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...

How do you rebuild a language that has been banned for years? A short video introduces high schoolers to Marie Wilcox, A Wukchumni Native American from Central California who, for over 20 years, worked on comprising a dictionary of the...

Academics explore the topic of life in California Missions for Native Americas. Class members complete a research activity, respond to writing prompts, and engage in hands-on-activities to learn who lived in the missions and what life...

Fourth graders communicate with members of Native American tribes via email, exchange original poems with epals, and create multimedia presentations to share with classmates.

Third graders study the Native American tribes of Maidu and Miwok by studying Internet artifacts, culture, language, music, storytelling, architecture, food, clothing, crafts and geology.

Should researchers be able to excavate, examine, and remove Native American artifacts from historic sites? Should companies be permitted to build on sacred Native American land? After watching West of the West's documentary, The Lone...

A film showcases a Native American woman and her hard work to create a dictionary detailing her tribe's language. While viewing, scholars reflect upon and discuss the importance of language and sustaining cultural identity. 

A study of the history of the Channel Islands, located off the coast of southern California, continues as class members conduct a mock trial to determine which group of stakeholders should have the right to claim the remains of Juan...

Third graders research the Native American nation of Kumeyaay. Scholars use the internet to research past history. Through email, 3rd graders communicate with a Kumeyaay child to discover life on a present day reservation. They create a...

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...

Fifth graders explore U.S. geography by reading assigned text about American Indians. In this migration lesson, 5th graders identify the differences between Native Americans and European settlers who traveled through middle America in...

Students discover the people who lived in California before and after the gold rush. They use primary source documents to identify how the finding of gold changed the area. They also discover the discrimation that was present during the...

What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a...

After viewing two documentaries about the history of the Channel islands, individuals craft an essay in which they compare the lives of Juana Maria, the Lone Woman San Nicolar Island, to Lester Holt and his family featured in the...

What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...

Students explore the influences that geography has on a Native American tribe's culture and lifestyle. They examine how the first encounters with Europeans affected that tribe.

How did the environment and natural resources found on the Channel islands influence the culture of the Chumash? Archaeology meets technology in an activity designed for middle schoolers. After viewing West of The West's documentary Once...

Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might...

West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man introduces viewers to the remarkable finds on Santa Rosa Island. Archaeologist have discovered on this small island that is part of the Channel island chain, human and pygmy mammoth...

Fifth graders investigate the significant events in America's history. Students listen to a variety of books based on significant historical events in America. Students divide into 6 groups, each of which is responsible for researching...

While incomplete, this lesson could provide ideas for a lesson on the California gold rush. Learners look at a chart to analyze population growth in San Francisco after the discovery of gold, analyze political changes that occurred, and...

After watching and discussing a video on the Voyage of Cabrillo, individuals craft their own origin story and design and build an artifact they feel best represents their history.

Dive your class into a reading of Island of the Blue Dolphins with this in-depth study guide. Breaking the novel into three parts, the resource begins each section with a focus activity that identifies a specific theme or question...

Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...