8th Grade Social Studies Unit 1

Big Idea:

Geography, motives for exploration, and distance from England had major impact on the development of the 13 colonies.

Student Expectations:

Priority TEKS

8.1(A) [Readiness] identify the major eras and events in U.S. history through 1877, including colonization, revolution, drafting of the Declaration of Independence, creation and ratification of the Constitution, religious revivals such as the Second Great Awakening, early republic, the Age of Jackson, westward expansion, reform movements, sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction, and describe their causes and effects;

8.3(A) [Readiness] explain the reasons for the growth of representative government and institutions during the colonial period;

8.3(B) [Supporting] analyze the importance of the Mayflower Compact, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, and the Virginia House of Burgesses to the growth of representative government;

8.12(A) [Supporting] identify economic differences among different regions of the United States;

8.12(B) [Readiness] explain reasons for the development of the plantation system, the transatlantic slave trade, and the spread of slavery;

8.12(D) [Readiness]analyze the causes and effects of economic differences among different regions of the United States at selected times in U.S. history.

8.20(A) [Supporting] explain the role of significant individuals such as Thomas Hooker, Charles de Montesquieu, John Locke, William Blackstone, and William Penn in the development of self-government in colonial America;

Focus TEKS

8.1(C) [Supporting] explain the significance of the following dates: 1607, founding of Jamestown; 1620, arrival of the Pilgrims and signing of the Mayflower Compact; 1776, adoption of the Declaration of Independence; 1787, writing of the U.S. Constitution; 1803, Louisiana Purchase; and 1861-1865, Civil War.

8.2(A) [Readiness] identify reasons for European exploration and colonization of North America;

8.2(B) [Supporting] compare political, economic, religious, and social reasons for the establishment of the 13 English colonies.

8.3(C) [Supporting]describe how religion and virtue contributed to the growth of representative government in the American colonies.

8.11(A) [Readiness] analyze how physical characteristics of the environment influenced population distribution, settlement patterns, and economic activities in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries;

8.11(C) [Supporting] describe how different immigrant groups interacted with the environment in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

8.12(A) [Supporting] identify economic differences among different regions of the United States;

8.12(B) [Readiness] explain reasons for the development of the plantation system, the transatlantic slave trade, and the spread of slavery;

8.15(A) [Readiness] identify the influence of ideas from historic documents, including the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the Mayflower Compact, the Federalist Papers, and selected Anti-Federalist writings, on the U.S. system of government;

8.25(A) trace the development of religious freedom in the United States;

8.25(B) describe religious motivation for immigration and influence on social movements, including the impact of the first and second Great Awakenings; and

Ongoing TEKS

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

8.10(A) [Supporting] locate places and regions of importance in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries;

8.10(B) [Readiness] compare places and regions of the United States in terms of physical and human characteristics;

8.23(D) [Supporting] analyze the contributions of people from various racial, ethnic, and religious groups to our national identity.

8.29(A) differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such as computer software, databases, media and news services, biographies, interviews, and artifacts to acquire information about the United States;

8.29(B) 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;

8.29(C) organize and interpret information from outlines, reports, databases, and visuals, including graphs, charts, timelines, and maps;

8.29(G) evaluate the validity of a source based on language, corroboration with other sources, and information about the author;

8.30(B) use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, and proper citation of sources;

8.30(C) transfer information from one medium to another, including written to visual and statistical to written or visual, using computer software as appropriate; and

8.30(D) create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information.

8.31(A) use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of a solution.

Student Learning Targets:

• I will compare political, economic, religious, and social reasons for the establishment of the 13 English colonies.
• I will be able to analyze the causes and effects of economic differences among different regions of the United States during the Colonial era.
• I will be able to explain the reasons for the growth of representative government and institutions during the colonial period;
• I will be able to analyze the importance of the Mayflower Compact, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, and the Virginia House of Burgesses to the growth of representative government
• I will describe how religion and virtue contributed to the growth of representative government in the American colonies.

Essential Questions:

• How did Geography and climate influence economic activity each of colonial regions?
• How did religion influence the founding of the thirteen colonies?
• What role did religion play in the development of colonial governments?
• What factors caused the American Colonies to form self-governments and representative governments, and give specific examples of these concepts in our modern government.

Extra Information:

Adopted Textbook: Texas US History: Early Colonial - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

District Grading Policy

Texas Gateway Online Resource Center