In this lesson plan, students will study the migration to Texas from the United States, writing about the trip as if they were the settlers coming to a new and foreign country. They will break up into groups of 3-5 students, choosing roles to create a family structure that they feel has the best chance of survival, and using the map of Spanish Texas to plot their course.

Created by Rhonda Williams, 2004

The student will identify the accomplishments of significant empresarios, such as Stephen F. Austin, and explain their impact on the settlement of Texas. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(2)(D)

The student will apply geographic tools, including legends, symbols, scales, and compass roses to interpret the Map of Spanish Texas. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(6)(A)

The student will identify clusters of Native American settlement in Texas and explain their distribution using Map of Spanish Texas. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(8)(A)

The student will identify leadership qualities of Texas' past leaders, such as Stephen F. Austin. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(19)(B)

The student will differentiate between, and use, primary and secondary sources such as the textbook, the biography of Stephen F. Austin in the Handbook of Texas, and the Map of Spanish Texas to acquire information about early Anglo settlement in Texas. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(22)(A)

The student will analyze the information in the available sources by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(22)(B)

The student will organize and interpret information in the Map of Spanish Texas, and will identify the elements of frame of reference that influenced the participants in the Anglo settlement of Texas. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(22)(C,E)

The student will communicate, in written and oral forms, a plan for migration to Texas, based on research and experiences, using social studies terminology correctly, incorporating main and supporting ideas, and using standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(23)(A,B,C,D,E)

This lesson is to be used after the main unit on Stephen F. Austin and the Anglo settlement in Texas has been completed.

Many families left the United States and moved to Texas as a part of Stephen F. Austin’s original grant. Write a paragraph that describes how you would feel if your father came home and told you to pack your clothes and a few things, because you are leaving your home and moving many miles away into a wild and unsettled part of a foreign country.

Review briefly the details of the development of Austin’s colony in Texas. Students will need a timeline that shows the major events in the development of this colony. If they have not already developed one, create one as a classroom discussion activity and have students record it in their journals.

Pull up the Map of Spanish Texas on the computer projector or transparency overhead projector. Explain the background of the map.

Pass out the Map Analysis Sheet. Ask students to complete the questions. Check and discuss answers.

Divide your class into groups made up of 3-5 students. Explain that each group is a “family.” Assign the following activities to your students:

Your family wishes to immigrate to Texas as a part of Stephen F. Austin’s original group, but you must be able to show that you would be a successful group.

1. Each member of the family must choose a role—father, mother, daughter, son, grandmother, uncle, etc. Families in the past, like families today, were not always made up of 2 parents and children, so you may design a family made up of whatever members you wish, as long as the group could reasonably expect to survive. Hint: A family made up of all children or elderly people would probably not survive. Each family member should write a 1-paragraph biography that gives name, age, gender, favorite activities, and skills that will help the family to survive in Texas.



2. Your family must decide where exactly in Texas you are going to settle. You have received a copy of the Map of Spanish Texas to help make your decision. Your “family” has an advantage because it can use information from the textbook and the Handbook of Texas, as well as any other material that you can find, to make your decision. Sit down with your “family,” and select a location in Texas. Write a clear explanation for your decision—climate, location of the native population, friends in the area, etc.



3. Take your copy of the map and sketch your route through Texas on it. Consider the following: Where do you plan to enter Texas, which will depend on your current location? How are you traveling—boat, wagon, horse, on foot? How many rivers will you need to cross? What do you plan to take with you and how will you transport it? Looking at Austin’s map, what problems do you think (or fear) that you will encounter? Write a clear 1-page plan for the trip.



4. Present your family, the place you want to move, and your plan to the class. Take 5 minutes to convince the class that you would be an asset to the Anglo colony in Texas.



5. Your grade for this assignment will depend on completing each of the written activities and the oral presentation with historical accuracy. (No Nintendo, TV, or computer for the trip!)

Map of Spanish Texas Map Analysis Sheet Stephen F. Austin in The Handbook of Texas Vea esta lección en Español aquí.