California Gold Rush Simulation Day: Readers Theater + Claim Journals

The 10-scene “California Gold Rush” script lets 4th-graders experience boomtown life through miners, merchants, and newspaper editors.

Sample 45-Minute Plan

1. Quick hook: display a gold-flake vial.
2. Cold read half the script; assign rotating casts for fluency.
3. Students begin personal “claim journals” (simple lined paper) to record imagined daily costs.

Optional Extension (Teacher-Created)

Not included in the PDF.

• Sluice-box math: pan plastic gems, weigh finds, calculate 1850 earnings.

Grab the script: California Gold Rush Readers Theater