Title or Topic of Lesson and Grade Level:

DAY 1: Gold Rush, 3rd grade

Lesson Essential Question(s):

What do you notice about the prospectors outfit and appearance?
What job do you think these men do based on their appearance?
Why did so many people move to California in 1848?
What did you see in the video?

Standards:
6.1.4.D.3
Evaluate the impact of voluntary and involuntary immigration on America’s growth as a nation,
historically and today.
6.1.4.C.9 ​Compare and contrast how the availability of resources affects people across the world
differently.

Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Objectives Assessments

Students will use images to make inferences The class will make a list of physical qualities
about what a prospector does and what tools they notice in the pictures and conduct a
they use. discussion about their reasoning.

Students will begin to have an understanding Students will participate in discussion and
of what the Gold Rush was and why people demonstrate what they learned in a craft
migrated to the west. where they depict themselves as prospectors
in the goldrush.

Materials:
● Projector
● Google Slides
● Markers
● Crayons
● Paper
● Cut out pictures
● Glue
● Video

Pre-lesson Assignments/Prior Knowledge:

Little to no prior knowledge on the topic is expected.
Lesson Beginning:
On the projector the teacher will display a Google Slide with photographs of real Gold Rush
prospectors and ask what they notice about the appearance of the men in the photographs. Using
student answers, the teacher will create a list of the physical characteristics on chart paper. After
generating a list, the teacher will ask students what kind of job they think these men do. After
hearing their responses I will write “Prospector” as the title of the list we made.

Instructional Plan:
Students will be transitioned to the carpet, where they will watch a short, but child-friendly video
that introduces the Gold Rush and the people that took part in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iydRkC0gMZI
After the video, I will ask students what they saw in the video. I will also ask comprehension
questions like:
Why did so many people move to California in 1848?
Was it easy to be a part of the gold rush?
How did people get to California from away?

Students will be transitioned back to their desk where there is a plain white sheet of paper and a
picture of each students face. Ms. Phelps will explain that they are going to be depicting a scene
of life during the gold rush. She will ask students what are some things that they saw in the video
that they can include in their picture. She will make a list of these things on the board. She will
remind students of things they could/should include in their image, such as:
a. Draw a mine, draw a camp where the prospectors stayed.
b. Draw gold.
c. Depict themselves in clothes similar to the miners.
d. Draw the journey and include a covered wagon
For differentiation, there will be a coloring page provided for students that need assistance. They
can glue their face onto the picture and color it.

Closure:
When 5 minutes remain of the work period, the teacher will allow a handful of students to
display their pictures on the document camera and explain why they included what they did in
their pictures.