By: Machaia McClenny, Alamo Education Specialist
The legacy of the Alamo belongs to every child in Texas, and its history is taught in every fourth and seventh grade classroom, but with a state that covers over 250,000 square miles, a visit to the Alamo can be tricky for some schools.
If you’re an educator looking to bring the Alamo into your classroom, the Alamo education department has you covered! Thanks to the doors opened by technology, classrooms from all over the state are able to walk the Alamo grounds, visit the church, view artifacts, and interact with Alamo staff members.
Distance learning provides teachers with the opportunity to introduce their students to the Alamo or provide context to what they are learning about the Texas revolution. Seeing the room where the women and children huddled during the battle of 1836 makes our Texas history tangible and visceral. Viewing our living historians in period clothing with era appropriate guns and gear makes the men and women who lived and died here come alive for students. It gives us great joy to share these experiences with students across Texas, and we hope that it leaves an indelible mark of the importance of remembering and treasuring our history. In the words of Misty Hurly, our Education Program Assistant, “The most rewarding part of distance education is seeing the eyes of students light up and hearing excited chatter as they learn about the site and the brave and interesting men who fought here.” If you are interested in booking a session, contact Misty at mhurley@thealamo.org.
If you want your students to do more than see Texas history, we’ve got you covered there too! Most children in 1830s Texas had neither the money nor the access to store-bought toys, so they made their own. We have created a step-by-step tutorial for crafting corn husk dolls — a common toy of the era. They are simple, educational, and so much fun! Find the instructions on our website.
In the education department, we continuously strive to be a resource of information for teachers. As teachers are required to teach a wide breadth of information to their students, we hope assist by researching, relating information, and creating ideas for lesson plans regarding Texas history characters. Our workshop on January 7 brought to life a man who helped write two constitutions and create two republics — Lorenzo de Zavala, and our friends from San Antonio College came to provide sign language interpretation services. Our workshop series continues on March 3 when we explore Texas history through the eyes of Santa Anna himself.
