Curated OER
The French in Texas
Fourth graders use Internet to examine early French exploration and settlement in Texas, and write journal entries from point of view of 17th Century French settler, French or Spanish explorer, or Native American whose land was taken.
Curated OER
Call to Arms: A Service Project
Sick of selling candy and washing cars? How about hosting a Digital Day or a Learning Lunch? The suggestions here make fund raising fun and rewarding. Raise money to preserve important maps and other primary source documents.
Curated OER
Migrating to Texas
Fourth graders explore the migration to Texas from other parts of the United States. Through journal entries they write about the trip as if they were the settlers coming to a new and foreign country. Working in small groups, 4th graders...
Curated OER
Hit The Trail
Young historians research one of the most colorful periods in US History: the cattle drives of the 1800's. They research the three most popular trails, and complete mapping and writing assignments about each one. The lesson has many...
Curated OER
Dust In The Distance
Students are introduced to the events of the Dust Bowl. Using a map, they locate and label all of the states surrounding and including Oklahoma. After also labeling the counties in Oklahoma, they use the internet to research the...
Curated OER
Whose Business?
Fourth graders compare and contrast the businesses in Fort Griffin with those in their own community. Using the internet, they discover the factors that have influenced the development of businesses in a town. They also create a map of...
Curated OER
Capitol Visitors Center, Pre-Visit Lesson Plan, Grades 7 and 8
Students, through lecture and discussion, identify public lands of Texas and how the land was used during the 19th century. They read selections about public lands and work in groups to answer questions about the readings. In groups,...
Curated OER
A Handy Measure
Hold your horses! Young learners discover the history behind measuring the height of horses "by hands." They also study the history of Oklahoma, and how horses played such an important role in settling the state. An excellent worksheet...
Curated OER
Hit the Trail
Young scholars read about the history of cattle trails and complete language arts, math, social studies, and more activities about barbed wire. In this barbed wire lesson plan, students read poetry, research changes over time, draw...
Curated OER
Surface Water Supplies And The Texas Settlements
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the allocation and finding of water resources. The location of different settlement areas is considered as one looks how the water is distributed. They map some of the early Spanish and...
Curated OER
A Handy Measure
How many hands tall are you? Challenge kids to measure themselves the way the 19th century Oklahoma horse traders measured their prize horses (can they guess how many hands tall a horse had to be?). There's some background information...
Curated OER
Third Grade Social Studies- Quiz
In this social studies worksheet, students complete a 25 question multiple choice quiz about early American colonial life and the Cherokee and other Native American tribes.
Curated OER
Dark Days on the Prairie
Students explore U.S. geography by researching agriculture. In this dust bowl lesson, students complete a cause and effect worksheet based upon the dust bowls that covered a large portion of Oklahoma and Texas in the early 1900's....
Curated OER
Dark Days on the Prairie
Fourth graders research the location and causes of the Dust Bowl in 1935. In support, they interpret photos from that period in Oklahoma history, They also compare/contrast the American Dust Bowl to the dust storms that occurred in...
Curated OER
Clothesline Sleuth
Students explore the make up of fabrics. In this agriculture lesson, students examine the cotton and wool crops of the United States and discover how fabrics are created.
Curated OER
Where is Rice Grown?
Fifth graders create a timeline of the development of rice as an important crop. In this agricultural history lesson plan, 5th graders read about the history behind why rice was grown and where it is grown. Students demonstrate their...
Curated OER
Castolon Historic District
Students complete a variety of activities that go along with the study of and possible fieldtrip to the Castolon Historic District in Big Bend National Park, TX.
Curated OER
Make a Bison
Students discover how bison were hunted by the Native Americans and compare it to the buffalo. Using construction paper, they trace a bison outline given to them and use coffee grounds to fill in the space where the fur would be. They...
Curated OER
Colonial North America
Showcase the religion, conflicts, daily life, and politics of Colonial North America. A very well-done presentation highlights all the major colonial groups, social norms, demographics, and political struggles of the time. Perfect for an...
Texas Public Broadcasting
Texas Pbs: Texas Our Texas: The Land and Its Early People: Prehistory 1519
Learn how the four different regions with their diverse geographical features make Texas' environment quite varied and unique, and how this influenced early settlers in the state.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Moses Austin (In Spanish)
Learn about the life and business adventures of the man who dominated the U.S. lead industry in the early 1800s, then made arrangements for American Settlers to move to Spanish Texas. (In Spanish)
Texas A&M University
Sons of De Witt Colony Texas: The De Leon Colony: Empresario Don Martin De Leon
Read in-depth biography about Martin de Leon, a rancher and wealthy Mexican empresario descended from Spanish aristocracy. This account describes his importance to early Texas settlement.
Curated OER
Etc: Oregon Trail and Other Routes, 1832 1842
A map of western North America between the opening of the Oregon Trail in 1832 to 1842, prior to the establishment of the Provisional Government of Oregon by American settlers in 1843. The map shows the boundary of the Oregon Country,...