Texas TEKS 7.18.C

Social Studies7th GradeCulture

The Standard

identify examples of Spanish influence and the influence of other cultures on Texas such as place names, vocabulary, religion, architecture, food, and the arts

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do

Students recognize how Spanish and other cultures shaped Texas names, language, traditions, buildings, foods, music, and art. They connect each example to a culture and explain the evidence for that connection.

What Mastery Looks Like

Given a map label, building image, food, song, or artwork, a student names a likely cultural influence and points to a specific clue. The student distinguishes Spanish colonial examples from later Mexican and immigrant influences.

Common Misconceptions

Students often treat Spanish, Mexican, and broader Hispanic influences as the same, even when the source and time period differ. They may label any mission or Catholic symbol as Mexican rather than Spanish colonial. They may also assume a food, word, or art form came from only one culture.

How to Assess It

Give students three examples: San Antonio, a mission church, and a kolache bakery. Ask them to name each cultural influence and cite one supporting clue.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

  1. Students sort photo and word cards showing missions, town names, foods, and music into Spanish, Indigenous, German, Czech, and African American influence groups.

  2. Write a claim answering, "Which culture has left the clearest mark on our region?" and support it with two local examples.

  3. Teams match Texas examples with culture cards, earning a point only when they explain the evidence for each match.

  4. Use a local map and restaurant menus to find five cultural influences, then annotate each example with its likely origin.

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