Alief ISD
Social Studies Lesson Plans
Grade 4 Unit 5
People of the Revolution
Date: _______________
Desired Results: (Unit
Understanding)
Significant people played a
major role in the fight for
Texas Independence.
Time Allotted: 4-5 days
Assessment:
Students will independently fill out a
R.A.F.T., using the note taking cards filled
out during class presentations. Each
R.A.F.T. should include contributions
made by each hero and the effects as
well.
Objective/TEKS:
I can identify important people
who played a major role in the
fight for Texas independence.
4.3A, 4.18C, 4.16A
Anticipatory Set: (Hook) Universal Generalization Individual people often affect
Topics/Concepts:
Read a short biography about an important figure (past or present) that affected how
communities change. Examples: Martin Luther King Jr. or Oprah. Have a class discussion on
other individuals that have affected change in the student’s lives.
Cause/Effect
Revolution
Independence
Siege
Treaty
how communities develop and change.
Instructional Input: (Line)
Each group will receive an important person in the unit to study and work on. Teacher will
model how to do the activity by reading a provided insert over the Texas hero, taking notes as
you read. Teacher will model how to fill out the Three Quarter foldable on page 8 of the Big
Book of Texas History by Dinah Zikes.
Guided Practice: (Line)
Students fill out their own foldable. On the left side, students cut out the picture of their
Texas hero and paste it there. On the top flap of the foldable, students list contributions done
by this person. On the bottom, under the top flap, students will list the effects of those
particular contributions. Each group will present their hero to the entire class. As each group
presents, the other students will take notes (Note Taking Heroes) with the purpose of learning
about every hero presented.
Resources for Information:
 Appropriate textbook pages (listed at bottom of document)
 Trade Books from your library/book room such as:
 Literature Connections:
Texas (Eyewitness Books Series) : Discover the Wonders of the Second-Largest State, Its
Fascinating History And Famous People by Simon Adams, DK Publishing
Moses Austin and Stephen F. Austin: A Gone to Texas Dual Biography by Betsy Warren
Life and Times of Stephen F. Austin by Russ Roberts
William Barret Travis: Victory or Death by Jean Flynn
Davy Crockett by Elaine Marie Alphin
Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman (Childhood of Famous Americans Series) by Aileen Wells Parks
Davy Crockett: A Life on the Frontier (Ready-to-read SOFA Series, Level 3) by Stephen
Krensky
Picture Book of Davy Crockett by David A. Adler
Jim Bowie: Hero of the Alamo by Ann Gaines
Jim Bowie: A Texas Legend by Jean Flynn
The Alamo (Cornerstones of Freedom, Second Series) by Tom McGowen
Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story by John Jakes
Girl of the Alamo: The Story of Susanna Dickenson by Rita Kerr
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Susannah Dickinson: Frontier Legends by Robert Hollmann
 Websites:
http://www.lsjunction.com/people/people.htm
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/giants/index.html
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/biographies/
Independent Practice: (Sinker)
When all of the presentations have been given, each student will create a raft activity:
Role – Texas hero
Audience – Class
Format – Journal entry (contributions and effects)
Topic – Your experience at a battle during the Revolution and or you experience during the
Texas Revolution
How will you
check for
understanding?
Assess students
during classroom
presentations
Modifications/Extensions:
Students can research an additional person that they are interested in. Create a foldable
listing the contributions and effects.
Closure:
Ask students to name an important person that they learned about and the contribution that
person made.
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Note taking: Texas Heroes
Contributions:
Effects:
Note taking: Texas Heroes
Contributions:
Effects:
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Note taking: Texas Heroes
Contributions:
Effects:
Note taking: Texas Heroes
Contributions:
Effects:
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Note taking: Texas Heroes
Contributions:
Effects:
Note taking: Texas Heroes
Contributions:
Effects:
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David "Davy"
Crockett
(1786-1836)
Davy Crockett was perhaps best known in Tennessee as a noted hunter and for his unique
style of backwoods oratory. In Texas, however, he will always be remembered as a heroic
participant in the Battle of the Alamo.
Crockett was born 17 August 1786 in what is now northeastern Tennessee. It was not until he
was eighteen before he learned to read and write. About that time, he married and started a
family of several children.
Perhaps by default, he first became involved in politics as magistrate of his local community.
By 1821, he was elected to the State Legislature, and was reelected to that position in 1823.
From 1827 through 1833, Crockett served in the Congress of the United States. However, in
his run for a fourth term in Congress, he was defeated by a narrow margin.
Disgusted by that time with politics, Crockett bid farewell to Tennessee and headed for
Texas in the fall of 1835. There he was well received and seemed to enjoy his new
environment, for on 9 January 1836 he wrote a daughter back in Tennessee: "I would rather
be in my present situation than to be elected to a seat in Congress for life."
Less than one month later, however, Crockett and a few of his fellow Tennesseans were
among the 189 defenders that sacrificed their lives at The Battle of the Alamo in the
interest on Texas independence.
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William Barret Travis
(1809-1836)
Born in South Carolina on August 9th, 1809, William Barret Travis will always be remembered as
the Texas commander at the Battle of the Alamo.
Travis arrived to Texas in 1831. When conflict developed between Texas and Mexico, Travis was
one of the first to join the Texas forces. When Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos
demanded the surrender of the Texan's cannon that resulted in the Battle of Gonzales, Travis
was one of hundreds to come to the its defense. He arrived too late, however, to take part in the
action.
On January of 1836, Travis entered the Alamo with about 30 men. Within a few days, he found
himself in command, when then commander James C. Neill took leave to care for his family.
Travis commanded the Texas defenders during Battle of the Alamo. His Appeal from the Alamo
(his written letter to the people of Texas) for reinforcements has become an American symbol of
unyielding courage and heroism. William B. Travis and almost two hundred other defenders found
themselves surrounded at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio in late February of 1836. Refusing to
surrender, they held off the invading armies of Mexican Dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
for almost two weeks. On March 6, the courageous Texans were overrun and slaughtered by well
over 2000 Mexicans. Travis gave their lives for Texas independence. Travis was only twenty-six
years of age at the time of his death.
What Travis wrote at the end of his Appeal from the Alamo
Then, I call on you in the
name of Liberty, of patriotism, &
of everything dear to the American
character, to come to our aid
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Sam Houston
"The Raven"
(1793-1863)
Sam Houston was born in Virginia on March 2, 1793. He spent much of his youth,
however, in the mountains of Tennessee. There, young Houston became friends
with the Cherokee Indians, and he spent much time with them.
Sam Houston was a governor for the state of Tennessee until 1832 when he
moved to Texas along with some of his friends.
In 1835 he was appointed general of the military district east of the Trinity. He
became a member of the Consultation of 1835, and of the Convention which met
at Washington on the Brazos in 1836 to declare independence from Mexico. It
was there that Houston was elected commander-in-chief of the armies of
Texas.
Houston immediately took control of the Texas forces after the fall of the
Alamo and Goliad, and conducted the retreat of the army to the site of the
Battle of San Jacinto, where on April 21, 1836, his force defeated Santa Anna
and secured Texas long sought independence.
In the fall of that year, Houston was elected the first President of the
Republic of Texas.
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Stephen F. Austin
(1793-1836)
Born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri, Stephen Fuller Austin is known as the
founder of Anglo-American Texas. At the age of eleven years, he attended school in
Connecticut and later graduated with distinction from Transylvania University in Kentucky.
The elder Austin (his father) died soon after returning to Missouri from a trip to Texas, but
bequeathed his grant to Stephen with instructions to carry it to a successful completion.
Accordingly, after many delays and frustrations with the Mexican government, Steven Austin
introduced a large number of colonists from the United States. An unassuming man with a
kindly presence, he was deeply respected by all, and achieved unparalleled influence over the
often unruly settlers in Anglo Texas.
Austin is remembered in Texas history for his many efforts on behalf of Texas before,
during, and immediately after Texas' Revolution with Mexico. His contributions to Texas
included: long and perilous pilgrimages to Mexico on behalf of Texas; his unwillingness to
counsel his people to take up arms against the Mexican government as long as any hope for
peace remained; his firm and decided voice, speaking words of encouragement and hope
during the darkest days of the revolution; and his laborious travels in the United States to
obtain needed support for his struggling countrymen.
After devoting the best years of his life to the cause of Texas, Austin was overcome by
disease and on 27 December 1836 died an untimely death at the age of forty-three years.
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James Bowie
(1796-1836)
Known for his famous "Bowie knife" and a sometimes reckless adventurer, Jim Bowie is now
immortalized as one of the true folk heroes in early Texas.
Bowie was born in Kentucky in 1796. While still very young, he moved with his family, first to
Missouri, then in 1802 to Louisiana, where he spent most of his youth. It was there that he
first acquired a reputation for his bold and fearless disposition.
In 1827, Bowie participated in a bloody brawl near Natchez, Mississippi, where several men
were killed and Bowie was wounded. After recovering the following year, he moved to Texas.
Before the revolution in Texas, Bowie took part in many adventures. He spent considerable
time cultivating friendships with Indians in his search for elusive silver and gold reported to
be hidden in the interior of Texas. By some accounts, he is said to have found the fabled San
Saba mines, also known as the Bowie mines, near the geographic center of present day Texas.
In the Texas Revolution, Bowie was a leading participant at the Battle of Concepcion and in
the Grass Fight near San Antonio. He was in command of a volunteer force in San Antonio
when William Travis arrived with regular army troops. The two men shared authority during
much of the Siege of the Alamo, which caused some personal friction. But pneumonia disabled
Bowie, and he was confined to his cot at the time of his death on March 6, 1836 at the Battle
of the Alamo.
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Susana Dickinson
(1814-1883)
It is sometimes said that life in the early days of Texas was an adventure for men and dogs,
but hell on women and horses. Susana Dickinson, no doubt, would agree. She will always be
remembered as the sole adult Anglo survivor that witnessed the massacre at the Battle of
the Alamo.
Susana was born in middle Tennessee about 1814 as Susana (often written Susanna)
Wilkerson. At the age of only fifteen years, she married Almaron Dickinson in Hardeman
County, Tennessee. Within two years, the young couple arrived in Texas and settled near
Gonzales in the colony of empresario Green DeWitt. The couple's only child, Angelina, was
born there in late 1834.
After the Battle of Gonzales marked the beginning of the Texas Revolution in the fall of
1835, Almaron joined a group of volunteers to help secure San Antonio for the Texans.
Susana stayed behind with Angelina. After her home was looted a few weeks later, however,
she decided to join her husband in San Antonio. When Santa Anna's army approached the
town in February of 1836, the family moved into the Alamo.
Following the fall of the Alamo, Susana, accompanied by her infant daughter Angelina, was
interview by Santa Anna and subsequently released with a message to Sam Houston. After
heading eastward from San Antonio, they were found by Deaf Smith and Henry Karnes,
scouts for the Texas army. They were taken to meet Houston in Gonzales.
Susana and her husband soon moved to Austin, where her husband ran a successful cabinet
shop and furniture store. Susana died on October 7, 1883, and is buried in Austin.
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Hero’s Contact Page
Sam Houston
Juan Seguin
James Bowie
James Fannin
David burnet
Lorenzo de Zavala
Santa Ana
William Travis
David Crockett
Susanna Dickinson
Stephen F. Austin
Jose Navarro
Anson Jones
Mirabeau B. Lamar
Greenbury Logan
4th Grade Unit 5
Pg. 164, 173, 183-185
Pg. 165, 172, 177, 180
Pg. 182,
Pg. 182,
Pg. 176,
Pg. 176
Pg 181
Pg. 182
Pg. 164, 182
Pg. 165, 183, 185
Pg. 151
Pg. 164, 196-197, 207
Pg. 164, 194, 206
Pg. 165, 193-194
Pg. 175
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