Republic and Statehood Lessons Plans 4th grade

Cary-Anne Koenig teaching portfolio offers 4th graders guidance   http://ckoenig1.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/texas-history.doc

Mrs. Rogers Projects

Mrs. Rogers offers over two dozen Texas history projects for students. http://mdrogers61.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/project-ideas/

Lone Ranger - Graphic Novel

The students at Dominican University's Library School offer a review of the re-prinited, melodramtic version of the Lone Ranger, 2 vols.Author: Matthews, Brett (writer) and Cariello, Sergio (illustrator).  Their commentary includes: "Readers who turn to this incarnation of The Lone Ranger because of a childhood affection for the 1950s TV series will be pleased with the detail and care given to the characters but may be surprised by the graphic violence portrayed. The Lone Ranger's no-kill code does not entirely prevent him from committing other acts of violence, and most of the other characters have no qualms about killing. This is a comic meant for teens and adults, not children. The series won the 2006 Eisner Award winner for Best New Series and Best Cover Artist, and True West magazine's awarded the series the "Best Western Comic Book of the Year" in their 2009 Best of the West Source Book."  Read more at http://ra763.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/the-lone-ranger-volumes-1-and-2/ or see more at Comic Book Resources at http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=10351

Texas Beyond History Lesson Plans

Texas Beyond History, as well as being an excellent site for general purposes, also has lesson plans, keyed to TEKS from the categories Language Arts | Social Studies | Math/Science | Art Samples include A Day in the Life Students explore the roles of a variety of people who lived or worked at a nineteenth-century Texas frontier fort or in a nearby frontier town. By writing about a character in his/her own voice, students reach a greater understanding of life on the Texas frontier. Suggested for grade levels 4-7. View TEKS and download page.  Archeology 2500: Texano Weapons Students work in small groups to write a creative, descriptive report about a "mystery" artifact. Hypothesis building and creative writing suitable for upper elementary and above. Suggested for grade level 7. View TEKS and download page. Making a Caddo Circle Book Students write, draw, and use mathematics to create a short booklet about the Caddo Indians. This interdisciplinary lesson is suitable for grades 4 and 7. View TEKS and download page.  Aldridge Sawmill - The Story in Numbers This lesson plan provides 7th-grade students an opportunity to practice math skills while becoming familiar with Texas' "Boom & Bust" economy  and the natural history and geography of the east Texas Piney Woods. The student handout is illustrated with historic photos of logging in East Texas. View TEKS and download page. More at http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/teach/lessons.html#social

Texas Council for the Social Studies

The Texas Council for the Social Studies has a website of interest to teachers and other folks.  It's navigational options include  Home | Awards | Conference | Membership | Opportunities | Publications | Resources .  The TCSS dues are only $15 a year and the benefits are extensive.  It's interests are broadly based, but occasional attention is paid to Texana.  The Resources pays attention to the Portal to Texas History (UNT), Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, and Beyond Texas History (UT), The George Ranch and other resources and applicable links. The Social Studies Texan is self-described as "The Texan is the official publication of the Texas Council for the Social Studies, an affiliate of the National Council for the Social Studies. The Social Studies Texan is published three times per year and is available as a benefit to all members of TCSS. The Social Studies Texan publishes articles of interest to social studies educators at all levels. This juried journal includes professional articles relating to social studies education and lesson plans, teaching ideas, or teaching activities that have been used successfully in the classrooms of Texas. It contains information about opportunities for professional growth and the latest resources available for use in the classroom. The journal provides up to date information about the Texas Council for the Social Studies and pertinent social studies information important to social studies teachers."   TCSS encourages the submission of lesson plans as part of their service.

Women in Texas History Lesson Plans

Self description: "Welcome to the portal for all things historical about women in Texas. Students, teachers, researchers, and Texas history lovers will discover stories about all kinds of women, and find links to many sites for more information related to Texas women's history. Students and teachers will find: Topics for research papers Ideas for teaching Texas women's history Ideas for including women's history in writing assignments Sources of primary materials and bibliographies Photographs and biographies of amazing Texas women Timeline of Texas women's history Lesson Plans – Texas Women's History 4th Grade Social Studies Capitol_Women Las Tejanas 7th Grade Texas History Capitol_Women Las Tejanas African American Women 8th Grade U.S. History 8th Grade U.S. History Through Reconstruction High School U.S. History High School U.S. History Since Reconstruction  Read more of this excellent website's offerings at http://www.womenintexashistory.org/

Battle Report Newsletter & This Week in Texas History

The State Parks & Wildlife folks over at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site offer a weekly email newsletter, rather well done.  The Battle Report focuses on current events happening there, it's a lot - the Monument, the Battleship, and the grounds. Occasional strategic affairs are addressed.  Public, volunteer, and staff activities are covered. Conservation and public service are the principal elements.  Remember that it also includes the Battleship Texas.  Archeological notes are included from time to time. The Battle Report bills itself as: ""The purpose of this newsletter is to communicate the site's day-to-day natural and cultural resource management activities. Our goal is to inform and educate our staff, partners, and friends – and those we have yet to meet – Welcome!" I can't see the Monument from my window so its nice of Russ Kuykendall, Park Complex Superintendent, to have added me to their mailing list.  He can add you too!  Just ask him.  Call 281/479-2431 . One of the regular columns is "This Week in Texas History."  The photography is good!   Visit their websites at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/san_jacinto_battleground/  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/battleship_texas/

Heart of Texas Literature Center - Brownwood

The Heart of Texas Literature Center in Brownwood describes itself as "The Heart of Texas Literature Center is a combination review/examination center.  Books sent by publishers are kept on display at the Center, and reviews are published in our quarterly journal, the Lorgnette. Our reviews can also be found on the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD).  Our facility is part of the Walker Memorial Library on the campus of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas." and "The Heart of Texas Literature Center is dedicated to making current children's and teenagers' literature available for public viewing and informing the public of the literature through providing evaluative reviews.  The current collection consists of books and book related media that are published and/or made available for sale for the first time in the United States during 2006. Professionals read and evaluate books and write reviews.  We publish the reviews in our quarterly journal, the Lorgnette."   It's a remarkable endeavor.  They collect children and young adult books from across the nation and review dozens in each issue of their online Lorgnette periodical.  Their dozens of reviewers from the region are teachers, librarians, university professors, and the sort who've have genuine experience with the kids.  Carrie Harding is Director; Blanche Byrd is Assistant Director; Patsy Weeks is Director of Outreach; and Marsha Harper is editor of the Lorgnette.  Their interests are very wide, and there is some Texana in each issue.   Read more at http://ww1.hputx.edu/Hotlit/

Young Readers at TCU Press

Texas Christian University Press has several titles for its series "Chaparral Books for Young Readers."   See http://www.prs.tcu.edu/series_titles.html   War Pony Luke and the Van Zandt County War  Tame the Wild Stallion Lone Hunter's Gray Pony Lone Hunter and the Cheyennes  Duster Muddy Banks Stay Put, Robbie McAmis  Letters to Oma Have Gun--Need Bullets Josefna and the Hanging Tree You're an Orphan, Mollie Brown!

High School students - YA at TCU

Texas Christian University Press has an extensive list of volumes.  Many of those have been gathered and categorized as suggestions for classroom adoptions for college students.  High school librarians may wish to view their list for titles applicable to enrich their collections. Their Texana appears in several categories other than those specified by "History" and "Literature." See http://www.prs.tcu.edu/classroom%20adoptions.html    The categories are African American Studies, Civil Rights Studies Studies of Aging Border Studies, Mexican History, and Mexican-American History Civil War Studies Drama Economics and Labor Relations Education German-American Studies History, American West History, Texas Hydropolitics Literature, Texas Native American Studies Philosophy Women's Studies

Trail Riding Kids

The Westerner brings news of children on a special trail ride. The posting begins "Thirty youngsters from three north and west Texas school districts will spend their Spring Break rolling through the rugged expanses of West Texas in covered wagons to get a taste of what their pioneering forebears experienced some 150 years ago. The youth outreach trail ride, sponsored by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Equestrian Trail Riders Association, will cover roughly 75 miles from Marfa to Big Bend Ranch State Park outside Presidio. " Read more at http://thewesterner.blogspot.com/2009/03/west-texas-trail-ride-to-teach-school.html

Sam Houston - Wade

Sam Houston: Standing Firm by Mary Dodson Wade and illustrated by Joy Fisher Hein.  Albany and Houston: Bright Sky Press, 2009. 24 pages.  http://brightskypress.com/   Large picture book, colored drawings.  ISBN 978-1-933979-3-7.   $16.95 Hardback.   Reading level ages 5-7, grades k-2.   Mary Wade, author of many children's books, inaugurates Bright Sky's new series, Texas Heroes for Young Readers.  Joy Fisher has also illustrated Miss Ladybird's Wildflowers. Here's the life of Houston in a hundred sentences, most quite short, spread over the two dozen pages, each of which is illustrated in four color form.   The work steadily develops Sam's trait of standing firm, aka aloofness or  stubbornness or arrogance or blindness, as may have been alleged over time by Sam's non-supporters.  But for the youngest kids Mary gracefully tends toward the positive adjective "firm."  Houston leaves school, home, traditional culture for the Cherokee ways, etc.  He goes into teaching, soldiering, and politics.  In Texas he signs the Declaration of Independence (although unnamed in the book), retreats from the Alamo trap, and wins at San Jacinto.  The presidency prepares him for another try at matrimony.  Then it's the Senate and the Governor's chair which is taken from him for his "refusal to be loyal to a new country."  He dies after moving into his Huntsville Steamboat House.  Most of the illustrations depict the out-of-doors, and most of the sentences use active verbs.  Pronunciation aids follow some words. http://www.wadeco.com/author.htm   http://www.joyfisherhein.com/ http://www.prbythebook.com

Last Renegade - Kearby

The Last Renegade.  By Mike Kearby.  Austin:  Trail's End Books, 2008.  paperback, illus, 180 pages.  ISBN 9780978842291 $14.95. Ages 14 and up.  http://www.mikekearby.us/   Mike Kearby brings young readers another well- paced Western novel set in South Texas 1877.  Codified retributive justice is first found in Hammurabi's Code from the ancient Mesopotamia river valleys – "an eye for an eye."  But here the story involves a couple of young boys and a girl and a dog. Young-Man-Listens, a nine-year old Comanche, is captured by slavers and sold to a travelling circus where the nefarious Shelly McDuff cages him and bills him to gawkers as "The Last Renegade – Chief Raging Bull" for two years.  Then the show rolls into Sheriff Miller's Territory.  Miller's eleven-year-old son, Jake, immediately sees through the injustice of the imprisonment and sets the young Comanche free whereupon the two plus Marty scat on a trail of hiding, hunting, capture, a fight (partially aided by Walter the dog), and ultimate salvation by Jake's father.  Young-Man-Listens eventually relents on the impulse of worst vengeance and rides off toward home in Oklahoma.   A side plot that finally weaves it way in is about the scarcity of water and a new spring on the Miller's land that triggers a greedy plot of multiple murders. Mack White's illustrations seem influenced by Nast cartoons and Hank the Cowdog.

Alamo Lesson Plans

4th and 7th grade lesson plans for the Alamo are available from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, each about 40 pages long. http://www.thealamo.org/lesson.html   Other uninspected Alamo lesson plans are http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/battleofthealamo/ http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/alamo/lp8.shtml http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/alamo/lp7.shtml   http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/alamo/lp4.shtml http://www.readinga-z.com/newfiles/levels/lesson_plans/t/thealamo/thealamo_print.html http://www.historynow.org/03_2007/lp4.html   Lessonplan.com has over a hundred connected plans

El Paso History Day

Dr. Keith A. Erekson, Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Teaching Social Studies in El Paso Initiative , UTEP, directs you to the UTEP History Department hosting of a website on "El Paso History Day."  At the moment it includes a wonderful list of its contest winners from the local schools.  YTR hopes this list will be archived on the same site next year as the 2010 winners are announced.  The many titles of the projects themselves are inspiring.  The local sponsor is Dr. Charles H. Martin. El Paso History Day   Self-described as: "El Paso History Day is a yearly event sponsored by the Department of History.  It serves as the local (regional) qualifying event for Texas History Day and National History Day.  National History Day is an educational program devoted to improving the teaching and learning of history in American schools.  It is designed to provide a meaningful way for middle and high school students to study historical issues, ideas, people, and events by engaging in project based learning and research.   The theme for this year's contest is "The Individual in History:  Actions and Legacies."   The twelfth annual El Paso History Day contest will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2009, on the UTEP campus.  Last year some 224 middle school and high school students registered for the event.   Approximately 260 students from 24 schools are expected to participate in 2009.  The categories in which students may enter are:                  Exhibits—individual and group entries                 Documentaries—individual and group entries                 Performances—individual and group entries                 Interpretive Web Sites—combined entries                 Papers—individual entries only " See the winning projects at http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=55305

Teaching of Texas History Award

Humanities Texas offers Teaching awards, one is the Linden Heck Howell Outstanding Teaching of Texas History Award Self described as "The Linden Heck Howell Outstanding Teaching of Texas History Award was established in memory of Ms. Howell, former chair of the Humanities Texas Board of Directors, as a lasting tribute to her service to the organization and her commitment to the study of Texas history. The winning teacher receives a $5,000 cash award, with an additional $500 for his or her school for the purchase of instructional materials supporting Texas history."  Read more at http://www.humanitiestexas.org/education/awards/

Texas Stories website

Texas Stories has an admirable variety of useful options for teachers of Texas history. http://www.texasstories.com/    Self-description: "TEXAS STORIES is a Texas History Audio Series, Web Site and Weekly e-Newsletter about the Lone Star State. Hosted by Timothy Patrick Miller, TEXAS STORIES will present 30- to 90-second audio programs and interviews about people, places and events in Texas History using music, sound effects, actualities and the art of storytelling. OUR TOWN: Audio Postcards and Audio Snapshots from the Past will feature 30- to 90-second stories about local and regional history for web site and e-Newsletter presentation. TEXAS STORIES Weekly Audio Series will be podcast, available online and distributed via the Weekly e-Newsletter. The Web Site will feature story and interview audio clips, transcripts, historical images and links to online Texas History resources. Expanded City and County web pages are in development and will showcase the OUR TOWN programming. A free, subscriber-based, email Newsletter -- TEXAS STORIES WEEKLY -- will present the Project's weekly audio feature, a weekly audio contest called What's My Story?, audio interviews and fascinating facts about Texas History. A Story Forum and Classroom Activities for Grades 4 and 7 are also in development."    Audio Shows Podcasts Audio Postcards Audio Snapshots Weekly e-Newsletter Classroom Activities Texas History Resources Stories Music Adventure

Texas History Teachers Bulletin 1912

The Texas History Teachers Bulletin .  This digital volume begins with volume 1, number 1, November 1912 (UT Dept. of History) and includes several subsequent issues into 1914.  It is available full-text online through Google.  All 135 pages.  It's almost a centennial piece.  Most of the content regards broader American and European history, but some Texana is included, some being reports from local teachers (from Austin, Cleburne, Wichita Falls, Galveston, Cuero, etc.), an occasional history of Texas bibliography, etc.  Barker and Raines figure in the contributors.  Teachers are also guided in the use of the blackboard, notebooks, maps, and other pedagogial devices.  Some industrious person could make a great historical inquiry into Texana pedagogy.  You can also download it as a pdf file for convenience.   The introductory quotation begins, Lamar as expected. "The cultivated mind is the guardian genuis of democracy...."  Its "Purpose" statement includes a precedent from the American Historical Association's The History Teacher's Magazine.  The first issue has an essay on "Charles the Great." http://books.google.com/books?id=kQACAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage The copy comes from the Harvard Univesity Library of the Graduate School of Education, digitized only last May.

DRT Elaine Davis Award

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas begin a new award honoring Elaine B. Davis.  The first award goes to Debra Winegarten who plans a juvenile book on Clara Driscoll.   http://drtlibrary.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/elaine-b-davis-research-award-winner-announced/ This inaugural award is self-described as "The Elaine B. Davis Research Award, endowed by the 2007-2009 Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library Committee chaired by Connie Impelman and sponsored by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, is awarded to bring scholars to San Antonio, Texas, to work with the unique materials housed at the DRT Library. Mrs. Davis served as Director of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library from 1998-2008."

Declaration of Independence

March 2, 1836 - Texas Declaration of Independence from the Convention of 1836.  Take a digital tour, chase a few rabbits, learn a little.   Texas State Library http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/declare-01.html   Handbook of Texas Online http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/mjtce.html   Texas Almanac http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/declaration/   UT Tarleton Law Library http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/text/1836dindex.html   Yale University's Avalon Project http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/texdec.asp   Humanities Texas traveling and online exhibit http://www.humanitiestexas.org/exhibits/list/signers/overview.php   Portal to Texas History lesson plan http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/notebook/Declaration/index.shtml Dawn Bishop's lesson plan http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/notebook/Declaration/lesson.doc Texas Tides lesson plan http://tides.sfasu.edu/Teachers/Tides/docs/LessonPlans/MiddleSchool/social/MurphreyIndependence.html   Texas State Cemetery http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/signers.asp   Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library Weblog http://drtlibrary.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/texas-independence-day-march-2/   Lone Star Junction commentary http://www.lsjunction.com/docs/tdoi.htm   Wkipedia, of all places http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Declaration_of_Independence   Books Greatness to Spare: The Heroic Sacrifices of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence  by T.R. Fehrenbach Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence  by Benson J. Lossing  The Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence by Louis Kemp The Texas Declaration of Indepedence in Exact Facsimile by Anson Jones Press Articles Greer, James K. "The Committee on the Texas Declaration of Independence," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 30 and 31 (April and July 1927), 239-251, 33-49. Shuffler, R. Henderson. "The Ark of the Covenant of the Texas Declaration of Independence." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 65 (July 1961), 87-100. Shuffler, R. Henderson. "The Signing of Texas' Declaration of Independence: Myth and Record." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 65 (Jan. 1962), 310-332.

Heritage Society Trunk Shows

The Heritage Society (Houston) outreaches with offers a "Trunk Show" for children's groups, self-described as below: http://www.heritagesociety.org/ "Traveling Trunk Shows The Heritage Society offers two traveling trunk shows as part of our Community Outreach Program. These programs are popular with schoolchildren and scout groups. Each trunk shows lasts about 50 minutes and costs $50.00 per show. Mileage fees may apply. Shows are presented by our dedicated volunteers. Pioneer Trunk Show Texas history comes to life with The Heritage Society's Pioneer Trunk Show. Our frontier-clad presenter brings the show to your location. Children learn about the past through three-dimensional historical objects, such as early candle molds and corn husk dolls. This unique learning experience is suited for children ages 8-12 and ties in perfectly with the Texas history curriculum."

Lulu and Childrens' Texana

Lulu.com offers publication services to authors.  The site enables a user to search by keyword and filter to find childrens' book.  These emerged.  The entries were annotated and accompanied by a jacket illustration.  Lulu is at http://www.lulu.com.  Click on the titles here.  Or click on the author because some have other titles gathered there.   Texas Story   by Clark Childers   A Miracle in Texas  by Martha E. Hoskins   The Red Booted Chicken  by Sean McLellan   Cactus Jack, The Texas Hare's Adventure to See the Sea  by Louise A. Wilken   Lexington, The Early Years  by Trudy Holland   No More Hard Times   by Debi Kay Goodwin   CATCH ME IF I FALL *A CHILDREN'S SEIZURE AWARENESS STORY* Pocketbook edition   by Neebeeshaabookway (L.G)   Mystery on Blossom Lane  by Annette Evans   The Magic Stove  by Alexis Jones   ARTLANTICA: The Secret Kingdom Beneath Galveston Island  by Paige Pearl Artlantica Activity Book 1  by Paige Pearl   I Am Never Alone  by Jennifer Morris, Morgan Morris   Patches The Cat And Friends  by Armadillo Greenhouse .com   ADVENTURES OF WHIRLWIND "The Hermit"  by Merewether Hawk ADVENTURES OF WHIRLWIND "THE TRAIN"  by Merewether Hawk ADVENTURES OF WHIRLWIND "KING MOUNTAIN"  by Merewether Hawk   A New Home For Gabril  by Kimberly Smart Ph.D.   Monkey Business witnessed by 'Amber the Rambler'  by Louise Crowley   Sherlock Clyde and the Chicken Caper  by Amanda L. Goode   Lucy Bell, Queen of the Pasture  by Rubye Weldon Stripland Lucy Bell, Queen of the Pasture Book Two  by Rubye Weldon Stripland Lucy Bell, Queen of the Pasture, Book Three  by Rubye Weldon Stripland Lucy Bell, Queen of the Pasture Book Four  by Rubye Weldon Stripland