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Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources

The Birth of the Missions

The Birth of the Missions
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 3 to 4
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.65

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    poorly, teaching, tending, successful, claim, purpose, england, adobe, setting, working, powerful, repair, however, supplies, several, coast
     content words:    Alta California, King Carlos III, Pacific Ocean, Father Junipero Serra, On July, Father Serra, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Native Americans

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The Birth of the Missions
By Shirley Kruenegel 		  
1     The King of Spain began to claim lands in Alta California from 1542-1602. He needed harbors for his Spanish galleons to dock so that they could replenish their supplies and repair their ships. However, he lost interest in Alta California and never did anything with the land.
 
2     Finally, in 1769, the King of Spain found out that other countries were interested in Alta California. England and Russia were both sending ships to California and began claiming land. To protect the Spanish land already claimed, King Carlos III made an order that settlements needed to be set up in Alta California. However, traveling to California was not going to be easy. There were two ways people could travel to Alta California; north by land or sea, up the Pacific Ocean coast.
 
3     Spain thought the best way to start a colony was by setting up missions and presidios.
 
4     Gasper de Portola, a Spanish army captain, and Father Junipero Serra, a Catholic padre, set out for California. On July 16, 1769, Father Serra set up the first mission in Alta California at San Diego de Alcala, not far from the first presidio.

Paragraphs 5 to 11:
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