Throughout this project, students investigate and define the events leading up to the gold rush. From the moment James Polk encouraged families to move west for new opportunity, all the way to the trailblazers setting off on foot to California, students investigate the circumstances they faced. Students gather information from stories and informational text to write monologues from the perspective of a trailblazer and tie it all together with original song lyrics that are interlaced throughout a musical production.
Standards
CCSS English Language Arts
RL 4.1, RL 4.3, RL 4.6, RL 4.9, RI 4.1, RI 4.2, RI 4.3, RI 4.6, RI 4.9, W 4.3a-e, W 4.5, W 4.6, W 4.9a, SL 4.1a-d, SL 4.4, SL 4.5
Social/History
4.1, 4.1.4, 4.3, 4.3.2, 4.3.3, 4.4.2, 4.5
CA Arts Standards
4.TH:Cr1a, 4TH:Cr1c, 4.TH:Crb, 4.TH:Pr5a, 4.TH:Re8b, 4.TH:Re9b, 4.MU:Cr2a-b, 4.MU:Cr3.1, 4.MU:Pr4.2a, 4.MU:Pr5a-b, 4.MU:Pr6a-b
Grade Level
4Teaching Artist
