Wichita falls ISD
[7th Grade Texas History]
Lesson Planner
Unit [5A]: [Mexican National]
Time Frame: [15 Days]
Objectives
Skills: The student will be able to…
 Identify obstacles that kept Mexicans from colonizing Texas
 Indentify the contributions of Moses Austin
 Appraise why Anglos were eager to come to Texas
 Evaluate why Mexican government was hesitant to give the Americans a colony in Texas
 Identify the challenges that Austin’s colony faced in the early years
 Compare the various empresarios in Texas and identify their contributions
Lesson Information
Activities
 Lesson 1: A New Wave of Settlement : Students
will read p.108-112
 Activity: Impact of Mexican Independence of
Austin’s Plan graphic organizer (p.110). Discuss
graphic organizer and how independence
affected the relationship between Texas and
Mexico.
 Activity: Create a Survival Guide that an
immigrant to Texas would use. (create a list of
the things the new settlers would need to
survive and build a new colony and what would
happen if they did not have these items or could
not find them)
Lesson 2: Moses Austin (p.113-115)
 Activity: DBQ Decision-Making (p.116). Students
will support the decision to come to Texas based
on the information in the primary document on
page 116 showing benefits and costs involved in
the coming to Texas.
 Lesson 3: Stephen F. Austin and the Old Three
Hundred (p.117-122)
 Activity: Stephen F. Austin’s Colonies PPT,
Preiz, or poster. Make an advertisement prezi,
power point, or a poster illustrating why
someone should come to Stephen F. Austin’s
colonies. Each class will then vote on which
poster or presentation was the best. That
student will win a prize. (cannot vote on their
own poster)Instructions in folder.
Lesson 4: Empresarios and Entrepreneurs
Students will read p.123-126
 Activity: (DBQ) Tools That Built Texas (p.127).
Students will complete Skills Assessment over
Wichita Falls ISD (2013-2014)
Vocabulary
 Empresario
 title
 colonization


speculators
sitio
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


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
territorial
legislature
agriculture
settler
ferry
militia
partnership
boarding house
TEKS
Readiness:
7.2F
Supporting:
7.2D-E




the tools used to build colonial Texas homes.
(questions to ask: What tools are used to do this
job today? Why did the tools change? Can you
figure out a better tool to use?)
Activity: Empresario Fair (see Mtrls). Students
will take on the role of empresario or settler to
create profiles and then simulate the sale of land
in colonial Texas
Alternative Activity for Empresarios In case you
do not have the Experiencing Texas book.
Students will create a Empresario foldable book
or power point. Requirements page is in folder.
See Pre-AP folder
Additional Information
Materials/Resources
 Experiencing Texas (textbook ancillary)
Parent Resources

Wichita Falls ISD (2013-2014)
Notes from Council