Life in the Spanish Missions of Florida
By Deanna Jaroszeski, Frostproof Middle/Senior High School
I.
Lesson Summary
Summary
The Florida Mission System flourished under the leadership of the Franciscans who
dedicated themselves to the Christianization of Florida’s native Indian population. The natives
were schooled in the ways of the Lord through the instruction of the Catholic Church. They were
also schooled in the arts of European farming, cattle-raising, carpentry, weaving, reading and
writing. The missionaries lived under very difficult conditions they were not accustomed to.
Living in the wilderness meant constant hunger, tribal warfare, long and exhausting overland
treks, sweltering days, and mosquito-filled nights. The students will search for information on the
Internet and read various clips from books and magazines to create a fact wheel to use as a
study guide. They will research and present their findings on the missions they study to the class
in the form of a poster or a quick five-minute skit. Each group will present a map of Florida and
art representing the natives of that time period.
Objectives
1.) Students will discuss the daily lives of the natives living in the mission system of
Florida
2.) Students will examine the dedication of the Franciscans to the native people
3.) Students will explore the mission system to determine if natives were exploited for
labor by the Spanish and English or honestly doing the work of God.
4.) Given a map of 17&18th century Florida, students will label the locations of several
missions
5.) Present to the class their group findings of Florida’s mission system
U.S. History Event or Florida History
The study of Missions in the southeastern U.S. or as part of a unit on Florida history
Grade Level
Middle or high school
Materials Needed
Internet access, construction paper or poster boards, copies of maps, transparencies of maps
and pictures, teacher-created reference packets (various data gathered from books, internet and
magazines).
Lesson Time
Three to five class periods depending on the student's academic level - one for media center,
one or two to do book/article research and decide on a presentation category and brainstorm,
one or two complete the group product and present it to the class.
II Lesson Procedures
1.) Pass out the list of internet resources to the students. Tell them they must visit these
sites first then they may do a search to find additional information.(media center)
2.) Pass out the data collection sheet for the students to fill in so they may access their
Info more easily. (media center)
3.) In classroom pass out the teacher made packets of data gathered from various
sources. (class set)
4.) Assign students to brainstorm presentation ideas -- poster verses skit
5.) Allow the students time to create their fact wheels
6.) Explain how to make a fact wheel. Then use the fact wheels to create a class
presentation.
III Activities
1.) Day 1 Trip to media center to use computers. They must visit sites given by the
teacher first and then they may visit others found through a mission system search. They
will use the data collection sheet to take notes.
2.)Day 2 (and 3)-- Each group will be given various articles and excerpts from cited books
to develop an understanding of the mission system. Each student will create a fact
wheel to chart their findings and begin their poster design or skit writing. Students will be
given a map of Spanish Florida and will be asked to locate several missions selected by
the teacher. The teacher should guide them to discover why the missions were located in
certain places and what purpose they served.
3.)Day 3 (or 4and 5)-- Compile data on a chart/poster and develop a presentation,
then present it to the class.
Mission Life Fact Wheel
Materials
1.) 2 paper plates per student
2.) brass fastners
3.) color pencils, crayons or markers
4.) transparency of the categories required for wheel
Directions
1.) Divide one paper plate into 8 equal sections, the other plate you will cut a 1/8th wedge out of it .
Place the cut plate on top of the sectioned plate and place a fastener in the center to attach them
2.) In each section of the bottom plate you will put information under the specified categories.
a.) Mission and Missionaries
b.) Teaching Christianity
c.) Early years
d.) Housing and meals
e.) Crops and livestock
f.) Work and workshops
g.) Child's life
h.) Festivals and celebrations
3.) Decorate the top plate to describe the daily life in a mission.
IV Assessment
1.) fact wheel
2.) poster or skit
3.) essay
Resources
Text:
1.) "Florida: a Short History" - Michael Gannon, University Press of Florida, 2003
ISBN 0-8130-2680-6
2.) " Atlas of Florida" -- University Press of Florida, 1992
ISBN 0-8130-1131-0
3.) " Florida Portrait" -- Jerrell Shofner, Pineapple Press Inc., 1990
ISBN 1-56164-121-9
4.) "Historic Communities,Spanish Missions" Bobbie Kalman & Greg Nickles
Crabtree Publishing Co.,1997
ISBN 0-86505-466-5
*Main resource for students
5.) " Laboring in the Fields of the Lord" Jerald T. Milanich, a curator of Archaeology at
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, article in
Archaeology Magazine Date?
6.) " Reconstructing a Spanish mission: San Luis de Talimali" Bonnie G. McEwan
and John H Hann, OAH Magazine of History, Summer 2000
Internet Resources:
1.) http://www.floridahistory.org/floridians/spanish.htm ( page 4)
2.) http://'www.taltrust.org/san_luis.htm
3.) http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/florida/lessons/apalach1.htm
4.) http://palmm.fcla.edu/fh/outline/1492fre.htm
5.) http://palmm.fcla.edu/fh/outline/1492spa1.htm
6.) http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/florida/lessons/menendz1.htm (page3)