While the Spanish claimed to bring civilization to California indigenous peoples, in reality, they also brought violence and forced assimilation to European values. Primary sources, such as the reports of Catholic priests and Europeans...

Young scholars take a field trip to the state capital, Sacramento. Using the Internet, they explain the physical and human geographic features of the area and discuss interactions between the people of California between the time of...

Fourth graders read excerpts from Juan Bautista de Anza's diaries. They analyze the impact of primary sources. They write journal entries for characters in stories they have read during the year.

Students use the Internet to gather historical facts about the county in which they live. Using the information, they discover how to check it for accuracy and present their findings to the class. They write an essay about the history of...

Fourth graders research three topics from the book, either Village Life, Sea Life, or San Nicholas Island. They research independently and meet in a jigsaw format to share what they learned. As group they create a poster for class...