During my observation I had the opportunity to look at the social studies textbook that the 7th grade class was learning from. The textbook was Texas History by Houghton, Mifflin, and Harcourt. Mr. Bochniak told the students that they will be learning about US History when they go into the 8th grade. Teaching students about Texas history included but not limited to; Natural Texas and Its People, The Spanish in Texas, Prosperity and the Great Depression, The Modern Era, Texas Government, Local Government and Citizenship, and so much more. This textbook provided timelines, pictures of people and places, key vocabulary, and TEKS covered for each unit and chapter within the textbook. The students are able to explore graphs, timelines, and maps of destinations that were traveled and different wars that occurred. At the end of each chapter there were questions and activities to check students understanding and comprehension along with a chapter review to draw a conclusion on what they just read. The teacher could use think-pair-share and group discussion strategies to review each chapter with key objectives that were read and discussed to draw upon a chapter conclusion to check for …show more content…
In analyzing the Texas History textbook and social studies standards I will cover; the comparison to the definition of social studies, authentic activities, integration of other academic subject areas, assessments, and opportunities for content reading
In all three of these artifacts, I have developed relevant, integrative, challenging, and exploratory units of study. The “Preserving the Past” unit incorporates all four core subjects as well as a service learning opportunity. My interdisciplinary unit on geography connects Language Arts with Social Studies with visual art mixed in, and the Greek mythology ELA unit was taught in conjunction with a Social Studies class (1). The Civil War unit and NC geography unit I have created incorporate Common Core standards as well as NC Essential standards. Lesson plans and assessments in all of these units were created using backwards design in which I started by looking at the standards and objectives students would be expected to reach and based my assessment based on those objectives (2,10).
Throughout the late 1830s and early 1840s, political controversy broke out over the annexation of Texas into the United States claiming that it was the destiny of the country to expand through the Manifest Destiny. Many Americans saw the potential addition of Texas as an essential component in Westward expansion, however, war with Mexico was an unavoidable risk and would create even more problems with slavery. Northern and Western regions of the Unites States opposed annexation because while the South wanted to add Texas into the Union to expand the slave industry. Annexation of Texas was also seen as revenge for the vast amount of American deaths during the Alamo and Goliad. Politicians battled back and forth on whether or not Texas should be in American control or not. I believe that the annexation of of
The History of Texas Texas history itself had its own amazing story. The small number of American settlers moved to the land of Texas had led to the dramatic war with the Mexicans. The land of Texas was used to be owned by Mexicans. Due to the argument between Texans and Mexicans caused the battle of San Jacinto and Mexican War. In long ago before American settlers moved to Texas, this place was so rich and an abundance of land.
Texas political culture is one that can be described as a combination of three main ideas: individualistic, traditionalism and moralism. Considering Texas and its overwhelming 254 counties we can see these main ideas undoubtedly. The 254 counties each have their own general set of ideas, attitudes and beliefs. The whole state of Texas is simply not just considered individualistic, traditionalism, or moralism, it is considered all three. Individualistic, traditionalism and moralism are all strong values that coexist in our society and they all affect how we as the people live our lives. A political culture shapes a region’s politics.
Texas, nicknamed “The Lone star State”, has always been very unique compared to any other state in the United States of America. Texas have a sense of great pride in where they come from. Texans hold their heads a just a little higher than anyone else. Texas is the second largest state in the U.S., Texans have their own pledge of allegiance to the state flag, and is the only state whose flag is permitted to fly as high as the American flag. So, why is it that Texans take so much pride in their own state? Texans take great pride in their state because at one point before Texas was a state belonging to the United States, it was its own country. This is how Texas got its name as the “Lone star” State. In nineteenth century, Texas fought many battles against Mexico and its leader Santa Anna, to gain Independence from the country. After many hostel wars and lives lost, Texas made a break through at the Battle of San Jacinto and conquered the Mexican government in the year 1836, becoming the new Republic of Texas. It then remained Independent for almost ten years. Our Independence and history of secession runs through our veins. The topic is a reoccurring one when it comes to politics. In recent years, there have been talks if Texas should secede from the United States again like they did in 1836. According to a poll in 2009, it showed that “50% Republicans, 40% Independents, and 15% Democrats believed that Texas should stand as an independent nation.” “338157 Texans have already
Every Texan knows the legends of Stephen F. Austin that lead him to become the “Father of Texas.” Few Texas would try to say anyone else deserves this honor even though Texas is not short of larger than life legends. Such names include Lorenzo Zavala, Thomas Rusk, Juan Seguin, William Travis, James Bowie, and Sam Houston. Even “In his eulogy for Austin, Houston called him, "The Father of Texas"” (Areas of Interest). But despite this many would argue that Houston deserves the title.
From March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846, Texas as its own independent country in North America. Those who resided in this independent country were referred to as Texians. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 during the Texas revolution which ended on April 21 of that same exact year. However, Mexico did not want to give the Republic of Texas its independence which resulted in conflicts between that of Texas and Mexico that went on into the 1840s. As a result, The United States of America recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent country in 1837 but failed to append their land. Later receiving its independence, Texas elected a Congress of fourteen senators and twenty-nine representatives in the month of September and year of 1836. However, within the Republic, citizenship was not a privileged for everybody living in Texas. Not everybody had legal rights to reside within the limits of the Republic without Congress permission. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas created differences for each and every ethnicity for each individual person. Meaning, whoever was there on the day the Republic of Texas won their independence had to be classified as a citizen of the Republic including Africans, those with African descent, and Native Americans. For Caucasian immigrants to become citizens they would have to had lived in the Republic for six months or less and take an oath. Those who were brought to Texas as a slave had to stay a
The Mexican War of 1846-1848 was one of major importance to U.S. history, but has since fallen into annals of obscurity. It was the nation’s first war fought on foreign soil: a war that advocated the concept of “manifest destiny”, the United States God-given right to claim territory for the establishment of a free democratic society (Stevenson 2009). Even though many historians claim the war was forced on Mexico by slaveholders greedy for new territory, President John Polk viewed the war as an opportunity to defend the annexation of Texas, establish the Rio Grande as its border, and to acquire the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico (Stevenson 2009).
Texas has always been a very conservative state that focuses on protecting the freedoms given by the constitution to the people. However, there are some freedoms that have certainly been challenged as time passes by. This is where the limited government of Texas usually has conflicts with the constantly growing federal government, especially during the last decades when some big problems and controversies erupted, particularly on the issues of mass shootings and gun control. When it comes to gun control laws, opinions are unequivocally divided between republicans and democrats. Republicans venerate and sharply defend the Second Amendment of the Constitution as right of the people to defend themselves, while Democrats yell desperately for gun restriction laws and even a change to the Second Amendment, these with the purpose of getting guns out of the streets and preventing other mass shootings.
One of the ten points that I found really interesting in the class was how in chapter one and two explained the importance of the 19th and 20th-century influence the Texas constitution that we have until this day.
The Lone Star State is constantly changing and growing, but most importantly learning. Before the “Annexation of Texas,” the Democratic Party had a little pause. However, a group of doctors and lawyers called the “Texas Association” were just a framework for the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party was and still is the most popular party. Although, it’s very well liked Texas became a republican party after a decade of being a democratic party.
Which turned out to be the Social Studies textbook. With this textbook they were more successful with having what they want in that there and not with what is beneficial for students. This also showed that sometimes they didn't follow with some facts that were backed up with facts. Also not all the board members are on the same page because there was one scene where a board member was trying to speak but wasn't given the chance to. This frustrated him, although he is a member of the board he didn't get a chance to speak because the other board didn't want to hear what he had to say. They also wanted to change how certain incidents happened also the culture of some ethnic
Williamson county, County Judge is Dan Gattis the District attorney is Shawn Dick, County attorney Dee Hobbs, Sheriff Robert Chody, Tax / collector Larry Gaddes, Justice courts are Precinct one Dain Johnson, Precinct two Edna Staudt and Precinct three Bill Gravel. County surveyor Joe Baker, Constables Vinnie
John Cornyn is the Senior Senator. He is a Republican and has served since November 30, 2002. The next election will be held in 2020 to elect a new Senior Senator. He was ranked as one of the most conservative U.S. Senators. He sponsored a bill so the police would be able to obtain DNA from anyone arrested or detained. He also voted for a constitutional ban on desecrating a flag and reauthorization of the Patriot Act and extending wiretapping. He voted to ban partial birth abortions. He also voted against the Affordable Care Act.
The state of Texas has a government that is broken up in a way to appeal to the public. The question of trusting the government is a common thing for some people. There could be many reasons for this but that’s not important. The government is here to keep control and needs to be trusted by the people. To prevent this distrust, the government is broke up into multiple different levels. These levels are made to aid public needs and separate major powers. The Texas legislature is the main level.