Gold Fever Book Level 23-24

Gold Fever brings history to life through the story of the Klondike gold rush, exploring how towns experienced rapid change during periods of boom and bust. This engaging non-fiction text describes the rise and fall of communities shaped by resource discoveries, highlighting key people, places, and terms linked to the gold rush era. Maps and historical photographs support students in visualising events and interpreting information. Specialised vocabulary such as œsluice, œgrubstaker, and œstake a claim builds knowledge of industry and economy. Students are encouraged to examine cause-and-effect relationships and how events shaped communities. With its focus on narrative procedure and historical analysis, Gold Fever enriches reading comprehension while prompting discussion about the long-term impacts of economic change.

Educational Benefits:

• Develops understanding of historical events and economic cycles.
• Strengthens ability to recognise cause-and-effect in historical contexts.
• Expands vocabulary related to gold mining and community development.
• Enhances analytical skills through interpretation of historical maps and images.

Classroom Ideas:

• Create a timeline of events during the Klondike gold rush.
• Use historical photos from the text as writing prompts for narrative pieces.
• Discuss and debate the pros and cons of a œboom town economy.
• Simulate a gold rush experience through a role-play classroom activity.

Safety & Information:

• Ages: 8-10
• Size: 210mm x 297mm
• Safety: Paper text only; ideal for guided reading and historical inquiry.