Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Ruby's Wish (Bridges)
Jump into traditional Chinese culture with budding readers as they examine vocabulary in context through Shirin Yim Bridge's book Ruby's Wish. This book is read on YouTube if you don't have it on hand. Scholars are briefly introduced to...
Curated OER
The Times and Life During the California Gold Rush
Fourth graders read about the era in their history books, write in their journals revolving around the Gold Rush, making crafts such as newspapers, and also play the part of the Forty-niners.
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: Renewing the Sectional Struggle
A panorama of the mid-19th century in America, this series of images present several issues that were prevalent before the Civil War. Territorial and social conflicts were heated during this time, and one map in particular shows a...
Curated OER
The Gold Rush Experience: Create Your Own Exhibit
Learners create a virtual exhibit. In this gold rush lesson, 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. Learners research and...
Curated OER
Movement and Migration: the Gold Nugget that launched the Gold Rush
Young scholars learn what it was like to be a gold miner. In this California gold rush activity, students watch a movie about the California gold rush and discuss what they learned. Young scholars use the Internet to examine the gold...
Curated OER
Striking It Rich!
Fifth graders explore the California Gold Rush. They explore the lure of gold and the Wild West, how pioneers traveled to the West, and the hardships and people they encountered along the way. Activities be authentic, hands-on, and...
Curated OER
Eureka! You've Struck
While incomplete, this lesson could provide ideas for a lesson on the California gold rush. Learners look at a chart to analyze population growth in San Francisco after the discovery of gold, analyze political changes that occurred, and...
Curated OER
Traveling/Mapping
Middle schoolers examine routes to gold. In this California gold rush lesson, students map land and water routes to California. Middle schoolers use maps to copy the routes that they want to market to gold diggers.
Curated OER
Chinese Immigration in the Mid-19th Century
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Chinese immigration lesson, students research the Chinese immigration between 1850 and 1882.
Curated OER
The Gold Rush
Students identify the routes involved in the Gold Rush on a map. In this map skills lesson, students use a United States map to locate the routes used to travel to California during the Gold Rush. Students demonstrate how to use the map...
Curated OER
History Detectives
Fifth graders investigate the significant events in America's history. Students listen to a variety of books based on significant historical events in America. Students divide into 6 groups, each of which is responsible for researching...
Curated OER
The Gam Saan Adventure- Are You Willing to Risk it?
Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its development since the 1850's.
Curated OER
The Adventure Begins: "Boys I Believe I Have Found a Gold Mine!"
Students view and discuss historical documents regarding Native Americans and Californians prior to the gold rush in the 1940's. They complete a variety of activities designed to show what they have learned from these sources and class...
Curated OER
Days of '49: "I've Been Toiling Hard for the Last Two And a Half Years"
Students 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.
Curated OER
Motivational Introduction to the California Gold Rush
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.
Duke University
California Gold: The Diary and Letters of James M. Burr
Wonderful primary resource on the California Gold Rush. Read actual letters and a diary--with explanatory annotations--by a prospector from 1850-1853.
Library of Congress
Loc: "California as I Saw It"
Digital collection features first-person accounts from the time of the Gold Rush and California statehood through the turn of the twentieth century. Presents detailed information about localities and people important to the state during...
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Gold Fever
A comprehensive site that offers a look at the "Gold Fever" of the California Gold Rush, with photos.
University of California
The Bancroft Library: Italian Americans in California
An introduction to the history and culture of Italian immigrants and their descendants in California from 1687 to the present. Shows how the people, industries, and neighborhoods of an area change over time. Includes a virtual exhibit...
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Murder and Mayhem
A collection of primary source materials and informational text that looks at law and order in the "wild west" of California, identifying changing ethnicity in a growing population seeking gold and other resources.
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era, 1848 1865: Disasters
A collection of primary source materials that highlight the risks of natural disasters associated with the California Gold Rush as people rushed in to seek their fortunes.
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Everyday Life and People
A collection of primary source photos from 19th-century California which portray what everyday life was like during the California Gold Rush.
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Environmental Impact
Original photographs depicting scenes from California during the Gold Rush. Illustrations of mines, miners at work, and the tools they used as well as the effect of the mining industry on California's landscape.
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: California and the Gold Rush
Article by Henry Sage explaining the history of California, how it became a state, and how President Polks desire to acquire California contributed to the Mexican-American War.