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Lesson Plan
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Smithsonian Institution

Conflicting Voices of the Mexican War

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Americans wanted to fulfill Manifest Destiny, and this pattern continued with the Mexican War. The resource specifically teaches about the Mexican War through a variety of exercises including a research project, group work, brainstorming...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gold Rush California and its Diverse Population

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students compare contemporary cultural differences with historical differences based on population percentage. In this cross-curriculum Gold Rush/math lesson, students analyze aspects of California's Gold Rush population and diversity...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Splendide Californie French Artists’ Impressionsof the Golden State, 1786-1900

For Teachers 6th - 8th
There is a lot to learn from art. This teacher's guide provides you with extensive background information, activities, and a scripted commentary to accompany a slide show on French artists in California during the Gold Rush Period. The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Read All About It! California History of the 30s and 40s

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

California's Golden History: 1848-1880

For Teachers 11th
Using a variety of online resources, learners study life and society in California during the gold rush. They use a map to identify area where gold was located, explore pre-selected websites, describe mining practices, and create an...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Culminating Writing Project - Reporting on Angel Island

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The unit study of Angel Island Immigration Station concludes with scholars using information from the previous lessons to craft a news story about the Angel Island program.
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Making Your Mark: Free Verse Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Using the insight they have gained into the experiences of detainees at the Angel Island Immigration Station, young poets create their own free verse poems that they feel captures what it may have felt like to be an immigrant interned on...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

How Do Pictures Tell the Story of Angel Island?

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Young historians learn more about the history of Angel Island Immigration Station through their analysis of primary source images. Guided by a list of inferential questions, scholars learn how to make and record observations on a...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Moving to the Poems of Angel Island

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
A poem carved on Angel Island's walls is the guiding text of a lesson that challenges scholars to put movement into a written piece of art. After warm up-activities, learners play a game of "Pass the Clap" and "Pass the Line," in which...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Immigration Case File Investigation

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Case files for Angel Island immigrants are kept at the regional archives in San Bruno, California. Groups study one such case file to understand the life histories and different experiences of the internees and then report out their...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Interrogation of Immigrant

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Imagine being interrogated by someone you don't know about minute details of your life. Imagine that the interrogator is matching your responses to the answers of other family members. Imagine how you would feel knowing that the...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Film Screening: Carved in Silence

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Director Felicia Lowe's film Carved in Silence splices together re-enactments, interviews, and actual film footage to tell Angel Island Immigration Station's story. Viewers use a film matrix to record new information they learned from...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Conditions in China: Why Might One Leave Home Forever?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Primary source texts provide scholars with the background information they need to understand why Chinese peasant farmers were driven to emigrate. After underlining keywords, phrases, and/or lines in the texts, individuals craft a...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

The Chinese Exclusion Act

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of Angel Island Immigration Station, young historians examine the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first restriction on the United States immigration based on race and nationality. They complete a matrix identifying...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Where Is Angel Island? An Introductory Geography Lesson

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Prepare young historians for a study of Angel Island Immigration Station with a lesson examining primary and secondary source materials, maps, and websites. Using what they have learned, individuals create a map of Angel Island, labeling...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Evaluating Historical Sources on Juana Briones

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Most have never heard of Juana Briones, the incredible woman who came to own property and divorce her husband in 1850s California. Yet, her relatively unknown life reflects the historical dynamics of the American West, particularly those...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

The Gold Rush and San Francisco

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The California Gold Rush rewrote the history of the American West, but especially that of San Francisco. After analyzing images of the city and primary sources, such as a diary entry, scholars discuss these changes. Scaffolded questions...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Native Californians and the Portola Expedition

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What was California like before the Spanish came? Class members discover the answer to the question using images of Native Americans and diaries of the early Spanish explorers. Scaffolded activities allow instructors to adapt the...
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Lesson Plan
University of California

Impact of the California Missions on Native Americans

For Teachers 4th Standards
While the Spanish claimed to bring civilization to California indigenous peoples, in reality, they also brought violence and forced assimilation to European values. Primary sources, such as the reports of Catholic priests and Europeans...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Perfect Postcards: California

For Teachers 4th Standards
It's time to hear about some adventures in travel! The Transcontinental Railroad changed life and travel in the United States during the 1800s. Practicing online research skills, pupils discover the features they would like to visit on...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Missing Nouns

For Students 3rd - 4th Standards
Scholars use nouns from a word bank to complete sentences in a fill-in-the-blank worksheet that tells a tale about the California Gold Rush. 
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Website
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Smithsonian Institution

Mexican War

For Students 5th - 12th Standards
Did you know that without the Mexican War, the United States would not include the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Utah, and even parts of Colorado? Scholars learn a variety of interesting facts about the...
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Lesson Plan
Channel Islands Film

Magic Isle: Lesson Plan 1

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
What are the factors that limit growth and expansion? As part of their study of Catalina Island, class members view the West of the West's documentary Magic Isle and research William Wrigley and the Santa Catalina Island Company. After...
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Lesson Plan
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Channel Islands Film

Once Upon a Time (Saxipak’a): Lesson Plan 4

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How did the environment and natural resources found on the Channel islands influence the culture of the Chumash? Archaeology meets technology in an activity designed for middle schoolers. After viewing West of The West's documentary Once...