7th Grade ASPIRE Humanities Snapshot

Who are we? What makes us who we are? What are we capable of becoming? These are the questions we will be exploring in
depth in seventh-grade Humanities. As we examine topics throughout the year that are particular to Texas history, we will
consider them from multiple perspectives, analyzing both the global forces that shaped major events and the impact of those
events on various social and cultural groups within the state and the larger world. Three major literary studies will add to our
understandings. In the fall, , students will explore the Kiowa culture and the various voices through which history can be
related with The Way To Rainy Mountain. They will also study the Anglo-Saxons and the epic poem Beowulf. In the spring, the
students will be introduced to Shakespeares work and times as they study Julius Caesar. Throughout the year, we will be
discovering what history can tell us about who we are as Texans who are simultaneously part of smaller, more personal
communities and a larger, global society rich with cultural differences.

Historical Writing (3-4 Weeks) Geography and Population (2-3 Weeks)

How does historical writing differ from other genres? How did the natural environment of Texas impact the
Can history ever be truly objective? What types of lives of early inhabitants and the development of the
sources are used to write histories? How are sources area? How does it impact us today? What major
vetted? What makes a source reliable? How is bias in environmental events have occurred in Texas? What
sources treated by historians? Is there a difference challenges does Texas face today, and what possible
between truth and fact? solutions exist for those challenges? How and why has
the population of Texas changed over time? How are
changing demographics impacting society?
Point of view Interviews
Perspective Research
Voice Citations Regions of Texas Research
Bias MLA format How geography Citations
Primary sources Corroborating impacts settlement Multimedia
Secondary evidence and human life projects
sources Personal narratives How humans Visual literacy
Selecting topics impact the natural Creating tone with
Selecting environment images
supporting details Population
Applying creative patterns
writing techniques Analyzing and
to expository creating maps,
writing graphs, charts, and
models

The Way to Rainy Mountain by Al Momaday Texas Almanac

Katsatoah, Smoked Shield, A Distinguished Warrior by The New Texas: A Demographic Analysis by Murdock,
George Catlin, 1884 (painting) Zey, and Cline
Mammedaty, a photograph, date and photographer Legends of Enchanted Rock by Donna Ingham
unknown The Lure of the Marfa Lights by Donna Ingham

Native Americans (2-3 Weeks) Mexico (2-3 Weeks)

What were the characteristics of various Native American In what ways has Mexico shaped the development of

Created by Cheryl Taliaferro, Ph.D.

tribes in Texas, and what factors helped shape those Texas, both historically and in modern times? How has
characteristics? What were their relationships like with Mexico contributed to the rich cultural makeup of Texas?
one another and with Europeans and Americans? What
changes did these tribes experience over time, and what
caused those changes? Spanish colonization Research
Mexican Vetting sources
independence Current events
Characteristics of Mythology The impact of the Debate
Texass native Narrative voice and age of revolutions Claims and
tribes authority on Mexico evidence
Impact of mission Literary analysis Cultural differences Persuasive
system and early Personal narrative and similarities writing and
colonization on Research between Mexicans speaking
Native Americans Citations and Tejanos Literary analysis
Impact of Western Nonfiction analysis Current U.S.-Mexico Poetry analysis
Expansion on Expository writing relations
Native Americans
Native Americans
today The Making of a Tejano Community by Jesus F. de la
Teja
Mier y Teran Fears Mexico May Lose Texas, 1830
Cabeza de Vaca Encounters the Indians of Texas, 1535 Mexico Seeks to Block Anglo-American Immigration: The
An Indian Language of Politics in the Land of Tejas by April 6, 1830 Law
Juliana Barr The Trans-Nueces in Conflict by Andres Tijerina
Father Miguel de Molina Describes the Attack on the San Mexican Women and the Process of Cultural
Saba Mission, 1758 Assimilation by Jane Dysart
Father Jose Francisco Lopez Advocates Secularizing the Race and Labor in Early Twentieth Century South Texas
Missions in San Antonio, 1792 by Neil Foley
Return of the Ghost Buffalo by Donna Ingham LULAC, Mexican American Identity, and Civil Rights by
Mirabeau Lamars Policy Towards the Indians of East Mario T. Garcia
Texas by F. Todd Smith Walkout in Crystal City by Greg Barrios
excerpts from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time excerpts from House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Indian by Sherman Alexie poems by Gary Soto
poems by Louise Erdrich

The Texas Revolution and the Republic

Europeans and Early Explorers (4-5 Weeks)
(5-6 Weeks)

How did Europe contribute to the development of Texas? When, if ever, is it ethical and/or appropriate for people
What positive and negative consequences result from to rebel against their government? How does the Texas
colonialism? Is colonization ethical? Revolution compare to other revolutions? What role has
religion played in revolutions?

Reasons for and Research

consequences of Expository writing Causes of Research
exploration and Poetry analysis revolutions Creative
colonization Archetypes Events leading up to presentations
Conquistadors Epics and during the Rhetorical
Mission system Model UN Texas Revolution analysis
Interactions and simulation How revolutions are Poetry analysis
impact with Native enacted Drama analysis
Americans Consequences of Mock trial
Current influence revolutions

Created by Cheryl Taliaferro, Ph.D.

 of early European Forming new
settlers governments

Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Chasing Chupacabras by Donna Ingham
Spain Reacts to the French Presence in Texas, 1689
The Canary Islanders State Their Grievances to the
Viceroy, 1741
The Lost San Saba Mine by Donna Ingham
Julius Caesar produced by BBC Shakespeare
Texas Declaration of Independence
Letter from William B Travis To the People of Texas &
All Americans in the World
Mexicos Secretary of War Jose Maria Tornel Rebuts the
Texas Reasons for Independence, 1836
The Impact of the American Revolution on the Texas
Rebellion by Sam W. Haynes
The Surrender of Santa Anna by William Huddle, 1886
(painting)

Statehood, Politics and Government (5-6 Weeks) Traditional Industries: Cattle, Railroads, Cotton,
and Oil (3-4 weeks)

What is the purpose and function of a government? What
makes a government just? How are human rights
balanced with state laws? How have our ideas about
government changed over time? How are the rights of a
citizen balanced with the needs of a state?
How have cattle, railroads, and cotton impacted the lives
of Texans? What impact have they had on different
cultural groups within the state? How do they continue to
contribute to the ethos, mythology, and economy of the
state? In what ways have these industries strengthened
or weakened Texass ties to other groups?

Reasons for and Advertising

consequences of Visual literacy Development and Documentary
annexation Ethos impact of railroads film analysis
Civil War and Pathos Development of Visual literacy
Reconstruction Logos cattle industry in Persuasive
Structures of Aristotles Texas writing
government rhetorical Modern fast food Modes of
Tensions inherent triangle industry persuasion
among local, state, Claims Discovery of oil Aristotles
and federal Rhetorical Modern Middle East rhetorical
governments fallacies Arab culture triangle
Human rights Persuasive Islam Current events
Civil rights speaking and Relations between Research
Political movements writing the U.S. and GCC Citations
Political parties and Debate countries Debate
interest groups Analyzing and Movement from oil to
Political leaders critiquing the natural gas
from Texas performance of a
Taxes public speaker
Public education Debate The Dallas Morning News Reports a Big Oil Discovery at
Current events Spindletop, January 11, 1901
Fields of Fortune: Chasing the New Oil Boom in South
Texas by Bryan Mealer
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Gasland Dir. Josh Fox and Steve Liptay
The Constitution of the United States Army Wife Emily K. Andrews Gives a Womans View of
excerpts from the Constitution of the Republic of Texas the Texas Frontier, 1874
excerpts from the Constitution of the State of Texas Will Crittenden, an African American Cowboy, Describes

Created by Cheryl Taliaferro, Ph.D.

 The United States Annexes Texas, March 1845
Texans State Their Reasons for Secession, 1861
Sam Houston Opposes Secession, 1861
The Houston Chronicle Explains the Political
Realignment in Texas, 1994
High Court Upholds Most of Texas Redistricting Map,
2006
Death by a Thousand Cuts: Texas Democrats and the
New Republican Hegemony by Charles Orson Cook
Life on the Range, 1870-1880
Elario Cordova, a Mexican American Cowboy,
Remembers Working as a Ranch Hand in South Texas,
1870-1880
Ms Ben Miskimon, a Woman on the Range, Recounts her
Experiences Running the Family Cattle Business in
Texas, 1874
The Emergence of the Texas Cattle Industry by Terry G.
Jordan

Economics, Globalization, and Modern Industries Putting It All Together with Different Lenses
(1-2 weeks) (3-4 weeks)

How has globalization changed the economic How can critical literary theories (such as the
opportunities in Texas? What modern industries drive moral/intellectual critical approach, the historical/topical
Texass economy today? How have these industries critical approach, the feminist critical approach, the
changed the overall culture of the state? psychological/psychoanalytic approach, the
archetypal/symbolic/mythic critical approach, and the
economic determinist/Marxist critical approach) inform
Overview of Research our understanding of Texas history?
economic systems Interviews
and principles Making
Causes and effects projections Viewing history Applying literary
of globalization Drawing as a progressive criticism theories
Major industries in inferences from timeline: the Eras to Texas history
Texas today data of Texas and Multimedia
Fortune 500 possible projects
companies in alternatives
Texas
Leaders in science
and technology Critical Approaches Important in the Study of
from Texas Literature by Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs
Texas and the South by Walter L. Buenger
Texas: Where the West Begins by Glen Sample Ely
excerpts from Adam Smith Women in Antebellum Texas by Angela Boswell
excerpts from Karl Marx Anglo-Texan Adventurism and Manliness by Jimmy L.
excerpts from John Maynard Keynes Bryan
Texas Is No. 2 for Fortune 500 Companies, Topping A Southern Slave Empire by Randolph B. Campbell
California by Maria Halkias A Slaveholding Borderland by Sean M. Kelley
The Largest Companies Headquartered in Texas, Office Popular Civil Religion and the Making of a Texas
of the Governor, 2014 Convert by Jerry Park
Yee-Haw! Guns and Civil Religion in Texas by William B.
Parsons

Note: The needs and interests of the students in the classroom will guide the pacing and delivery of these units.
Therefore, some of the units may be shortened, lengthened, or combined, and some of them may veer in new directions.
They may also be presented in a different order than they appear here.

Created by Cheryl Taliaferro, Ph.D.