Texas TEKS 4.4.B
The Standard
explain the growth, development, and impact of the cattle industry such as contributions made by Charles Goodnight, Richard King, and Lizzie Johnson
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students trace how ranches, cattle trails, railroads, and markets helped cattle ranching expand in Texas. They connect Goodnight, King, and Johnson to specific actions and explain effects on jobs, towns, land, and trade.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can place each person with a clear contribution, such as trail building, ranch development, or cattle ownership and sales. The student can link those contributions to economic growth and changes in Texas communities.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat all three people as trail drivers or assume cattle drives were the whole industry. They may also overlook Lizzie Johnson's business role or assume ranching affected every Texan and region in the same way.
How to Assess It
- Give this exit ticket: Choose one contributor, describe one action, explain how it helped ranching grow, and name one effect on Texas.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Groups use yarn, a Texas map, cattle cards, and railroad labels to model how herds moved from ranches to northern markets.
Ask students to write: How did Goodnight, King, and Johnson contribute in different ways to the cattle business?
Play a matching relay with person, action, place, and impact cards, then require teams to explain each completed set.
Compare a current Texas cattle inventory map with an 1800s ranch map, then identify one lasting pattern in land use or jobs.
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Printable 4.4.B Worksheet
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