This story is written from the perspective of Wong Ming-Chung, a young Chinese boy who traveled to America to join his uncle during the California gold rush, and his diary entries describe the day-to-day trials and tribulations they face as Chinese immigrants attempting to “strike it rich” in a foreign land. Not only are they dreaming of finding a better life for themselves but also for their family members in China. (McGraw-Hill Open Court, 2002)

This lesson was created as part of the Basal Alignment Project, during which teachers created CCSS-aligned lessons for existing literary and information texts in basal readers. All page numbers and unit/week designations found in this lesson relate to the edition of the basal reader named above. If you are using a trade book or different edition of this title, the page/unit/week references in this lesson will not match. Consult the content referenced in the body of the lesson to determine appropriate page numbers for your text.