Module 6-Early Californian History-Social Studies 4A - Course Guide

Module Overview:

In this module students will describe Spanish missions, explain how California became a state, identify the Gold Rush and its effects, identify Californian routes and how the transcontinental railroad was built, and identify the effects of the Pony Express, Overland Mail Service, and Western Union.

Module Materials:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Material(s)
1	Spanish Missions	crayons or colored pencils pen or pencil
2	California Becomes a State	pen or pencil;
3	Gold Rush	crayons or colored pencils pen or pencil
4	Traveling to California	pen or pencil;
5	Communication	crayons or colored pencils pen or pencil

Module Objectives:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Objective(s)
1	Spanish Missions	Describe Spanish missions.
2	California Becomes a State	Explain how California became a state.
3	Gold Rush	Identify the Gold Rush and its effects.
4	Traveling to California	Identify routes to California and how the transcontinental railroad was built.
5	Communication	Identify the effects of the Pony Express, the Overland Mail Service, and Western Union.

Module Key Words:

Key Words	Vocabulary Words
Spanish missions Native Americans priests church Catholic Spain Mexico state California independence Gold Rush John Sutter forty-niners James Marshall miners transcontinental railroad West frontier route Pony Express Overland Mail Service Western Union stagecoach telegraph	Funding Franciscan California Mission Trail Statehood Alta California Unsuitable Prospector Sluice box Rocker Transcontinental Route Lobby Pony Express Telegraph Stagecoach

Module Assignments:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Page #	Assignment Title
1	Spanish Missions	8	Extra! Extra!
2	California Becomes a State	6	Events in California Statehood
3	Gold Rush	7	Gold Rush!
4	Traveling to California	6	Transcontinental Railroad Map
5	Communication	5	Advertisement

Learning Coach Notes:

None

Module Guiding Questions:

When a student starts a lesson ask them questions to check for prior knowledge and understanding and to review concepts being taught. At the end of the lesson ask the questions again to see if their answer changes.

Lesson Title	Question
Spanish Missions	What were Spanish missions? What is a presidio? What was lifelike in a Spanish mission?
California Becomes a State	How did California become a state?
Gold Rush	What was the California Gold Rush? Who are the Forty-niners? How did the Gold Rush affect the Native Californians? Who is a prospector? How did the Gold Rush affect the economy? What techniques did people use to find gold?
Traveling to California	What was the transcontinental railroad? Who helped build the railroad?
Communication	What was the Pony Express?

Module Video Questions:

When a student watches a video take time to ask them questions about what they watched. Suggested questions for the videos in this module are listed here. Suggestion: Have the student watch the entire video first all the way through. Then have them watch the video a second time, as they watch it pause the video and ask the questions.

Lesson Title	Video	Question
California Becomes a State	California Becomes a State	What treaty allowed the United States to acquire California? What was discovered in Sacramento, California? What caused people to want to go to California? What was the Compromise of 1850? How many capital cities did California have before they settled on Sacramento as the capital?
Traveling to California	The Transcontinental Railroad	What did Theodore Judah discover? What was the Pacific Railroad Bill? How many years did it take to build the Transcontinental Railroad? How many routes were created? Where did the two railroads meet? How many miles did the railroad cover?

Module Suggested Read Aloud Books:

Take time to read to your student or have them read aloud to you. Read a different book each day. While reading the book point out concepts being taught. You may purchase these books or find them at your local library. Suggested things to discuss while reading the book:

What is the main idea?
What are three things new you learned?
How does this book relate to what you are learning about?

#	Book	Author	Lexile Level
1	What Was the Gold Rush?	Joan Holub	680L
2	The California Gold Rush	Mel Friedman	900L
3	If You Were a Kid During the California Gold Rush	Josh Gregory and Caroline Attia	660L
4	The California Gold Rush: An Interactive History Adventure	Elizabeth Raum	680L
5	Gold! Gold from the American River!: January 24, 1848: The Day the Gold Rush Began	Don Brown	1010L
6	The Transcontinental Railroad	John Perritano
7	Iron Rails, Iron Men, and the Race to Link the Nation: The Story of the Transcontinental Railroad	Martin W. Sandler
8	The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad	Nathan Olson	GN690L
9	Ten Mile Day and the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad	Mary Ann Fraser	1060L
10	Mystery on the Transcontinental Railroad	Roberta Baxter
11	They're Off! : The Story of the Pony Express	Cheryl Harness	1030L
12	You Wouldn't Want to Be a Pony Express Rider!: A Dusty, Thankless Job You'd Rather Not Do	Thomas Ratliff and Mark Bergin

Module Outing:

Take some time to apply what your student is learning to the real world. Suggested outings are below.

#	Outing
1	See if there is a railroad museum near you and take your student to visit it. If possible, take a ride on a train.