7th Grade Social Studies Unit 5

Big Idea:

Identify and analyze the individuals, issues and events that led to colonization in Texas and Texans wanting to gain their independence from Mexico.

Student Expectations:

Priority TEKS

7.2(D) [Supporting] identify the individuals, issues, and events related to Mexico becoming an independent nation and its impact on Texas, including Texas involvement in the fight for independence, José Gutiérrez de Lara, the Battle of Medina, the Mexican federal Constitution of 1824, the merger of Texas and Coahuila as a state, the State Colonization Law of 1825, and slavery;

7.3(A) [Supporting] trace the development of events that led to the Texas Revolution, including the Fredonian Rebellion, the Mier y Terán Report, the Law of April 6, 1830, the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, and the arrest of Stephen F. Austin;

Focus TEKS

7.1(A) [Readiness] identify the major eras in Texas history, describe their defining characteristics, and explain why historians divide the past into eras, including Natural Texas and its People; Age of Contact; Spanish Colonial; Mexican National; Revolution and Republic; Early Statehood; Texas in the Civil War and Reconstruction; Cotton, Cattle, and Railroads; Age of Oil; Texas in the Great Depression and World War II; Civil Rights and Conservatism; and Contemporary Texas

7.1(B) [Supporting] apply absolute and relative chronology through the sequencing of significant individuals, events, and time periods; and

7.2(E) [Supporting] identify the contributions of significant individuals, including Moses Austin, Stephen F. Austin, Erasmo Seguín, Martín De León, and Green DeWitt, during the Mexican settlement of Texas; and

7.9(A) [Supporting] locate the Mountains and Basins, Great Plains, North Central Plains, and Coastal Plains regions and places of importance in Texas during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries such as major cities, rivers, natural and historic landmarks, political and cultural regions, and local points of interest

7.10(B) [Supporting] explain ways in which geographic factors such as the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the Dust Bowl, limited water resources, and alternative energy sources have affected the political, economic, and social development of Texas.

7.17(B) [Supporting] describe the importance of free speech and press in a democratic society;

7.17(C) [Supporting] express and defend a point of view on an issue of historical or contemporary interest in Texas.

7.21(B) [Process] analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions;

Ongoing TEKS

7.8(A) [Process] create and interpret thematic maps, graphs, charts, models, and databases representing various aspects of Texas during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries; and

7.8(B) [Process] analyze and interpret geographic distributions and patterns in Texas during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

7.21(H) [Process] use appropriate mathematical skills to interpret social studies information such as maps and graphs.

7.22(D) [Process] create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information

Student Learning Targets:

• I will identify key individuals associated with colonization in Texas.
• I will analyze the process people went through to become a settler in Austin’s colony.
• I will construct a settlement home to better understand the process it took to settle in a colony.
• I will identify the locations of Austin’s colony.
• I will identify individuals that were significant in Texans wanting to gain their independence.
• I will evaluate the cause/effect of events that led to the Texas Revolution.
• I will write about the decision to fight for independence.

Essential Questions:

• How did Anglo Americans settle in Texas?
• What led to Texans wanting to gain their independence from Mexico?

Extra Information:

Adopted Textbook: Texas History - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

District Grading Policy

Texas Gateway Online Resource Center