1. The California Gold Rush
By Elizabeth Van Steenwyk
Open Court Reading
Unit 6 Lesson 6
Word Knowledge and Vocabulary

2. Hyperlink here to slide 7 for vocabulary words
Word Knowledge Grade 4, Unit 6 – Lesson 6
Hyperlink here to slide 7 for vocabulary words
These words have the suffix –er.
Line 1: trapper settler owner rancher
The suffix –er means “a person or thing that performs the action of”
All of these words contain short vowel sounds
Line 2: established citizenship product unimpressed
e, a, i, o, u
Root words
Line 3: applied frenzied copies discoveries
The root words end with y and the y was changed to i
All these words contain the comparative and superlative endings –er and -est
Line 4: noisier curlier speediest liveliest
What adjectives were these endings added to ?
Sentence 1: The owner of the Star was an enterprising man.
Sentence 2: They had followed trails established by trappers.
Sentence 3: Sutter applied for Mexican citizenship.
Sentence 4: Even the speediest boat trip to California took months.

3. settler

4. citizenship

5. frenzy

6. lively

7. Story Vocabulary Em-i-grants Per-se-cu-tion A-ban-don Pros-pec-ting
Ver-i-fied
Use a variety of skills in the following slides like context clues, apposition, and word structure to determine
the meaning of each word.

8. Use context clues, apposition, or word structure
em-i-grants
Meanwhile, overland emigrants from the United States were starting to arrive in the valley.
The emigrants wrote to relatives they left in their homeland.
Context clues?
Prediction ?
emigrants- people who have left their homeland to settle in a new one
emigrants
Part of speech ?
Definition ?

9. Use context clues, apposition, or word structure
per-se-cu-tion
They had sailed around Cape Horn hoping to escape from the religious persecution they had experienced in the East.
The Pilgrims left England to escape persecution.
Word Structure?
Prediction ?
persecution- the mistreatment or harassment of a person or
group of people
persecution
Part of speech ?
Definition ?

10. Use context clues, apposition, or word structure
a-ban-don
They discovered enough to abandon their regular work and begin mining in earnest.
Settlers would often abandon their houses when they moved westward.
Context Clues?
synonyms?
abandon- to give up something; to stop working on something
abandon
Definition ?
Part of speech ?

11. Use context clues, apposition, or word structure
pros-pec-ting
Those who had already been prospecting displayed their pouches of gold dust as they prepared to dig for more.
After two weeks of prospecting we still hadn’t found any gold.
Context clues?
Prediction ?
prospecting- searching for gold or some other valuable product
prospecting
Part of speech ?
Definition ?

12. Use context clues, apposition, or word structure
ver-i-fied
He said that the news of California’s gold discovery had been verified.
I called Grandma and verified that she had received the package I sent.
You create your own Circle Map. Use the skills that you’ve been taught this week.
verified- declared real, authentic, or true
verified

13. Gold Rush Virtual Tour
Click on me! When you get to the virtual tour try: Experience Gold Rush! and Onsite (QTVR) Adventures

14. Gold Rush Videos Click on me to watch a video!
No! Click on me to watch a video.