Texas State History - Grade 4 - Spanish Missions in Texas - Week 6 Full Curriculum

Teach Grade 4 Texas history through a complete five-day week built around a 6-stop Dynamic History interactive map investigation. Students examine why Spain built missions, presidios, settlements, roads, and acequias; how geography shaped mission locations; why Spanish control remained limited; and how archaeology and living communities preserve connections to mission history today.

This Week 6 resource coordinates the interactive Dynamic History module with Standard and Accessible print alternatives, a transcript-grounded video evidence activity, the complete Spanish Missions in Texas (1690-1821) Readers Theater, and complete Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 assessments. Teachers can use the full five-day sequence or select individual components to fit their schedule.

Will this resource meet your expectations? Try Week 4! 100% FREE!

What students practice

• Connected mission systems: explain how missions, presidios, civilian settlements, roads, and acequias worked together as parts of Spain's colonial strategy.
• Colonial government: recognize that Spanish Texas answered to the Spanish Crown through New Spain and appointed officials rather than elected provincial leaders.
• Geography and settlement: use water, farmland, routes, distance, protection, and relationships to explain why mission communities stayed, moved, grew, or failed.
• Historical evidence: compare photographs, archaeology, artifacts, records, landscapes, reconstructions, and community sources while identifying what each source can and cannot prove.
• Indigenous perspectives: explain that Native nations had their own governments, economies, cultures, and goals and that mission experiences included cooperation, negotiation, pressure, resistance, and forced change.
• Limited control and lasting effects: explain how Spain created several lasting footholds without controlling most of Texas and how mission places remain connected to living communities.

The five-day week

• Day 1: Dynamic History Stops 1-3 - Spain's connected mission system and government, statewide distance and supply evidence, Ysleta and Tigua continuity, and archaeology at Mission Dolores.
• Day 2: Dynamic History Stops 4-6 - daily life and labor at Mission San Jose, acequia benefits and tradeoffs, Mission Espiritu Santo at Goliad, reconstruction limits, and present-day community continuity.
• Day 3: Spanish Colonial Texas: Did Spain Control Texas? video evidence activity focused on the author's claim, limited Spanish control, American Indian power, settlement patterns, and the transition to Mexican independence in 1821.
• Day 4: Spanish Missions in Texas (1690-1821) Readers Theater with performance guidance, discussion, and a complete follow-up assessment.
• Day 5: discussion, review, and a complete standalone final assessment.

What's included

• Dynamic History interactive module access with 6 guided stops and 24 auto-graded tasks.
• Stop-scoped clickable map evidence, historical photographs, artifacts, reconstructions, Standard and Accessible reading paths, and six Accessible Read Intro audio-support texts.
• 14-page Standard and 15-page Accessible print-module companions with equivalent learning targets for classrooms that need paper options.
• 43-page all-in-one Teacher Guide and Answer Key with week-at-a-glance planning, substitute-ready 48-minute daily lesson plans, differentiation, direct map support, Readers Theater guidance, and complete assessment keys.
• Four-page Day 3 video activity with prediction, evidence sorting, claim-evidence-reasoning writing, historical precision, and an 1821 transition question.
• Nine-page Day 4 Readers Theater Student Script with 10 scenes and 11 speaking roles.
• Day 3 video assessment with 10 vocabulary terms, 10 short-answer questions, 5 challenge questions, and a 20-question multiple-choice quiz.
• Day 4 Readers Theater assessment with 10 vocabulary terms, 10 short-answer questions, 5 challenge questions, and a 20-question multiple-choice quiz.
• Day 5 final assessment with 10 vocabulary terms, 10 short-answer questions, 5 challenge questions, and a 25-question multiple-choice quiz.
• Printable student worksheets and multiple-choice quiz versions for the Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 assessments.
• Self-grading Google Forms for the Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 multiple-choice quizzes through the shared classroom folder.
• Complete model answers, direct answer keys, standards alignment, discussion guidance, map links, and performance support inside the single weekly Teacher Guide.

Google Forms note: Self-grading Google Forms are cloud-native and are provided through the shared Google folder. They do not appear inside a downloaded desktop ZIP.

Built for flexible classrooms

Use the complete five-day sequence, shorten the week by selecting one assessment format, or use the Standard and Accessible print modules when devices are limited. Both reading paths teach the same assessed ideas, so students can work at different reading levels without being assigned different learning targets.

Assessment options

The Dynamic History module uses 24 guided, auto-graded formative tasks across Days 1-2. The Day 3 video assessment, Day 4 Readers Theater assessment, and Day 5 final assessment remain separate so teachers can choose the mix of map investigation, source analysis, performance, written response, challenge questions, printable multiple choice, and self-grading Google Forms that fits their classroom.

Best fit

Designed for Grade 4 Texas Social Studies and aligned to Week 6 learning targets for Spanish missions and settlements, colonial government, geography, Indigenous perspectives, historical evidence, archaeology, cause and effect, environmental modification, and continuity. This resource works well for whole-class instruction, small groups, independent practice, social studies centers, substitute plans, review, and blended print/digital classrooms.

Technology note: Dynamic History and Google-native assessment files require internet access. The Standard and Accessible print modules, video activity, Readers Theater script, and printable assessment versions provide substantial offline alternatives for the week.