers, mountains, and cities as of 1848-49 that will be used
to track team progress towards California. Along the way, they are faced with many
problems typical of that time period. Their decisions affect their progress towards their
goal in reaching California and whether or not they find gold. During the journey, for
example, they need to decide whether or not to avoid Native Americans, how to cross a
river, or what to do with team members who come down with dysentery. Once they
arrive in California, decisions have to be made about how to achieve supplies and still
eat, where to pan for gold, and how to protect your claim! Power Point is a very useful
software application for presenting teams with various situations and for conveying
outcomes of the choices made. Using a pre-made chart for each situation presented,
teachers can keep track of each team’s decisions and the consequences or results. A
document camera is a very useful tool to use for this situation to allow everyone to see
each team’s outcomes. Connecting it by USB cable to the computer allows images to be
recorded in the computer. (At the end of the simulation, the records can be imported to
all classroom computers using a USB flash drive to allow everyone access to this
information when students write their own gold rush diaries.)
An example of a situation presented in the simulation:
Independent Practice: (2 hour session)
Students write a 5-entry diary using Microsoft Power Point pretending to be a
forty-niner. The diary should include a route of travel, problems faced during the
journey, financial decisions made they arrive in California, problems faced while
searching for gold, and end with what happened to you in the end. Students draw their
own pictures to scan and include in their Power Point diaries. A rubric is used to assess
the academic content and ability to use the software applications. This rubric contains
ratings from 1 to 4 regarding the student’s performance in each of the criteria. The
ratings transfer into points that are averaged to determine grades.
An example of part of a team’s Power Point diary:
Assessment: (30 minute session)
Administer a multiple-choice test with questions from the textbook readings, PBS
video, and from the simulation.
Closure: (30 minute session)
Volunteers share printed out Power Point diaries with the class using a document
camera.
Lesson Structure:
Introduction: 1- 1 hour session
Instruction and Guided Practice: 2 hours over 2- 1 hour sessions
Small Group Practice: 1- 2 hour session
Independent Practice: 2- 1 hour sessions
Assessment and Closure: 1- 1 hour session
Total Time for completion: 8 hours over 7 days
How is a document camera used in this lesson?
A document camera provides the opportunity to display a record of team
decisions during the simulation as mentioned in the lesson plan. Pictures of important
vocabulary words and the textbook can be included as well. Students can proudly share
their printed-out final products with the entire class.
What other technologies are used in this lesson?
A DVD player and TV or DVD computer with LCD projector are needed to show
the Gold Rush video. The simulation works conveniently using Microsoft Power Point
on a computer connected to an LCD projector. The textbook CD-ROM requires a
computer for each group of 2 or 3. (Students could obviously reread the selection
without the CD-ROM. With the CD-ROM, teachers can conveniently display a student
textbook using the document camera for all to visually follow along with reading. The
number of computers available will affect group sizes for the review questions and might
make it necessary to have groups of 2 or 3 when writing the diaries. Assignments,
pictures, and records of the simulation can be imported to any number of computers using
a USB flash drive. Microsoft Word can be used for word processing answers to the
review questions. A scanner allows students to scan their own pictures to include in their
diaries. A printer allows students to obtain their own copies of their finished diaries.