Lesson 1 ~ Lesson 2 ~ Lesson 3 ~ Lesson 4 ~ Lesson 5

4^th Grade Lesson Designs

Day 4 – Looking at the Big Picture: How Allen Light Fits into California History

I. Lesson Objective:

1. Given a chart of major events in California history from 1800-1860, students will be able to verbally analyze how these events affected the lives of Allen Light and the people he dealt with in Alta California with 85 per cent accuracy by the end of lesson 4.
2. Given the same chart and after reviewing what Light was doing at each point in California history, students will be able to verbally explain:

-why it was illegal for Americans and Native Americans to hunt along the Alta California coast;

-why Allen Light was able to hunt otter;

-how he got his job as Principal Arbiter;

-what happened to him during the Mexican American war.

• Time for entire lesson: 50 minutes

II. Materials:

1. Date chart - the same one used in Lesson 2, this time with the California events included but with all the text in Allen Light column blocked out; students’ dated cards on Allen Light.
2. Card sets of last five events in Allen Light’s life, copied from date chart.
3. Preparation Guidelines - For Date chart activity, Xerox a copy of the date chart used in Lesson 2 onto transparency paper. Block out all the text in the Allen Light column. Make card sets of the remaining 5 events in Allen light’s life (1841-1851). As you did in Lesson 2, remove the dates on each event and shuffle each set. Pass the card sets out to student groups to organize chronologically

III. Lesson Presentation

1. Introduction:(5 minutes) Now that we know why so many different kinds of people hunted otters in the 1800s, let’s go back to the mystery of Allen Light. Remember how he started hunting otter? How could an African-American mariner hunt otter in Mexican California?
2. Date Chart activity: (15 minutes) Project the date chart transparency on the overhead projector. Ask students to organize the remaining 5 events, then match their dated and organized Allen Light cards to the missing parts of the chart (it’s a fill-in-the-box game). By the end of the activity, the date chart should be completely filled. Depending on students’ competence, this can be done either as a group activity or as a class. For group work, copies of the date charts with missing texts should just be passed out.
3. Class Discussion: (30 minutes) When students have matched all 10 Allen Light cards to the chart, pass out the remaining 5 cards from the Allen Light column and match those up as a class.

Ask the students how what was going on in Mexican politics and between Mexico and the United States affected Allen Light’s life. Discussing each box in the California history column, ask students to analyze how the political situation might have influenced Allen Light’s actions and decisions from year to year, e.g. ‘Why do you think Allen Light joined the Mexican Army instead of continuing to hunt otter? Wasn’t being a soldier more dangerous than hunting?’

IV. Evaluation:

1. Completed date chart with both columns on Allen Light and California history filled in.
2. Students’ verbal inferences about how Light used his position as both American and Mexican citizen to his advantage in California.

V. Extension Activity:

Have students choose one event in Allen Light’s life and write a short opinion paper either defending or criticizing Light’s actions. For example, a student could explain why he/she thinks Light should have continued working as a sailor instead of becoming hunter. They can draw their reasoning from today’s class discussion or come up with their own explanations based on what they learned from the completed date chart.