Deep in the HEART of Texas Middle School

INTRODUCTION

In the modern world, we can see war as it unfolds daily on our TV screens. In fact, “embedded reporters” actually live with actual combat units. However, in the past, much of what the public knew about wars was reported much later by print journalists. In the case of the Battle of the Alamo in the Texas war for Independence, there were not even any print journalists around to witness the event. In fact, most of what people knew about the Alamo was rumor based on what people who came into San Antonio after the battle reported. Many people, even to this day, do not know that that there actually survivors of the Alamo who could tell us what happened. There were indeed survivors, but unfortunately, no one got around to interviewing the Texian survivors for about 30 years! Among the survivors were Joe, a Negro slave belonging to William Travis, and Joanna Dickenson and her children, the wife and children of Colonel Dickenson. You are going to read the accounts of Joe and Mrs. Dickenson, as well as reviewing other historical documents, and are going to tell what really happened at the Alamo, just like you were there as an “embedded reporter.”

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER WHEN THE WEBQUEST IS COMPLETE:

· WHO WERE THE KEY PARTICIPANTS AT THE ALAMO ON EACH SIDE?

· WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT THE ALAMO?

· HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED

· HAVE HISTORY BOOKS, MOVIES, ETC. ACCURATELY DEPICTED WHAT YOU FOUND OUT REALLY HAPPENED? WHY OR WHY NOT?

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TASK

YOU ARE REPORTER FOR A NEWSPAPER IN 1836 AND ARE ASSIGNED THE STORY TO REPORT ON THE ALAMO BY INTERVIEWING SURVIVORS AND WITNESSES (You will use historic, first person accounts as “interviews.)

STUDENTS WILL USE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS TO RESEARCH DIFFERENT PARTICIPANTS IN THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO, PRETENDING THAT THESE DOCUMENTS ARE INTERVIEWS. USING YOUR “NEWS STORIES,” CREATE A MOCK NEWSPAPER. USE A REAL NEWSPAPER TO SEE HOW THE MAST HEAD (NAME OF THE PAPER) IS LAID OUT, ETC. THE NEWSPAPER WILL TELL THE STORY OF THE ALAMO.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE STORIES OF DIFFERENT PARTICIPANTS, INCLUDING THEIR DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS; REPORT EACH STORY AS IF WERE A FACTUAL ACCOUNT, USING QUOTES, ETC. THEN, HAVE YOUR PAPER WRITE AN EDITORIAL BASED ON THE NEWS STORIES THAT TELLS WHAT YOU, THE EDITORS, THINK REALLY HAPPENED, BASED ON THE INTERVIEWS

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PROCESS

FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL WEBQUEST PROJECT:

Each student will be assigned to a team of 6 students
Team will be assigned three participants at the Battle of the Alamo to research
In pairs (2 students) read and study about one of the Alamo survivors on the Internet sites listed below in Resources. Pretend these sources are real news interviews—take notes or print and highlight key passages
Each pair of students writes a “newspaper article” based on each of the persons that team “interviewed,”
As a group of six (6), write an opinion editorial that says which one or ones of the stories you believe to be what really happened at the Alamo.
" CREATE A ONE PAGE NEWSPAPER USING MS PUBLISHER. MAKE UP A NAME FOR YOUR PAPER, ETC. SO IT LOOKS LIKE A REAL PAPER. " Look at the papers we have in class for models.

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RESOURCES

All information for your newspaper stories must come from these sites and only these sites. Keep track of the sites you visit and use for your Sources page

http://thealamo.org/letters.htm
http://thealamo.org/susanna_dickinson_hanning.htm
http://thealamo.org/susanna_dickinson.htm
http://thealamo.org/Joes%20account.htm
http://thealamo.org/Goodrich%20Letter.htm
http://hotx.com/alamo/ashes.html
http://hotx.com/alamo/survivors.html
http://hotx.com/alamo/esparza.html#juana
http://hotx.com/alamo/santaanna.html
http://drtl.org/History/index.asp
http://ohoh.essortment.com/alamohistory_nuw.htm
http://thealamo.org/historicpast.html
http://thealamo.org/alamo_in_1836.htm

http://thealamo.org/alamo_myths_and_misconceptions.htm"

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EVALUATION

A RUBRIC would go here.

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CONCLUSION

Each group will present their newspaper to the class. We will make an outline on PowerPoint for each group that summarized the key points of “What really happened at the Alamo” as told by each group

At the end, we will determine as a class what the similarities and differences were between the various versions, and make a “T” chart listing similarities and differences

Each student will write a one page paper in the computer lab that addresses two questions;

Why were there differing accounts from different survivors about what really happened at the Alamo
What each student believes really happened based on his/her interpretation of the newspaper stories

Finally, each newspaper and the essays will be put on a link on the school website for parents to see.

INTRODUCTION TASK PROCESS RESOURCES EVALUATION CONCLUSION

SOURCES

List all sources used. Remember you can only use websites listed above. If you use books or other sources, list those as well. To see how we list WEB sources using APA style, click here APA STYLE To cite books and other sources, do that like it is stated in your language arts book.

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TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

In WebQuests for EDT 3343 only, students need to include all TEKS covered by the WebQuest. Cite the TEKS per the format introduced in the course itself.