Gold Rush Lesson Plan

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE FOR THE AGENDA FOR EDUCATION IN A DEMOCRACY
Name: Joseph Luebbe
Date: November 20, 2014
Unit Essential Question: How did Westward Expansion affect American, Native American, and
Mexican societies?
Lesson Topic: The California and Colorado Gold Rushes
Class: U.S. History_______
PLANNING THE LESSON

With Democracy and Social Justice at the Center of Instruction
Focusing on the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER) Mission the 4-Part
Agenda for Education in a Democracy
EQUAL ACCESS
ENCULTURATION
NURTURING PEDAGOGY
STEWARDSHIP
To Knowledge
In Democratic Society
Safe and Caring for All
of the Mission
What are you and your students doing today to advance the 4-Part Mission? Connections:
With which part(s) of the Agenda does this lesson connect most clearly? And how?
This lesson most clearly connects to Enculturation in a Democracy, as students will be
collaborating together to reach a common goal.
STANDARDS (www.cde.state.co)
Content: History 1.2
The key concepts of
continuity and change, cause
and effect, complexity, unity
and diversity over time
Literacy and Numeracy:

Access and use primary and
secondary sources to explain
questions being researched.
Democracy and
21st Century Skills:
Creativity and Innovation

SWBAT demonstrate their
ability to access and use
primary and secondary
sources to explain questions
being researched by using
their laptops and online
information to determine
Democracy and
SWBAT develop new
connections where none
previously existed for the
purpose of understanding
how the California and
Colorado Gold Rush affected
OBJECTIVES
Content:
SWBAT evaluate the key
concepts of continuity and
change, cause and effect,
complexity, unity and
diversity over time by
collaborating with a partner
to determine what the effect
of the California and Colorado

Gold Rush had on mining
cities in both states.
what the effect of the

California and Colorado Gold
Rush had on mining cities in
both states.
Fort Collins and other major

Colorado cities.
ASSESSMENTS What is your evidence of achieving each objective? How will students know
and demonstrate what they have learned in each of the areas, all of the objectives?
Content:
1. Students will be
1. Students will be assessed
formatively assessed
through observation
during the lecture by using
during the worksheet
quick assess questions
activity.
built into the PowerPoint. 2. The sources the students
2. Students will be asked to
provide will be assessed
complete a worksheet on
for credibility.
Colorado and California
cities and what affect the
Gold Rush had on them.
Democracy and
1. The worksheet will ask a
question about what the
students think Fort Collins
would look like if there
had been no Gold Rush.
This will demonstrate new
connections being made
between the city they live
in and the content being
covered.
KEY VOCABULARY
Content
49ers
Oregon-California Trail
Literacy and Numeracy

Credibility
Democracy and
21st Century Skills
Speculate
HIGHER ORDER QUESTIONS for this lesson

Content
What would Colorado look
like without the gold and
silver booms?
Do the positive aspects of the
Rush outweigh the negatives?
Literacy and Numeracy

Why is it important that you
only research credible
resources?
Democracy and
21st Century Skills
Why is it important to make
new connections?
LESSON FLOW
This is the actual planning of the lesson activities.
Time
Anticipatory Set Purpose and Relevance

The purpose of the hook is to introduce students to the California Gold Rush. It is
relevant because it is the topic that will be covered in todays lesson.
Time
Pre-Assessment
Pre-assessment will be my asking the students to recall what Manifest Destiny is
and what was acquired from Mexico at the end of the Mexican-American War.
Time
Building Background
Link to Experience:
Students have been going over the Westward Expansion of the U.S. and the idea
of Manifest Destiny. They just completed a lesson on the Mexican-American War
where the U.S. acquired California and Colorado.
Link to Learning:
Students will learn today about the California and Colorado Gold Rush and how it
affects them today.
Time
Activity Name
The Real 49ers
Anticipatory Set
Show images of 49ers. Have the students tell me what they think is going on in
the picture and what questions the images might have aroused.
Time
Instructional Input
Input:
Students will receive a brief lecture and PPT where they will be asked to take
notes. Students will be asked to collaborate with a partner in order to research
information for the Gold Rush worksheet.
Modeling:
I will model what a good source looks like for this project as well as how I would
like them to cite their sources for the assignment.

Checking for Understanding:
I will check for understanding by asking Quick Assess questions during the
lecture, as well as reviewing their worksheets for accuracy, citations, and the
reliability of the sources.
Models of Teaching:
Inquiry, Cooperative Learning, Direct Instruction, Discussion, Inductive Learning
(Constructivism)
SIOP Techniques:
Lesson Preparation, Building Background, Scaffolding, Comprehensible Input
Guided Practice:
Students will receive guided practice when they interpret the pictures in the
hook, as well as guided practice of how I expect them to cite their sources. Any
other guidance will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Reading , Writing, Listening, Speaking
Students will read different online sources. They will write to fill out their
worksheets. Students will listen to my lecture and instructions and collaborate
with a partner to finish their worksheets.
Checking for Understanding:
For the lecture I will use quick assess techniques, for the lesson I will review their
completed worksheet.
Questioning Strategies:
When was the California Gold Rush?
How did the Gold Rush change the face of America?
What would Fort Collins look like without the Colorado Gold Rush?
Would you make the trip to California to strike it rich if you could?
Independent Practice:
After the lecture of background rote knowledge on the Gold Rush, students will
collaborate with a partner to complete the worksheet.
Time
Accommodations, Modifications, and Student Adjustments

Accommodations and modifications will be given as necessary and per IEPs.
Time
Review and Assessments of All Objectives How will you and how will the
students know they have achieved the objectives of the lesson?
Content:
Both the students and I will know that we achieved our content objective by the
content of their completed worksheet and how well they work with a partner.
Quick assessments during the lecture will also help me assess their understanding
during the lecture.
Students will be assessed through observation during the worksheet activity.
The sources the students provide will be assessed for credibility, as well.
Democracy and 21st Century Skills:
The worksheet will ask a question about what the students think Fort Collins
would look like if there had been no Gold Rush. This will demonstrate new
connections being made between the city they live in and the content being
covered. The content of their answer to this question and the ability to
collaborate cooperatively with a partner is how I will assess this objective.
Time
Closure
Students will collaborate to determine the origin, output, and outcome of
Colorado and California mining towns.
Time
Next Step
Students have a test review Mr.Schle wants them to start.
Post-Lesson Reflection ( For the Teacher)

1. To what extent were all objectives achieved?
2. What changes would you make if you teach the lesson again?
3. What do you envision for the next lesson?

4. To what extent does this lesson achieve the Mission of the Agenda for Education in
a Democracy? To what extent does this lesson achieve the 21st Century Skills?
Mining Cities Inquiry Worksheet
Names: ________________________________________
Date:___________________
All of these cities were impacted in one way or another by the gold and silver booms. Tell me
in paragraph form what influence the California and Colorado Gold Rushes and the Colorado
Silver Boom had on these cities and what these cities have done since to continue to prosper.
Only use reliable sources and cite them, please. For example, if I am looking for information on
Telluride, CO and I used information off their official website it would look like thisBy the mid1870s, the Sheridan Mine was the first in a string of local claims and a tent camp was
established in the valley below (telluride-co.gov).
Denver, CO
San Francisco, CA
Black Hawk, CO
Fort Collins, CO
Sacramento, CA
Boulder, CO
What would Fort Collins look like if the Colorado Gold Rush hadnt influenced it?
How do you think the gold rushes affected U.S. society as a whole?
Do you have any experiences or family lineage tied to the Gold Rushes? If so, feel free to put
them here. For example, your great-great-great grandfather was a miner or you have been to a
mine before.

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How did the Gold Rushes affect American, Native American, and Mexican societies?

How did the Gold Rushes affect American, Native American, and Mexican societies?

What effect did the Gold Rushes have on mining cities in California and Colorado?

What effect did the Gold Rushes have on mining cities in California and Colorado?

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE FOR THE AGENDA FOR EDUCATION IN A DEMOCRACY

Name: Joseph Luebbe

Date: November 20, 2014

Class: U.S. History_______

PLANNING THE LESSON

Literacy and Numeracy:

Literacy and Numeracy:

of the California and Colorado

what the effect of the

Fort Collins and other major

Literacy and Numeracy

HIGHER ORDER QUESTIONS for this lesson

Literacy and Numeracy

Anticipatory Set Purpose and Relevance

like them to cite their sources for the assignment.

Accommodations, Modifications, and Student Adjustments

Post-Lesson Reflection ( For the Teacher)

3. What do you envision for the next lesson?

Mining Cities Inquiry Worksheet

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