Curated OER
Cabeza de Vaca
Fourth graders observe the 1529 map of the Gulf of Mexico and describe the accuracy of the map, including the unknown landscape that Cabeza de Vaca would traverse. They read the discuss the excerpt of his journey including his treatment...
Curated OER
Cabeza de Vaca Meets the Coahuiltecans
Seventh graders examine Cabeza de Vaca's journal and differentiate between primary and secondary sources. They, in groups, design posters that portray the culture of the Coahuiltecan Indians in Texas during the 16th century.
Curated OER
Pánfilo de Narváez, Nuñez de Cabeza de Vaca
Students identify the route that Narváez and de Vaca sailed, and the mishaps that occurred during their exploration of Florida. They illustrate each of the vocabulary words or create mini barges using sticks and cloth.
Curated OER
What's In a Name?
Students research Cabeza de Vaca and other conquistadors. They review how names were given to Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca's family and discuss the achievements, risks, experiences, and characteristics of de Vaca. They write an acrostic...
Curated OER
Cabeza de Vaca Meets the Coahuiltecans
Young scholars examine the difference between primary and secondary sources by examining the journal of Cabeza de Vaca and creating a poster about the Coahuitecan Indian groups. They portray a scene of the groups in 16th Century south...
Curated OER
World History: Legacy of the Conquistadors.
Students examine the influence of the Spanish conquistadors on ancient South American Cultures. In four separate lessons, they discover the relationships of Cortes and the Aztecs, Pizarro and the Incas, Orellana and the Amazons, and...
Annenberg Foundation
Exploring Borderlands
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
Curated OER
Step by Step
Young scholars create step books to illustrate important events. They discuss how to do things "step by step" and prepare pages to illustrate steps. They select a conquistador and create a step book to illustrate his biographical...
Curated OER
In the News
Fourth graders will use AlphaSmarts/Neos to create a one page newspaper in Word which features an early explorer. This lesson can be done entirely in the classroom. The students will perform research about the explorer prior to the...
Curated OER
Death On Board La Belle: Finding Clues from Old Bones
Students practice analyzing skeletal remains for clues by using the Internet. In this scientific investigation lesson, students research the La Belle shipwreck using the Internet and written materials, later completing a Skeletal...
Curated OER
Spanish Explorers Name Cards
In this explorers worksheet students see the names of 18 Spanish explorers on name cards. There is no information given on this page.
Curated OER
Digging Deeper in Mission San Saba
Seventh graders explain Spanish motives for establishing Mission San Sab?? and the reasons for the mission's failure. This lesson should be used when students already have an understanding of the Spanish mission-presidio system in Texas.
Curated OER
Context Clues that Define Pretest
In this context clues worksheet, students define context clues and use them to define words in a reading passage.
Curated OER
Coronado: Misfortune's Explorer
Fourth graders discuss the importance of Coronado's expedition through Texas and the trials his men endured during the journey. They view and discuss a map of Coronado's route, the effects of weather on the Great Plains, and Buffalo....
Curated OER
At Home On The Range
Young scholars explore the history and domestication of the Bovidae family and their importance to our prairie ecosystem. Using a map of the United States, students located the American Great Plains. They complete worksheets and...
Curated OER
AT HOME ON THE RANGE
The student will learn how ranchers on the western frontier helped saved the bison from extinction.Hand out student worksheets. Have young scholars read the information about bison on Student Worksheet A before completing Student...
Curated OER
At Home on the Range
Fifth graders complete a worksheet. In this bison and great plains instructional activity, 5th graders read information about bison and complete a worksheet of comprehension questions. Students locate the American Great Plains on a map...
Curated OER
At Home on the Range
Students discuss the American bison. In this social studies lesson, students discuss the history of the American bison and graph the decline of the bison population.
Curated OER
Spanish Explorers
In this social studies worksheet, students read the names of Spanish explorers and they are to be displayed as a word wall for the classroom.
Curated OER
Exploration--Widening Our Horizons
Students examine the difficulties of exploration and some of the motivations for exploration. They investigate various types of explorers and identify the difficulties faced by the New World explorers. Students create a journal of...
Curated OER
A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK
Based on a set of criteria, middle schoolers will evaluate the quality of pecans.1. Bring a gram scale and papershell pecans. Provide five pecans for each student. 2. Divide the class into groups of five and provide each member with five...
PBS
Pbs: New Perspectives on the West: Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca
Read the incredible story of Cabeza de Vaca in his own words. He tells of his many years-long journey across the South, and writes as an ethnologist about the Native Americans he encounters. A fascinating account!
PBS
Pbs: Conquistadors: Cabeza De Vaca
Click on "The Marvelous Adventure" to follow Cabeza de Vaca's several year journey through the Southeast and Texas. Part of a larger site on the Spanish conquest of the Western world, these pages focus on Cabeza de Vaca. Includes de...
Other
Eldritch Press: Cabeza De Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America
Read this fascinating account by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, one of four survivors who traversed Florida and the Southwest for eight years, from 1529-1537.Read the preface which gives a background to this narrative before delving into...