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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Gold Rush Experience: Create Your Own Exhibit

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students create a virtual exhibit. In this gold rush instructional activity, students watch a movie about the California gold rush, view a virtual image of the gold nugget that started the gold rush and examine the sources. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Movement and Migration: the Gold Nugget that launched the Gold Rush

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students learn what it was like to be a gold miner. In this California gold rush lesson, students watch a movie about the California gold rush and discuss what they learned. Students use the Internet to examine the gold nugget that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Motivational Introduction to the California Gold Rush

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders download pictures and write script for narration as they create a KidPix slide show to introduce the study of the California Gold Rush.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Traveling to the Gold Rush

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders research the experiences the people who traveled to California during the Gold Rush by land and sea. They create a map showing the various routes that individuals took to get to California. Students explain the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gold Rush -- Lesson 4

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students continue their examination of the Gold Rush in California. In groups, they use a map to examine the original sites of the towns and what happened to them. They work together to create a brochure for one of the towns and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Days of '49: "I've Been Toiling Hard for the Last Two And a Half Years"

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Young scholars trace the stages of gold mining in California. They discuss the life of a gold miner and how the discovery of gold influenced towns and cities in California during the 1949 Gold Rush.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How is Gold Found in the Ground?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders participate in a series of activities designed to simulate mining for gold. They pan for "gold" and create a safe tunnel.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gold Fever

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students read the story Gold Fever about the Gold Rush and write journal entries as if they were miners. In this Gold Rush lesson plan, students also pull out rocks from a back, and if they pick a gold one, they have struck it rich!
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ethnic Family Life

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine the impact of the gold rush on different cultures.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders examine the reasons for ethnic diversity in the west. 
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Lesson Plan
San Francisco Symphony

By the Great Horn Spoon!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
By The Great Horn Spoon is a fantastic novel for introducing learners to life during the California Gold Rush. First, kids research and analyze American folk songs, then they connect to the text as they listen to symphonic pieces written...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Gam Saan Adventure- Are You Willing to Risk it?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its development since the 1850's.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Dollar Goes A Long Way

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Investigate life along the Old Spanish Trail! They visit websites and identify the history and environment. They create journals, dramatic enactments, and maps to discover the role individuals played in society. They also explore the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Biblical Perspective

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students analyze money using a Biblical and business perspective. In this algebra lesson, students define their money relationship biblically and in a business fashion. They compare their view with the view of someone in the Gold Rush days.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Washoe Indians: Dat-so-la-lee

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students study the life and crafts of Washoe Indian, Dat-so-la-lee. In this Washoe Indians lesson, students read and study the life of Washoe Indian basket weaver Dat-so-la-lee. Students study images of her crafts and discuss the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oh My Darling

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Pupils discuss human interaction with the environment and sing "Clementine" with historical fiction lyrics. They create a map or model of a mining camp in which Clementine may have lived. They discuss what might happen to their mining...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

BEGINNER LEVEL LESSON PLAN

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are be able to analyze primary sources (photographs) for evidence of Native American culture and construct a cultural symbol. They are explained what the stars and stripes stand for on the American flag. Students work as...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Legend of Freedom Hill

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book The Legend of Freedom Hill. In this reading lesson plan, 3rd graders complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short...