Day 7        

Teacher: Rick Kiefer     

 

Subject Area: Social Studies: U.S. History       

 

Grade Level: 8

        

Unit Title: Expansion and Conflict

        

Lesson Title: Settling the West

 

        

Objectives (Write 2-5 objectives stating expected learner outcomes.):

 

SWBAT - Identify and explain the significance of the Californios.

SWBAT - Use higher level thinking to evaluate and write an essay based on what their impressions are on the assigned reading, Life in California before the Gold Discovery.

 

Anticipatory Set (List specific statements or activities you will use to focus students on the lesson for the day.): (15 - 20 mins.) Call on volunteers (one at a time) to use a wall map to point out the territory acquired by the U.S. as a result of the Treaty Guadalupe Hidalgo. Then have students review the various reasons why settlers moved west. Tell students that in the next two lessons they will learn why there was a rapid increase in California population in 1849 and how California society changed as a result.

        

Input (What information is essential for the student to know before beginning and how will this skill be communicated to students?): (15 - 20 mins.) Lecture on Spanish settlement, Mexican independence, and U.S. movement west to California.

 

Model (If you will be demonstrating the skill or competence, how will this be done?): Handout vocabulary words and discuss.       

 

Check for Understanding (Identify strategies to be used to determine if students have learned the objectives.): Ask frequent questions during lecture.

        

Guided Practice (List activities which will be used to guide student practice and provide a time frame for completing this practice.): Hand out article, Life in California before the Gold Discovery. Have students read the handout then have them break into groups to discuss what they have read. They are to discuss what their impressions are of life before the gold rush. Let them know they will be writing an essay on what their impression were and that if they are done with their discussion they can begin writing.

 

Independent Practice (List homework/seatwork assignment to be given to students to ensure they have mastered the skill without teacher guidance.): Students are to finish their essay telling of their impressions of what life was like prior to the discovery of gold.