Teaching Manifest Destiny
Lesson: Manifest Destiny
Grade/Subject: 7th – Texas History
Materials Needed: (per group/table; 5 total)
1 Jigsaw Print-Out (6 pages)
6 Textbooks
5 Notecards w/ Section Title
5 Notecards w/ Group Numbers
Student Notebooks/Notebook Paper
Image of “Spirit of the Frontier” by John Gast
Objectives:
SWBAT identify and explain Anglo American Colonization in Texas by reading, taking notes, discussing, and presenting.
TEKS §113.19. Social Studies, Grade 7
(2) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and issues through the Mexican National Era shaped the history of Texas. The student is expected to:
(E) identify the contributions of significant individuals, including Moses Austin, Stephen F. Austin, Erasmo Seguín, Martín De Leon, and Green DeWitt, during the Mexican settlement of Texas; and
(F) contrast Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo purposes for and methods of settlement in Texas.
(9) Geography. The student understands the location and characteristics of places and regions of Texas. The student is expected to:
(A) locate the Mountains and Basins, Great Plains, North Central Plains, and Coastal Plains places and regions and places of importance in Texas during the 19th, and 20th, and 21st centuries such as major cities, rivers, natural and historic landmarks, political and cultural regions, and local points of interest;
(C) analyze the effects of physical and human factors such as climate, weather, landforms, irrigation, transportation, and communication on major events in Texas.
Modifications: No accommodations needed for students in the class for this lesson.
Time Activities
7:35am A: Mental/Anticipatory Set
(5 min) Raise your hand if you were born in another state. Why did you and your family come here? If you have lived here your whole life, what reasons might someone move here?
Ex: I moved to Texas because my parents were told to by the military.
7:40 am B: Modeling (Demonstration)
(5 min) I will explain how the Jigsaw system works to the students and answer any questions before they look at the papers at their table.
Once they look at their materials, I will ask them if they have any more questions before they start their work.
C: Checking for Understanding
N/A Throughout the lesson I will check with the students to make sure no one is lost or confused about what we are/will be doing.
7:45 am D: Practice (Guided/Independent)
(20 min) Students will read over their section and analyze it for the important information. They will take notes on “what is it” and “why is it important” on their worksheets.
(20 min) Once students have learned and discussed the material among themselves, they will group up based on the number at the bottom of their page (one person from each section). Each student will then present what they learned and why it is important at their station while the other students take notes on what is presented to them in their notebook. (Recommended 4 min per presentation)
8:25 am E: Closure
(10 min) A look at the image of John Gast’s “Spirit of the Frontier” as an allegory for “manifest destiny”.
Connect the reasons the Anglos had for settling with those of the Spanish.
End Time: 8:35 am
Total Time: 60 min
Lesson Reflection
For my last lesson this semester, I taught about the Anglo-American Colonization of Texas and the concept of “manifest destiny” in the US. I decided to do it in a “jigsaw” format since the students are not used to lecture and didn’t know enough about the material on Moses & Stephen F. Austin to be comfortable lecturing about it. Also, I wanted to try something different from a foldable activity. Despite hours of searching online for decent readings on the topic, nothing came out of it. My CT suggested that I just use the textbook. I figured it would be interesting to try since I’ve never taught a lesson using one before.
When making my lesson I decided to develop my own for Jigsaw lessons in general. I found it extremely difficult to find a plain puzzle piece picture online, but when I finished I loved the way it turned out. I look forward to being able to use it for other jigsaw style lessons in the future. My CT loved it so much she decided to copy my lesson for the rest of her classes. I did find it difficult to break up the chapter into more than 3 even parts because of the way it was formatted, but I found a way to split it into 5. If the seating arrangement or number of students had been different, it would have been easier to do.
I ended up teaching a completely different group of students than I normally teach because of Thanksgiving break switching up the block schedule. At the beginning of the semester I had hoped to teach A-day classes over B-day, but after teaching B-day students for so long I had become more comfortable with them. It was interesting having a different group of students. They had rather similar dynamics to the class I usually teach because they are both rather tired first thing in the morning.
The lesson went very smoothly and the students understood the directions the first time around. I’m not certain whether this was an improvement in my direction-giving skills, their direction-following skills, that the class way different, or that the directions were just simpler than my previous lessons. My CT and I had debated on how much time to give the students to read their section of the chapter and analyze it for information during the writing stages of the lesson. I had suggested 20 minutes since their chapter sections were relatively short, and she had suggested 30 minutes so the lesson would be over the whole class period. Funny enough, the students were all finished right at 25 minutes, just between our two estimations. For the second part, the students generally finished quicker than the expected 5 minutes per person to share and averaged around 3.5 minutes per person. However, two groups went right along with the suggested time limits. I noticed throughout the lesson that the students are still having a rough time grasping the concept of notetaking and decided to write everything they could fit on the paper down from the book and what their partners had said. They have improved since the beginning of the semester, but it is something my CT and I both recognize as a major area for improvement for the students.
I was happy that my lesson flowed smoothly, but I am sad to not be going back to teach in the classroom again for quite some time. My CT and I might try to work out something in the future to allow me to come back into her classroom in future semesters. She also really wants me to come back when I graduate to get a job there. Teaching middle school was far less intimidating than I thought it might be. Maybe I was just lucky to have magnet kids and such a great CT. It was a wonderful experience this semester. I look forward to going back into the classroom as soon as possible.
Gallery
 Manifest Desitny |  Jigsaw Activity.jpg |  Evaluation (1/2) |
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 Evaluation (2/2) |