CA Mission Unit

4th Grade
 Lessons:
Lesson 1: Mission KWL Chart

· Content area(s) covered: What were the Missions?

· Student learning objective/outcome:The students will discuss what
they know about the Missions, what they want to know, and what they
learn throughout the unit.
· Brief description of the activities: The teacher and students will
complete a KWL prior so starting the Missions unit. Students along with
the teacher will record what they already know about Missions, what they
want to know, and throughout the Unit, will record what they have learned.
 Lesson 2: Missions Multiplication/Division Word Problems

· Content area(s) covered:Exploring the details of Mission Life

· Student learning objective/outcome:Students will practice
multiplication and division using details that they have learned in their
Missions unit.
· Brief description of the activities:There will be multiple mission related
word problems posted around the room. Students will be given a
recording sheet and will work their way around to complete each problem.
They will then create a mission word problem of their own, using details
from Mission life that they have learned. Examples of Mission word
problems may include finding distance between Missions and time to
travel between them, or paying for good and services found at the
Missions etc.
 Lesson 3: California Mission Graphic Organizer

· Content area(s) covered:Specific CA Missions, history of, year founded,

location etc.
· Student learning objective/outcome:Students will practice using
technology to research a specific Mission and find out relevant information.
· Brief description of the activities:Students will use their Chromebooks to
gather information on an assigned Mission and they will use this information
to fill out the graphic organizer. Students will explore basic details such as
year founded, location, Mission # etc. as well as early history, recent history
and the design of the church. This activity helps students with interpreting,
summarizing and explaining information they find on the internet. This graphic
organizer will be used to complete a travel brochure for their Mission.
 Lesson 4: California Mission: Create a Travel Brochure

· Content area(s) covered:Describing the Missions

· Student learning objective/outcome:Students will use what they have
learned to create a travel brochure specific to their Mission. They had
organized their information into a graphic organizer and now they will practice
using the graphic organizer to generate a travel brochure.
· Brief description of the activities: Students will create a travel brochure
using a teacher created outline that explains the basic information of the
Mission, historical facts, and Mission design. The information will be
accompanied by detailed drawings of the Mission.
 Lesson 5: Pueblos, Presidios and Missions Graphic
Organizer/Brochure

· Content area(s) covered:Identifying the criteria for a Pueblo, Presidio

and a Mission.
· Student learning objective/outcome:Students will learn the purpose of
the Pueblos, Presidios and Missions as well as what life was like in each
of these places.
· Brief description of the activities:Students will work in a whole group
setting with the teacher to identify from the textbooks the definitions of
Pueblo, a Presidio, and a Mission. These definitions as well as a detailed
drawing will be arranged in a brochure. Students will have time to
individually work on their drawings, using the book and pictures online as
a guide.
 Lesson 6: Mission Water Colors

· Content area(s) covered:Mission design, differentiation between the 21

Missions
· Student learning objective/outcome:Students will use the information they have
learned to form their interpretation of what the Mission looked like and what life felt
like from certain points of view.
· Brief description of the activities:Students will be assigned one of six missions
with rich history in regards to conflicting native/nonnative opinions and living
vocations. For each Mission half of the students will be given an excerpt/story
from the Natives point of view and half will be given the point of view of the
nonnative Spaniards. They will design their Mission painting based on real life
photos of the Mission with the mood and emotional expression of their assigned
point of view on mind. Students will compare and contrast the Missions painted
with different points of view in mind.
 Lesson 7: California Missions Water Colors Writing

· Content area(s) covered:Conflicting opinions on Mission life from those

who lived it. Native life before and after the Missions.
· Student learning objective/outcome:Students will practice imaging what
life was like from the Native point of few.
· Brief description of the activities:Students will follow-up their water colors
with a writing piece written from either the point of view of the Natives or
Nonnatives. Their writing will be in the form of a letter to relatives. Students
will compare the tone and experience written about in each other’s letters.
Are they similar or different? How so?
 Lesson 8: Mission Weather Activity

· Content area(s) covered: What was life like at the Missions? How did
life in Missions vary based on location and weather?
· Student learning objective/outcome: Students will learn how to
research weather information and how to apply that information to Mission
life.
· Brief description of the activities:Students will be assigned a Mission
and will be tasked with researching the typical climate and weather
patterns of the location. Students will record the average summer and
winter temperatures, hottest and coldest temperatures, and average
rainfall. They will write a paragraph explaining how this might affect life at
their Mission.
 Lesson 9: California Missions Field Trip

Content area(s) covered:San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo Mission

· Student learning objective/outcome:Students will see what life was like
in the Missions with their own eyes.
· Brief description of the activities: Students will take a field trip to the
Mission in Carmel. Students will take a tour of the Mission and visit the
local museum to gain more insight. Students will complete a graphic
organizer of information that they learned on the field trip.
 Lesson 10:

Content area(s) covered:Mexican Independence

· Student learning objective/outcome:Students will learn about how
Mexican Independence affected the Missions, as well as the changes it
brought to California.
· Brief description of the activities:The teacher and students will read
through the text together and fill in the graphic organizer as they go. This
information will include: How the war started, the cause and effect on CA,
and problems it caused. There will be a follow up graphic organizer on the
rise of Ranchos, and Vaqueros.
 Reflection
● Lessons from this unit were fun to implement as the
students were already interested in Mission life
● They appreciate social interactions and collaboration
during their lessons
● Areas for growth within teaching of the unit will be the
pacing of the lessons throughout the 3-week span.
● creating this unit helped me to see how learning happens
on a larger scale within classroom and showed me how to
put tools together to help optimal learning occur for all
students.