Curriculum Unit Project

Title: California Statehood

Grade: 4th grade.
Description: My integrated unit is about California becoming a state. I decided to
start with a social studies topic and then incorporate other subjects because
California Statehood is a main topic for 4th grade. I wanted to make this 2-week
plan engaging and very hands-on for the students. I wanted to create a unit that
students would be excited about. I think introducing a topic with a KWL chart is a
good way to get the students engaged. That way I can also gauge what students
know, and what they would like to know. Then, after we complete the two week
unit, it is a good way to wrap up what theyve learned by filling in the Learned
part of the chart.

Next, I will have the students do a jigsaw reading and have

them highlight the most important part and share it out with the class. Then by
using the articles that the students used in the close read, they will create a
timeline. A major component of this 2-week plan is for students to do a research
project and create a clay model of a specific part of California topography in
groups. This will be introduced on the first day and students will break into
groups and start researching in class on the third day. There will be different
roles assigned in these groups so each person is accountable for their own work.
Students will spend a few days working on these projects and then they will get
to present them to the rest of the class. I will incorporate math into this lesson by
having students measure the distances that people, from all over the world,
traveled to get to California. They will find different routes and then be able to

convert the distances from miles to feet, and feet to inches. In the last part of the
two-week unit, the students will write a narrative from the perspective of a person
in 1849. They will write if they would have moved to California in 1849 and
explain why or why not. To conclude the unit we will finish completing the KWL
chart. Students will also be going to Sacramento on the field trip.
I will integrate technology into the research aspect of the unit. Students
will be able to access iPads to find information on their particular area of
California.
I will use formal and informal assessments to assess learning outcomes. I
have created a rubric to assess the projects that students will create. These
rubrics illustrate clearly outlined expectations. I will assess what students
present to the class and also collect all of their work. I will collect the papers they
used to convert the distances, jigsaws, narratives, and timelines.
While creating each lesson, I thought of adjustments for the students with
special needs and English learners. Generally, to make sure every students
needs are being met I will incorporate heterogeneous grouping, whole group
instruction, small group work, and make sure I am checking in with the students
who need scaffolding. Also graphic organizers can be used a scaffolding tool.
I will utilize the multiple Intelligences teaching strategies to meet the needs of
different types of learners in my classroom. The multiple intelligences that
students will use throughout the unit are kinesthetic, visual, interpersonal, and
auditory. The students will be creating a specific part of California, using their
hands to create a realistic model of that topography. There are many pictures

incorporated throughout the texts and articles that the students will be reading.
The students will be teaching each other through explaining their specific area of
California and the articles each group read. Interpersonal intelligences will be
addressed through the various group work activities throughout the lesson. This
unit will provide opportunities for every student successful because it will
accommodate for different intelligences.
The aspects of Blooms Taxonomy that are incorporated in this unit are
students being creative, applying knowledge, analyzing information and
understanding the information given to them. Students are using creativity when
creating their models of California. Students are applying knowledge to create
the models and their research papers. Students are also analyzing the
information from texts and writing papers showing their understanding.

Academic Content Area:

English Language Arts:

Creative writing
Summaries
Non-fiction
Listening.speaking, reading, writing
Citing sources

History/Social Studies:

Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial

power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its
political and cultural development since the 1850s.

Math:

Measuring distances
Conversions

Science:

Creating model
Learning California Topography

Technology:

Finding sources for research

Using iPads

History Standards:
4.3 Students explain the economic, social, and political life in California from the
establishment of the Bear Flag Republic through the Mexican-American War, the
Gold Rush, and the granting of statehood.

5. Discuss how California became a state and how its new government
differed from those during the Spanish and Mexican periods.
4.4 Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power,
tracing the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural
development since the 1850s.
3. Discuss immigration and migration to California between 1850 and
1900, including the diverse composition of those who came; the countries
of origin and their relative locations; and conflicts and accords among the
diverse groups (e.g., the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act). 4. Describe rapid
American immigration, internal migration, settlement, and the growth of
towns and cities (e.g., Los Angeles).
Math Standards:
Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.A.1
Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including
km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of
measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit.
Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. For example, know that
1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in.
Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12),
(2, 24), (3, 36), ...
English Language Arts Standards:
Informational text:
1.Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says
explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
2.Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key
details; summarize the text.
Writing Standards:
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the
reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters;
organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and
description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of
characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to
manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and
sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a
conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

Speaking and Listening:

2.Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse
media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Monday
Students will and
create a KWL chart

Tuesday
Students will read article
about the gold rush and

Wednesday

Thursday

Students will make a

time line in groups of

-Students will break

out into groups and

about how and why

CA was started.
Using post its
students will write
these and then come
stick them on the
poster.

discuss it in groups.
Students will get into groups
to do a close read, and go
through and
highlight/underline the
important parts, and then
each group will share with
the rest of the class.

major events that

helped form CA from
the close read on
Tuesday.
Students will
continue to work on
their clay model of
CA

Teacher will explain

the activities that
students will be
doing over the next
two weeks. Teacher
will introduce and
describe the
California clay
model.

Student outcomes:
Students will
understand what the
upcoming unit is
about and why they
are learning.

Monday

Students will
continue to work on
clay models of CA
We will do a lesson
on conjunctions
using sentences
about California

Student outcome: Students

will gain knowledge about a
specific aspect of the gold
rush and become experts
and be able to explain it to
their group.

Student outcome:
Students will be able
to sequence events
for events that
shaped California.

each group will be

designated to a part
of CA and use clay
to create that part o
CA.
They will learn
about the
topography and
become experts on
their area.

Student outcome:
Students will
research their area
and the resources
in their area.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

The students will convert

metric and customary units
for distances that people
traveled to get to CA.
There will be a U.S. map and
students will determine
distances to California based
on different routes.

Students will
complete clay models
of their particular part
of CA.

Students will write a

narrative from the
perspective of a
person I 1849
writing about if they
would have moved
to CA and what part
and why or why not

statehood.

Student outcome:
Students will
collaborate with
classmates to work
on model.
Students will be able
to combine two
sentences to make a
conjunction.

Student outcome: Students

will be able to measure
distances and then convert
those measurements.

Student outcome:
Students will work in
a collaborative group
using their research
to design a clay
model of a specific
area of California.

Student outcome:
Students will use
knowledge they
gained about
California statehood
to write narrative.

Resources
Childrens books and websites

Encyclopedia Britannica kids http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article198090/California

Kids.gov http://kids.usa.gov/learn-about-the-states/

Teacher reference material

Social Studies Book: History-Social Science for California, Our California.

Scott Foresman
Glad units
Graphic Organizers

Multimedia

iPads
Computer
Document camera

Community Resources

Sacramento fieldtrip

Materials for hands-on investigation

Maps of California
Digital maps of California