I grew up reading like crazy. In fact, 4th grade was the year I discovered reading. Because of this, I try to bring as many books into my instruction (in addition to curriculum) as I can to try to not only make what we're learning more engaging but to get my students to love reading too. This is why I like to bring in lots of California history books for 4th grade.
I also know that as teachers it's hard to fit in social studies and science these days with all that we have to do. But did you know that unless students take California History in college, 4th grade will be the only year they get it? So, I feel it's especially important to make sure to not cut it. That's another advantage to bringing in additional books, you can cover social studies and read aloud all in one shot. I love when I can kill two birds with one stone.
So, I'm going to share some of my favorite books about California history with you. There are many of them out there, and this is just a small sample.
Introduction to California
These are a couple of books that just give a fun overview of the state of California.
This book tells a little bit about the land and wildlife, government, symbols, history, and culture of California. It includes colorful photos and fun facts. There are even small true or false quizzes throughout the book. It's a great way to give the students a taste of what they'll be learning about throughout the year.
Another great introduction to California is Our California. It is written in poem form and beautifully illustrated. The book talks about the different cities in California and what they are known for both historically and currently. This book is a quick read when you don't have a lot of time.
In addition to reading one of the books, I also have students create a poster of the different California symbols.
Native Americans
This picture book is a retelling of the Southern Sierra Miwok legend that tells how El Capitan came to be. The myth includes characters that are based on real Sierra animals, including the bear cub main characters. The story revolves around two bear cubs that take a nap after some frolicking, and as they sleep, the rock they are on rises higher and higher. Mother Grizzly and the other animals work together to rescue the cubs from the top of the mountain.
This legend of the Karuk people tells the story of how the animals worked together to steal fire from the evil Yellow Jacket sisters. As in so many Native American legends, it tells how things came to be. It tells why you get fire from rubbing two willow sticks together, as well as how yellow jackets got their stripes. Coyote also plays the trickster as seen in many Native American legends.
Island of the Blue Dolphins is a chapter book about Karana, a 12-year-old girl who lives alone on an island off the coast of California. When her family and other villagers are evacuated from the island by a rescue ship, Karana is left behind to fend for herself for the next 18 years. She must learn to find food, make her own supplies, and defend herself against wild animals. This story is based on the life of a Native American woman who lived on San Nicolas Island (part of the Channel Islands).
This informational series of books highlights more than a dozen Native American tribes of California. The books explore the history, culture, and traditions of the different tribes. This is a great chance to learn more about a tribe local to your area in more depth.
Explorers
This picture book full of eye-catching colorful illustrations tells the life and adventures of Francis Drake. It's written in an almost graphic novel way with fun and interesting facts about the explorer. The book not only covers the basics of exploring on ships back during that time but also the fact that Drake was a pirate (a fact which students always love).
Since there are very few books on the explorers that came to California, this is a great chance for students to do a
mini explorer report to learn about those explorers.
Missions
The informational picture book starts with a brief history of explorers and Native Americans. It then segues into why and how the Missions were started, along with some background information on Padre Junipero Serra. This book includes primary sources as well as many informational text features.
This chapter book is part of the Dear America series. Rosa and her brother were orphaned and raised at Mission San Rafael and later became servants at a large rancho. Although the children are treated well, Rosa longs for knowledge about her parents and keeps a diary in secret, as she's not allowed to read or write. She writes all about her life at the mission and the rancho. This book is a great segue from the mission period into the rancho period.
Depending on the time and circumstances, I do some different activities with the California Missions. I've done a
longer report that is assigned to be done at home some years, and some years I've done a
shorter report that can be done in class. There's also a lot of
new vocabulary for this topic so we work on that as well.
Westward Movement
This picture book starts with a brief introduction and a map of the overland trail. It then starts the story, which is written in short, poem form. This makes it a quick read, but despite that, the book does an excellent job of showing just how difficult the journey was for the settlers that came west for a new life. This book is perfect when you're short on time.
Although this is a picture book, it's pretty long and would take around an hour to read. It's a thorough book that covers a lot of details about what the trip west would be like. The nice thing is that it is broken down into questions and answers. This would make it easy to break up into smaller parts for reading a little each day, or you could just pick and choose the topics that you want to cover.
While learning about the journey west, I use
Westward Movement task cards to help the students learn more. One of their favorite activities is when I hang the task cards up around the room and they get to walk around in pairs answering them.
Gold Rush
This informational book is a great way to introduce the gold rush. It starts with the discovery of gold in Coloma, then talks about gold fever, life as a miner, law and order, boomtowns, and then how it became harder to find gold over time. It also talks about how the gold rush changed America. The book contains pencil-drawn illustrations including maps, labels, and timelines. It also includes 16 pages of color photos as well.
This short chapter book is by the creators of the "I Survived" series. It's based on the 1852 Klamath River Conflict. The action in the story will keep readers engaged and the short chapters are perfect to read just a bit at a time when you are short on time. The story follows 14-year-old Hudson as she tries to find her long-lost father.
This chapter book tells the true story of Charlotte Parkhurst. Charlotte was raised in a boys' orphanage and loved working in the stables. But Charlotte dreams of a life she can't have as a girl. Despite that, she goes west and finds a way to follow her dreams, living the life of One-Eyed Charley and having adventures beyond her wildest dreams.
This classic chapter book follows 12-year-old Jack and his butler Praiseworthy as they travel to California in search of gold to help Jack's aunt. The two continue to find trouble and adventure along their journey. It's a fun story with a lot of details of what life was like during the gold rush.
One of my favorite activities, when we study the gold rush, is a
gold rush choice board. It gives students the chance to learn about lesser-known subtopics of the gold rush such as One-Eyed Charley, bandits, Tommyknockers, and the fun names of the gold rush towns.
Transcontinental Railroad
This picture book tells the story of Shek and his brother Little Wong, who travel from China to California to work on building the railroad in the west. The hardships and discrimination that the Chinese workers faced are well told in this story of perseverance and bravery.
My students love graphic novels, which makes this book a great way to teach about the Transcontinental Railroad. It starts with Theodore Judah attempting to get the government to agree to build the railroad and how he got them to agree. Then the book moves on to the building of the railroad including the dangerous and grim working conditions of the workers doing the building.
After learning about the railroad, we do a quick
Transcontinental Railroad Google Forms review of what we have learned. I love Google Forms because they're self-correcting and that saves me time.
Later History
We don't ever manage to get past the Transcontinental Railroad (and sometimes we don't get that far either). However, there are some good books to learn about more recent history in California. These books would be great for the last week of school read-alouds to at least introduce students to these important topics in California history.
This picture book is inspired by the author's family's experience in a Japanese Internment Camp. It is the story of Jimmy and his Japanese American family and how they are sent to an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Once there, Jimmy loses his appetite, and his older brother Taro begins sneaking out of the camp at night to catch fresh fish to help make Jimmy strong again.
This beautifully illustrated picture book talks about the life of Cesar Chavez. It tells about his idyllic upbringing on a ranch in Arizona until a devastating drought caused the family to pack up and move to California in search of work. Life for migrant workers was very hard and Cesar's life changed overnight. Cesar knew that the way the workers were being treated was unfair and he spoke up and worked to change the working conditions for the migrant farmworkers.
This uniquely illustrated picture book tells the story of Daniel and his mother as they take shelter and watch as the Los Angeles riots unfold. Daniel's mom explains to him why the rioting is happening. The story shows the caution his mom takes in keeping him safe as well as how the neighbors help each other when they must escape their burning apartment building. During their flight to the community shelter, Daniel loses his cat. He is later reunited with his cat, and the cat becomes a symbol of unity within the community.
There are so many amazing books about our rich California history, and these are just a small selection. I'd love to hear from you what your favorite California History books for 4th grade are. Comment below and let me know.
~Jill
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