Teachers - California Overview

Welcome to Walk Through California™!  This dynamic 4th grade presentation is California Weekly Explorer’s signature “Walk Through”. It continues to be loved by thousands of teachers, students, and parents each year. Visit our reviews page to see what teachers like you have to say!

The presentation is designed to allow fourth grade students an opportunity to actively participate in their learning with games, music, re-enactments and storytelling to make history come alive!

It explores some of the famous events, historical figures, and vocabulary studied in fourth grade curriculum based on California state standards for History and English. The first half includes California history from the indigenous period up to statehood. Students will go “back in time” with our friendly time machine, “Herman” to meet people such as Wishtoya from the Chumash tribe; the first explorer from Spain to California, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo; the first Spanish missionary to California, Father Junipero Serra; learn about the earthquakes of 1812 and the establishment of Fort Ross; dance in a fiesta to celebrate Mexico’s independence and rule over California; join the Bear Flag Revolters in declaring California’s independence; be given a chance to find gold during California’s gold rush; and sing to the United States National Anthem when California joins the union. Throughout these time periods students are picked from the “audience” to play famous roles or take part in special activities. The presentation concludes with students building a large topographical map of California on the floor, experiencing California’s geography hands-on.

Throughout the presentation students are awarded points by the presenter in a friendly competition to try and become the first-place team! Students are encouraged to display teamwork, sportsmanship, respect, and enthusiasm. The presenter calls out pre-assigned vocabulary words for students to come up and recite as the “expert” for the class. Students receive points for their team for recitations of their expert word cards and some may receive additional points for being caught with “greatness” by pulling a gold-tipped lollipop out of a display relief map of California!

To prepare, teachers are provided with an assignment list for placing students on teams (typically 4 teams but smaller classes may have 2 or 3) and each student with a specific expert word (there are 36 total), the Expert Word cards to distribute to students (each word contains a definition and question for student to look up the answer and provide to the presenter when asked), and all instructions needed to prepare; template for making name-tags, copy of the Star Spangled Banner, score sheet for keeping track of points awarded by the presenter and more.  

By participating in Walk Through California, fourth grade students grow in performance literacy, listening skills, and vocabulary development, all while learning about California’s rich history up to 1850 and geography. The presentation is a supplement to what is being taught in the classroom and provides an overview of many key events that supports classroom learning and student retention. Detailed discussions on perspectives of history is left for classroom learning where more time can be spent.

Click here to read what standards are supported in Walk Through California and what specific history standards are addressed within the presentation.