Features
Instructional Resources for Texas History
Don't Miss Out on Celebrate Texas!
Celebate Texas student contests promote awarness of Texas Independence Day, and the history of our state and its people. Middle school students can compete in the essay competition. The subject for this year's essay is "Pick a Small Unknown Town near you and write about its History." Essays must be no longer than two pages in length. For more information regarding this contest, please see the contests page of our website.
Bring Texas History Alive!
Download primary sources to produce engaging lessons for your students from the Texas Portal at the University of North Texas. This site serves as a gateway to the diverse collections housed in Texas museums, libraries, archives, historical societies, and private collections.
The content on the site covers all geographic areas of Texas, as well as prehistory through the 20th century. Digital reproductions of maps, documents, letters and artifacts can be found on the site, and portal curriculum Primary Source Adventures comply with the TEKS.
Texas History Political Cartoons
Tired of the same old warm-ups? Download the political cartoons created by Roger T. Moore and Dr. Mary Black to engage and introduce your students to a variety of Texas History topics.
Distance Learning Programs
offered by Texas State History Museum
Experience the Story of Texas right in your classroom!
Distance learning allows teachers and students across the State of Texas to explore history in exciting new ways through live, interactive, two-way video conferencing. Led by Dr. Source, Primary Investigator, distance learning programs transform students into history detectives who conduct historical investigations using the richness of Texas history and the exhibits of the Museum. These immersive, educational experiences are designed with pre- and post- viewing activities for students, a variety of teacher resources, and clear connections to the social studies TEKS.
DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMS
SCHEDULES AND REGISTRATION
Texas Calendars
Now Available
These cool Texas History calendars run from March 2, 2008, to March 1, 2009 and make a great learning tool.
A discount rate of $3.00 instead of the $8.95 retail price is being given to teachers who order these calendars.
Interested in more information you may download this brochure (contact information for Roger Moore from Celebrate Texas) or, to order calendars online, go here.
Coming Soon!
Encounters!
Grades 4-7
How did early native peoples encounter their environment, other native groups, and the Spanish Conquistadors in the vast landscape that would become Texas? Dr. Source, Primary Investigator, will lead students as they search for evidence from artifacts and explore stories that reveal the many meanings of Encounters on the Land.The French Shipwreck La Belle
Grades 4-7
La Salle's last expedition included the small frigate La Belle. She sank in 1684 and was recovered from Matagorda Bay, Texas in 1996. Through the skillful observations of Dr. Source, Primary Investigator, students will explore recovered artifacts, discovered skeletal remains, and learn about 17th Century French exploration in Texas.Come and Take it!
Grades 4-7
Have you ever dared someone to try to take something from you? With helpful assistance from Dr. Source, Primary Investigator, students will examine artifacts and documents to compare and contrast two sides of a story to learn about this 1835 "dare" by Texians taking a stand.Tools through Time
Grades 4-7
What do 1770s vaqueros and today's King Ranch cowboys have in common? Do you still need a horse if you have a truck or helicopter to round-up cattle? Through an engaging examination of artifacts led by Dr. Source, Primary Investigator, students will learn about fences, branding irons, boots and hats - ranching tools through time.
Check out these cool offerings for 7th Grade
[Courtesy of ESC Region XIII]
- 7th Grade Word Splash
- Word Splash Instructions
- 7th Grade Looping Cards
- 7th Grade Word Wall
- 7th Grade Flash Cards
The following Era Charts for 7th Grade Texas History can be used in various ways, including student Interactive Notebooks, posters for class bulletin boards, and review pieces for assessments.
Two new Offerings From State Universities Delight Texas Historians
TEXAS CONSTITUTIONS 1824-1876
Justices of Texas 1836-1986
Hosted by the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas School of Law, this website is part of Tarlton’s Texas Legal History Digital Library. Justices of Texas 1836-1986 provides biographical and bibliographic information for each justice of the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals. Justices of Texas allows users to search the database by entering a justice's name, hometown, title, court, or year of service. The justices' entries include biographies, photographs, research sources, and links to further information. The website also provides links to important opinions authored by the justices and to constitutional provisions that those opinions interpret. In addition to the searchable database, a detailed timeline of the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals depicts milestones in the history of these organizations, from the establishment of the Texas Supreme Court in 1836 to the renaming and restructuring of the Courts of Civil Appeals into the modern Courts of Appeals in 1980.
Hosted by the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas School of Law, this website is part of Tarlton’s Texas Legal History Digital Library. Texas Constitutions 1824-1876 contains, in an easily searchable format, both full page images and plain text versions of the various Constitutions of the State of Texas in effect between 1824 and 1876. For each Constitution, there are page images of the English version, full page images of the Spanish language version of the document (if one exists), and full text, searchable html files.
These founding documents legally established the entity of Texas, set forth the rights and responsibilities of its people, and defined the scope and powers of its government.
The website also contains documents related to the proceedings of the related Constitutional conventions. The proceedings of these Constitutional conventions consisted, for the most part, of journals, the official record of the resolutions passed by the convention and actions approved by the delegates, and debates, the actual transcripts or summaries of the discussions among the delegates to the constitutional conventions.
TEXAS TIDES