• The students will read for comprehension.
• The students will use context clues, synonyms, and a dictionary to determine the meaning of unknown words.
• The students will estimate and determine the mass of objects using customary units.
• The students will identify travel routes that people used to get to California.

• Poem: A Peck of Gold  by: Robert Frost
• Novel: The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by: Karen Cushman
• Hershey's Nuggets (candy)
• Per group: balance scale, customary mass set of weights, customary measuring cup set, coffee filters (for weighing the 'Gold Nuggets'), 1 box of Corn Pops Cereal, North and South American Maps, 1 or 2 index cards, and a chalkbaoard.

• Multimedia Computer with Internet Access
• Scanner
• Data Projector
• Printer
• 3 discs
• Microsoft Word

Procedures:

Language Arts:

• Teacher will introduce the lesson with a poem by Robert Frost, A Peck of Gold.  A discussion of the meaning of the poem may follow the reading.
• Vocabulary from The Ballad of Lucy Whipple  will be introduced by the teacher.  Focus will be on the words with a suffix and circled by the teacher.  Students will copy the suffixes in their Gold Rush Dictionary (-tion, -ly, -or, -ness, -ed).  The definition of the suffix will be discussed and the student will write the definition next to the suffix:  -tion--the act of ;  -ly--in the direction of ;  -or--one who ;  -ness--in the state of ;  -ed--in the past .  The student will then define the words using the base word, then define the word according to the suffix.  Example:  inherit--inheritor.  A synonym and illustration, if applicable, will be added to each word.
• Chapters three and four of The Ballad of Lucy Whipple  will be read in pairs, silently, or by the teacher.
• Comprehension questions will be answered on paper or used as a class discussion by putting the questions on a transparency.  After discussion, as a whole group, students will summarize Lucy's character using a word processor program and post the summary on the bulletin board next to the summary from lesson one.
• The class will add to the timeline by adding one or two events from chapters 3 and 4.

• Introduce the math activity with Hershey's Nuggets.  Each student will estimate how many pieces are needed to weigh one ounce.  Write the estimates on the chalkboard.
• The teacher will demonstrate using the balance scale and weigh the pieces of candy to determine the closest estimate.
• Divide the students into cooperative groups.  Each group will use the balance scales and add or remove 'Gold Nuggets' (cereal) until it has a mass of one ounce.
• Remove the 'Gold Nuggets' from the scale and measure the amount weighed using the measuring cups (example:  _____ounce(s) =  1/4 cup).
• Repeat steps 3 and 4 for 2 ounces; 4 ounces; and 8 ounces.
• As a class, discuss the groups' results and share the Hershey's Nuggets.

• Review with the students the affect on the United States when gold was discovered in California (westward expansion,  immigration, new businesses brought to the United States, growth of statehood, etc.).  People traveled different routes by land and sea to get to California.  Show a map of the United States using their Social Studies book or a wall  map and discuss possible ways people may have gotten to California if they lived in Massachusetts like Lucy Whipple.
• After discussion, divide the class into three cooperative groups.  Assign the following routes, one per group:  Overland Trail, Sailing around South America, Sailing to Panama then to California.
• Students will research on the internet the following information about each route:  distance traveled, length of time, hardships, cost, important or interesting places.
• After research is completed, students will draw their route on a generic world map, then type the information using a word processor program, cut and paste the information onto the world map.
• Scan map, save to a disc to present information to the class using a data projector.
• A class discussion will follow with pros and cons about each route researched.
• Using a rubric, each group will be assessed by the following criteria:
• Was the following information found:  Distance of route, Length of time, Cost, Places of interest, Route accurately drawn on the World Map, and  Information presented in an orderly manner.
• Refer to references for suggested sites.

• Students may do an in-depth study of their route researched and present it to the class.
• Students can read Going For Gold!  America's Gold Rush Train and then write a summary using Microsoft Word about what it would be like on a wagon train.
• Students will create an Acrostic Poem with the letters G O L D.  Do the poems in Microsoft Word and incorporate graphics.
• Students will access Map.com to map out a route to California today.

• Comprehension will be assessed through class discussion or completing  questions by writing answers.
• Vocabulary will be assessed at the end of the unit.
• Mathematics rubric.
• Social Studies rubric.

• Reading Comprehension - 5.16, 5.19, 5.21, 5.22, 5.23
• Vocabulary - 5.36, 5.37, 5.38
• Technology - 5.180, 5.181, 5.183

History - 5.46, 5.26
National Standards:
Language Arts

• Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of literary texts
• Demonstrates competence in speaking and listening as tools for learning
• Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the reading process

• Understands and applies basic and advanced properties of the concepts of measurement
• Understands the general nature and uses of mathematics

• Understands how the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed American lives and led to regional tensions

• The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman
• Welcome to the West
• Trail of Hope
• The Oregon Trail
• Gold Fever
• Part 1:  Gold!  An Era Remembered
• The Gold Rush  The Journey
•  Gold Rush
• A Peck of Gold  by Robert Frost  ( from 101 American Poems, Scholastic)

Barbara Null
Karen Richmond
Judith Watson