Lesson Title:
The United States Grows Larger

Grade Level:
Grade Five Lesson 3

Unit of Study:
U.S. History and Geography: A New Nation

History-Social Science Standard:
5.8.5   Describe the continued migration of Mexican settlers into Mexican Territories of the West and Southwest.

Correlation to K-8 California Adopted Textbooks:
Harcourt Brace: Early United States.  Unit 6: Our Nation Grows.  Chapter 12: The Way West.
 
McGraw-Hill.  A New Nation.  Unit 7: Westward expansion and Change.  Chapters 16 and 17. 

Setting of Context:
Mexico belonged to Spain for 300 years until 1821 when it became an independent country.  At that time Texas was also a part of Mexico.  Even though Texas belonged to Mexico, Americans moved there for cheap land and the freedom of the frontier.  Some of the Americans to arrive in Texas were led by Stephen Austin who dreamed of founding a new American community.  He had permission from Mexico to establish a settlement.  In order to get approval, settlers had to agree to learn Spanish, become Catholic, and they were not allowed to bring slaves.

Soon, there were more Americans than Mexicans living in Texas.  These Americans did not want to follow Mexican laws regarding religion and slavery.  The new President of Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna decided to not allow any more Americans to enter Texas.  He sent soldiers to remove a cannon from the city of Gonzales, but the Americans fired upon the soldiers and a war began.  In San Antonio, a small group of American soldiers held out against the Mexican army at a mission called the Alamo.  In the end, the Mexican soldiers killed everyone at the mission, including Davie Crockett and Jim Bowie, two famous frontiersmen.

As the battle of the Alamo was taking place, other settlers were meeting to declare Texas independent and to ask Sam Houston to lead their new army.  Houston agreed and with the famous cry of "Remember the Alamo!" he and his army quickly defeated Santa Anna.  Texas had won its independence.  Texas became a state nine years later.

This angered Mexico and led to a war between the United States and Mexico.  The United States won the war and gained California and a huge territory between California and Texas.

Focus Questions:

Why did people move west?

Why did Americans want to settle in Texas?

What problems did Americans and Mexicans have in Texas?

How did Texas become an independent republic in 1836?

How did the United States win control of Texas, California, Oregon, and the Southwest?

Expected Learning Outcomes:
Students will identify the reasons that people moved west.

Students will identify the causes of the Mexican War in a cause and effect format.

Students will identify the how the United States won control of Texas, California, Oregon, and the Southwest.

Students will label and color a map correctly identifying who controlled the territory prior to the Mexican war.

Students will label and color a map correctly identifying who controlled the territory after the Mexican war.

Assessments:
Time line of maps showing how the territories were claimed

Top 10 list of reasons people moved west

Cause and effect slideshow

Maps of territories

Advertisement for territory in the west

Key Concepts:
independence
migration
movement
changes

Essential Vocabulary:
citizens
property
conflict
requisites
fort
settlements
advertisement

Primary Sources:
Any available pictures or illustrations of the battle of the Alamo, advertisements encouraging settlement in Texas, advertisements used to get new settlers to the west.

Maps of territories showing ownership, evolution of maps showing when territories changed ownership.

Visuals: 
See above pictures and illustrations.

Procedure

Motivation:
Imagine that you see and advertisement for a new school.  The new school is newly built and offers many new opportunities.  The classrooms are all fully equipped with state of the art equipment like laptop computers, with cable access to the World Wide Web.  The school grounds are beautifully landscaped and have a football field, a baseball diamond, an Olympic sized pool, a skating rink, bowling alley, and a gymnasium.  The advertisement guaranteed that everyone attending would be a star.

Keep in mind that at your school, which is not quite as well equipped as the new school, not everyone is a star.  Imagine that at your current school you were just one of the many students.  At your school, you were being followed by the librarian strongly urging to pay your fines, and your teachers wanted you to turn in your missing assignments. This new school offers you the opportunity to go to a place where everyone is going to be successful.  In order to take advantage of this opportunity, there are only three requirements.  You must learn Spanish, must wear the school uniform, and you could not talk to friends that did not attend the school.  You think it over for a while and decide to change schools.

Making Connections: 
People seem to be always looking for something better.  What are reasons why people want to change?  What things do you want to see changed?  Is the change always good?  Why or why not?  Does changing of schools really work? 

Vocabulary Activities: Take each of the vocabulary words and first define each.  Then, use each of the words in a sentence, different than just the meaning, to demonstrate knowledge of the definition. 

Guided Instruction:
Part I: New Opportunities
The school you were asked to imagine is not that different from the settlement of Texas in the 1820s.  You are now going to watch a slide show that shows the migration of people into Texas, which at that time, belonged to Mexico.

*Insert slide show that outlines why and how Americans migrated to Texas.

Practice/Assessment Opportunity:
Students will use the information from the slideshow and do further research to create a cause and effect storyboard of the events that led to the Mexican War.

The following is an example. Students should include more details and finish with the Mexican Cession.

Cause	Effect	
Mexico wins its independence from Spain	Texas is part of Mexico's territory	
Mexico wants new settlers to settle in Texas	Americans move into Mexican territory looking for cheaper land and more freedom	
Mexico sets conditions for settlers: Must learn Spanish, must become Catholic, cannot bring slaves	Americans try to follow the conditions, but many ignore them	

This information can be used to create a multimedia presentation (Hyperstudio, PowerPoint, ClarisWorks slideshow) including graphics and sound that illustrate the knowledge the students have gained.

Part II: The Power of Words
César Chávez was a man who believed in the power of words.  He believed that words could help solve problems.  Words are also a powerful tool in bringing about change.  Words can move people to make life changes.

People who moved west were influenced by the words they saw on advertisements that talked about the many opportunities available in the west.  Many of these advertisements prompted people to leave everything they had behind in order to have the opportunity to have land, freedom, and riches.

Practice/Assessment Opportunity:
Create an advertisement that would help convince people to move west.  Use your prior knowledge to include important information about the territory that would make people want to move into an unknown territory.

Enrichment:
Students could read biographies and do biographical sketches of people from the westward movement. 

Integrating Language:
1)	Prereading skills will activate prior knowledge through classroom discussion.  Active discussion will be used in reviewing the primary source documents. 

2)	Speaking and listening skills will also be used when students share the cause and effects of the Mexican War. 

3)	Presentation skills will be worked on through a formal slide presentation of the causes and effects of the Mexican War.