Education samples: activity sheets

(All graphics ©Richard G. Mills 1996 All rights reserved.)

Teacher, Teacher, tell me true -- Do you think that I can do?

Texas State Hisory, cont'd

Use with the program: Texas -- The Lone Star State

Skill Boosters for Video 2, 7th-grade Level

== 1 ==

Texas: Early History to Independence

Skill Objectives:

•To identify routes on a map

•To understand the impact of exploration

Name_____________________________________

Explorers of Texas

1. The map below shows the routes of four early explorers of Texas: Piñeda; de Vaca; Coronado; La Salle. Label the correct route(s) of each explorer or code the routes and create a map key.

[ART: explorers route map, similar to previous maps]

2. Write a brief description of each man's exploration and tell how it affected the future of what would become Texas.

3. Choose a modern-day exploration or possible exploration and write a similar report about it, telling how it could affect the future.

ANSWERS:

1. [Student should have labeled or coded and map-keyed the routes correctly. For example:]

[ART: above map with samples answers]

2. Answers will vary but should include both a description of the each explorer's expedition and an explanation of its impact upon Texas to come.
3. Answers will vary but should similarly describe a recent, current, or potential modern-day exploration and its possible effects upon the future.

== 2 ==

Texas: Early History to Independence

Skill Objectives:

•To understand vocabulary

•To recognize definitions and descriptions

Name_____________________________________

Texas Terms

Choose the phrase on the right that most correctly answers each question on the left. Write its letter in the blank in front of the number of the matching question.

___ 1. What is an    A. A Spanish fort, in this case built to
       explorer?        protect a mission

___ 2. What is an    B. Someone who goes someplace few people
       expedition?      have been before to find out what 
                        it's like
 
___ 3. What is a     C. The sale of a large area of land to  
       mission          the north of Texas by the French to  
      (the place)?      the U.S. that the French and U.S.  
                        claimed included the northern portion
                        of Texas

___ 4. What is a     D. The trip made by an explorer and the 
       presidio?        people that go along

___ 5. What is a     E. Non-military and non-clergy people
       settlement?      who move to live in a new settlement

___ 6. What are      F. A museum and monument to this battle 
       settlers?        that became the battle cry for Texas 
                        independence

___ 7. What are      G. An area of land owned by the U.S. 
       civilian         but not an actual state
       settlers?

___ 8. What was the  H. An official, written, signed 
       Louisiana        agreement between two countries
       purchase?

___ 9. What is a     I. A settlement founded by monks and 
       treaty?          including a church, dwellings, and
                        the people living in them

___10. What is a     J. People who build homes, etc., in an
       U.S.             area where there were no permanent
       territory?       residents before

___11. What is a     K. A mission where one of the main
       Bowie knife?     Texas battles between the U.S. and
                        Mexico was fought and all the U.S.
                        militia were killed
                                                         
___12. What was      L. Being free from any outside
       the Alamo?       controlling country

___13. What is       M. The battle that won victory for
       the Alamo?       Texas's independence

___14. What was the  N. A multi-purpose knife designed by
       Battle of        James Bowie
       San Jacinto?

___15. What is       O. A group of people and their 
       independence?    homes, etc.

ANSWERS:

1. B
2. D
3. I
4. A
5. O
6. J
7. E
8. C
9. H
10. G
11. N
12. K
13. F
14. M
15. L

== 3 ==

Texas: Early History to Independence

Skill Objectives:

•To understand the influence of Indians (Native-Americans) upon Texas history

•To research and write a report with a bibliography

Name_____________________________________

B.T. (Before Texas)

Note: You may need your English book as well as a trip or two to the library to complete this Skill Booster.

[ART: Native American dwellings map, similar to others]

1. Look at the map above. Find the group of Indians (Native Americans) that used to live closest to where you now live. Use your history book, the encyclopedia, and other books to find out all you can about these people -- how they lived, what they did, and their relationship to early and later Texas. Take careful notes, documenting your sources (that is, keep track of which notes come from which source, including page number). Then write a complete report about those Indians, using footnotes and including a bibliography.

2. "Extra credit": The 40,000 Indians (Native Americans) currently living in Texas are not from the original Texas tribes. Write a similar report about these Texas Indians -- when and why they came to Texas, how they've lived since, etc.

ANSWERS:

1. [The student should have written a report about the Indians who used to live nearest his/her location, complete with footnotes and a bibliography.]
2. [The student may also have written an "extra credit" report about the Native American Indians now living in Texas.]

== 4 ==

Early History to Independence

Skill Objectives:

•To read a pictograph map

•To understand how the Spanish missions affected Texas, today

Name_____________________________________

The First Texas Settlers

The map below has small pictures of mission forts and churches on it. They show the approximate location of four of the largest Spanish mission settlements.

Fill in the blanks for 1 through 4, below, by writing in the correct name: Goliad; La Bahia; Nacogdoches; El Paso.

1. The farthest-west mission on the map is near the present-day city of

__________________.

2. The mission church that is today known as the Alamo was part of the mission at

___________________.

3. The mission nearest San Antonio on the above map was near present-day

_________________.

4. The farthest-east mission on the map was at present-day

______________________________.

5. Briefly explain the importance of these and other Spanish missions to Texas today.

ANSWERS:

1. El Paso
2. Goliad
3. La Bahia
4. Nacogdoches
5. [Answers will vary, but they should relate to the missions' influence on Texas's heritage and the locations of present-day towns and cities.]

== 5 ==

Early History to Independence

Skill Objectives:

•To recognize correct descriptions of historical Texans

Name_____________________________________

Early Texans

Write a printed capital letter T in the blank before each true statement and F before each false statement.

___ 1. Estaban was a black man who was good at learning languages and helped early Spanish explorers.

___ 2. Tejas is the Spanish version of the name Indians (Native Americans) in the area of modern-day Texas called members of tribes with whom they were friends.

___ 3. Jane and Ann Long and Kian were some of the famous men who died defending the Alamo.

___ 4. Stephen Austin is sometimes called the "Father of Texas."

___ 5. William Travis, James Bowie, and Davy Crockett were two women and a little girl who lived completely alone in a Texan fort in the 1800s.

___ 6. Samuel McCullough and Hendrick Arnold were two of the black Texas freedom fighters.

___ 7. Santa Anna was the man who won the Battle of San Jacinto.

___ 8. De Zavala, Sequin, Navarro, and Benavides were four of the Hispanic Texas freedom fighters.

___ 9. Erastus Smith was a man with a hearing loss who didn't let his "handicap" keep him from being a valued scout in Texas's fight for independence.

___10. Susanna Dickinson was one of the survivors of the Alamo.

ANSWERS:

1. T
2. T
3. F
4. T
5. F
6. T
7. F
8. T
9. T
10. T

== 6 ==

Texas: Early History to Independence

Skill Objectives:

•To understand the importance of the Alamo

•To understand the meaning of being "The Lone Star State"

Name_____________________________________

Remembering the Alamo and Texas's Heritage

1. Write a paragraph or two to answer the question: "What does the Alamo mean to you?"

2. Why didn't the United States accept Texas as a state as soon as it won its independence from Mexico?

3. Why is the Republic of Texas flag red, white, and blue with one star?

4. Write a brief report on the question: "What does independence, the Texas flag, and being the Lone Star State mean to you today?"

ANSWERS:

1. [The student should have written one or two paragraphs about "What the Alamo Means to Me."]
2. The U.S. didn't want Mexico to declare war upon the U.S., and the U.S. didn't want to change the balance of power between the North and the South.
3. Texas still wanted to join the Union: the red, white, and blue match the U.S. flag's colors, and the lone star is the star Texas wanted to add to the U.S. flag as a state.
4. [Reports will vary, but they should probably have the idea that Texas values its heritage and freedom.]