Southwest Region of the US: Early Beginnings
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Explore the Southwest: Early Beginnings! 🌵🏜️
How did the Southwest region come to be? What led to the famous Battle of the Alamo? Why were Native Americans forced to walk hundreds of miles to new lands? Now, 4th-grade students can take an exciting journey through time to uncover the rich and complex history of the Southwest!
📽️ “Southwest: Early Beginnings” is a visually rich, engaging educational video that brings history to life. Through storytelling, real-world connections, and vivid visuals, students will discover how early settlers, Native Americans, and war shaped the Southwest region into what it is today.
💡 What Your Students Will Learn:
✅ The story of Stephen Austin and the first settlers in Texas
✅ How the Battle of the Alamo became a defining moment in history
✅ Why Texas became its own country before joining the U.S.
✅ The causes and outcomes of the Mexican-American War
✅ How settlers and immigrants moved westward in search of farmland
✅ The tragic story of the Native American relocation, including The Long Walk and The Trail of Tears
✅ How homesteads helped shape the future of the Southwest
🌟 Why Teachers Love This Video:
🕒 No-Prep, Standards-Aligned Content – Just press play and start learning!
🎥 Visually Engaging & Kid-Friendly – Keeps 4th graders focused and excited.
🎯 Brings History to Life – Helps students connect with the past in a meaningful way.
📚 Perfect for U.S. History & Geography Lessons – Supports discussions on westward expansion, Native American history, and U.S. growth.
💡 Make History Come Alive in Your Classroom!
Give your students a front-row seat to the journey of the Southwest—without extra prep work. Subscribe today and bring history to life! 🚀
Companion video to Southwest Region: Today
Video Length: 34:20 minutes
Learning Resources with this Video*
Quiz
Southwest State Study
Southwest Region – Video Breakdown
Draw A Scene – Southwest Region
Mapping the Southwest Region of the U.S.
Universal Resources
National Standards
*Links are active on Full Video page.
Topics Covered In This Video
States of the Southwest
Landforms
Climate
Natural Resources
History
Economy
Classroom Ideas
Southwest Region of the US: Early Beginnings
Landforms and Bodies of Water
Print out or look at a map of the Southwest.
Identify landforms and bodies of water in the Southwest Region.
Cloze Practice
A cloze piece has full sentences used in the virtual field trip with blanks where students can write in the information that is missing. This task requires close listening to the trip in order to complete it.
Art and Social Studies
Draw a scene from the video you just watched.
Create Quizzes
Students create a quiz based on the information presented for their peers. This can be used as a review for a test, or Jigsaw class activity where students are responsible for teaching other students assigned topics.
Visual Learning
Offer videos to struggling learners as another form of creating knowledge and accessing information.
Classroom Ideas for ALL Videos
Here are dozens and dozens of ideas that you can use in your classroom along with our videos!
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