Lesson Plan: Gold Rush! (2024)

Build Background and Vocabulary

Have students take notes as they watch the video “The California Gold Rush” and record three important facts. Then use the Skill Builder Words to Know to preteach domain-specific terms from the article.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently or in pairs. As students read, direct them to circle any words whose meanings they’re unsure about.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses, or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• How did the discovery of gold in 1848 change the area that would become California? (Cause and Effect)
The discovery of gold sparked the California Gold Rush, in which more than 300,000 people migrated to California from all over the world. The sudden population increase helped create thriving cities like San Francisco and Sacramento. California became a state in 1850, just two years after the United States acquired the land following the Mexican-American War. The Gold Rush helped fuel the development of infrastructure like roads, bridges, and the transcontinental railroad. Today, California has more people than any other state and remains one of the most diverse.

• What challenges did prospectors and Indigenous people face? (Key Details)
Many prospectors risked everything to travel to California, and panning for gold was difficult work that they often performed in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. Asian and Latin American immigrants, Black prospectors, and Indigenous people experienced discrimination and violence. Indigenous people suffered from attacks and diseases that prospectors brought. Although about 150,000 of them lived in the area in 1848, fewer than 30,000 remained by the 1870s.

Reading a Migration Map

Have students answer the questions about the map on pages 20-21 independently or in groups. Review answers. For more geography practice, find our Map Skills Boot Camp with 13 lessons at junior.scholastic.com/mapskills.

Assess Comprehension

Assign the 10-question Know the News quiz, available in PDF and interactive forms. You can also use Quiz Wizard to assess comprehension of this article and three others from the issue.