Spanish Explorers & the Missions in California

Teach students Spanish exploration and the California mission system while building essential reading comprehension skills! This low-prep resource includes 8 short informational passages covering Cabrillo's voyage, Portolá and Father Serra, what a mission was, why missions were placed where they were, the missions/presidios/pueblos, the change to a farming economy, and the mission system's hard and harmful impact on California's Native peoples.

This unit is written with care. 

Each passage includes comprehension questions, and the inference and synthesis passages add a deeper response that encourages students to use evidence and explain their thinking.

Includes:

• 8 California history reading passages
• Reading comprehension questions
• Deeper reasoning questions (on the inference and synthesis passages)
• Spanish Explorers & the Missions review (recall + concept questions)
• A "People of the Missions" graphic organizer comparing the roles of missionaries, soldiers, and California Indians
• Answer key plus a teacher answer guide with discussion prompts
• Teacher guide with vocabulary, misconceptions, discussion prompts, and standards connections

Perfect for: whole-group instruction, small groups, independent practice, reading centers, California History, and review.

Standards aligned: California HSS 4.2.2–4.2.6 (Spanish exploration, the missions, presidios and pueblos, and the change in California's economy)