California State Report Kit
Everything a student needs to research and write a report on California: the reading, the maps and the pages to fill in. Nothing else to look up.
- 3 reading pages: California fun facts, History, and Land and Work
- 5 maps: landmarks, cities, county, outline, and rivers and lakes
- An 8-page My State Report booklet, from fast facts to a trip plan and a license plate to design
- A pennant to cut out and hang, two map skills sheets and a 10-question reading quiz
- Answer keys for the quiz, the fast facts and the map sheets
- One print-ready PDF, 23 pages, black and white, US Letter
Look inside
Read it, map it, write it.
The reading pages and maps hold every answer the booklet asks for. About one third of the booklet is looking things up. The rest asks students to choose, plan and explain.
What is in the California kit
To read and study
- California fun facts: six short true stories, By the Numbers and Did You Know
- History: the state’s story in order, with a timeline, people to know and words to know
- Land and Work: the land and climate, what the state grows, makes and mines, and how one leads to the other
- Five maps, including a rivers, lakes and neighbors map with a letter key
To fill in and make
- My State Report booklet: cover, Fast Facts, My Map, State Symbols, My Trip, Think Like a Geographer, Design a License Plate and Dig Deeper
- A pennant with the state’s name and outline, to color, cut out and hang
- Name the Cities and Name the Rivers and Lakes sheets, each with a word bank
- A 10-question reading quiz, with answer keys for everything that has one right answer
Free: the California History reading page
One page on the history of California for grades 3 to 5, free to print in color or black and white. It is the second reading page in the kit.
The First Peoples
People have lived in California for at least 13,000 years. More than 100 Native nations lived here. The Chumash built plank canoes and paddled to the Channel Islands. The Miwok, Yokuts and Pomo gathered acorns and ground them into flour. The Hupa and Yurok fished for salmon. Nations traded shell beads, and at times they fought each other.
Spain and the Missions
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay for Spain in 1542. In 1769, Spain sent soldiers and priests to settle the coast. Father Junípero Serra started the first mission at San Diego. By 1823 there were 21. Native people at the missions grew wheat, herded cattle and made adobe bricks. Soldiers kept them from leaving, and many died of diseases from Europe. In 1775, Kumeyaay fighters burned the San Diego mission and killed three men. The Spanish rebuilt it.
Mexican California
Mexico won its freedom from Spain in 1821, and California became part of Mexico. In the 1830s, Mexico closed the missions and gave out the land as ranchos. Ranch families called Californios raised cattle, and Native cowboys did much of the work. Ships came to trade for hides and tallow, the fat used for candles and soap.
War, Gold and Statehood
The United States and Mexico went to war in 1846. American settlers at Sonoma raised a Bear Flag. Californio lancers fought U.S. soldiers at San Pasqual, but the United States won the war. In 1848, Mexico signed a treaty giving California to the United States. Gold had been found nine days earlier. Some miners from the South brought enslaved people to dig. California became a free state in 1850, and its constitution banned slavery.
Wars and Treaties
Miners and settlers spread over Native land. Native fighters raided mining camps and ranches, and miners and soldiers attacked Native villages. In 1851 and 1852, tribes signed 18 treaties that promised them reservations. The U.S. Senate did not approve them. In the Modoc War of 1872 and 1873, Modoc fighters held off the army for months. The army won, and about 150 Modoc were moved to Oklahoma. More than 100 tribes have their governments in California today.
Building California
In 1869, a railroad joined California to the East. Chinese workers laid most of its track across the Sierra Nevada. Farmers dug canals and planted orange groves. San Francisco was rebuilt after the earthquake and fire of 1906. Movie makers came to Hollywood. In World War II, California shipyards and factories built ships and planes.
California through time
- 1542 Cabrillo sails into San Diego Bay
- 1769 The first mission is founded
- 1821 Mexico wins its freedom from Spain
- 1848 Gold is found. Mexico gives up California
- 1850 California becomes the 31st state
- 1869 A railroad links California to the East
- 1906 The San Francisco earthquake
- 1913 Los Angeles gets an aqueduct
- 1937 The Golden Gate Bridge opens
People to know
- Mariano Vallejo: Californio general and rancho owner.
- Biddy Mason: Born enslaved. Won her freedom in 1856.
- Levi Strauss: Began selling riveted blue jeans in 1873.
- John Muir: Worked to make Yosemite a national park.
- Sally Ride: Los Angeles-born. First U.S. woman in space.
Free California maps
Each of these maps is free to print on its own page. The kit puts them in one file with the reading pages and the booklet.