11-30-09

We are moving on from explorers this week and focusing on the missions the Spaniards built when they came to Texas.  You child should be able to tell you the following things about a mission:

• they were built by Spaniards
• they had three main parts
• church
• houses
• farm buildings
• the priest, or padre, was in charge of the mission
• presidios (forts) were built nearby to protect the missions
• villas (towns) often sprung up nearby to help supply food, goods, and services to the missions

11-16-09

We are continuing to discuss explorers and their contributions to "discovering" Texas.  Continue asking the questions from last week to see if the kids knowledge has grown.

11-9-09

We are beginning to study explorers who had a part in "discovering" Texas.  We are talking this week about the following explorers:

• Christopher Columbus
• Hernando Cortes
• Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
• Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
• Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

See if your child can tell you the following about each explorer:

• what country they sailed from
• where they landed (they didn't all land in Texas!!)
• why they came (to find riches, convert people to their religion, or take over land)
• what they encountered when they arrived (calm, war, sickness, hardships, Indians, etc)

11-2-09

We are wrapping up our study of Native Americans this week.  We have learned about 4 specific tribes- Karankawa, Caddo, Comanche, Jumano.  Ask your child about each group (where they lived, how they got their food, etc) to see if they can answer all your questions.

10-19-09

We are continuing to study Native Americans this week.  We are focusing in depth on the Jumano and Comanche tribes and discussing where they lived and how they survived.

10-12-09

We are beginning to study Native Americans this week.  The two main groups we are focusing on during social studies time (this week) are the Caddo and the Karankawa.  Ask your child what they know about these two tribes such as:

• where they lived
• what their houses looked like
• how they were governed (chief, confederacy, villages, everyone for themselves, etc)
• how they got their food
• how they survived (trading, farming, hunting, etc)

10-05-09

We are planning to finish our Texas maps by the end of the week.  Your children have worked hard on them and are continuing to do so.  Give your kids a little quiz about the regions (you might want to look at their map for ideas!) by asking questions about:

• crops in that region
• major cities of that region
• industries specific to that region
• the borders of that region
• famous landmarks

9-28-09

This week we are working on our LARGE Texas maps.  The kids are loving this project and ask to work on it daily!  The maps consist of the 4 regions of Texas and things that are specific to each region such as:

cities, industries, crops, animals, plants, landmarks, etc.

You can help your child by doing research on each of the four regions on the internet.  The regions are: Mountains and Basins, Great Plains, Central Plains, and Coastal Plains.

9-14-09

This week we are continuing to talk about the 4 regions of Texas.  We are getting more into depth about the attributes of each area and will work this into our first social studies project that begins next week!

9-8-09

This week are introducing the 4 main regions of Texas (Mountains and Basins, Central Plains, Great Plains, and Coastal Plains.  The kids are learning where each region is and major cities and attributes of each area.

8-31-09

This week we are getting used to using our new Social Studies textbook.  We are talking about all the features (maps, index, glossary, gazetteet, almanac, atlas, etc) of the book and what is found in each section.

Later in the week we will begin discussing and labeling the major rivers, cities, and borders of Texas on a map.

Teacher Websites © 2010 SchoolWorld