SOUTHWEST

Topics: Five teams study the geography of Mexico, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Six teams study tribes selected for their distinctive lifestyles (and a seventh team can study a tribe of the teacher’s choosing): Mexico’s Aztecs, California’s coastal Chumash, the desert Mojave, the forest Caddo, the nomadic Apache, and the plateau-dwelling Pueblo. Six teams join the crews of explorers Cortez, Cabrillo, Drake, Coronado, DeSoto, and LaSalle. The whole class acts out a typical day at a mission. Half the class acts out a state constitutional convention while the other half acts out a trial to dispose of rancho land grant holdings. A culminating fiesta (with 23 optional craft projects) injects fun into a review of lessons learned. An extensive teacher’s guide includes directions, answer keys, and reproducible handouts.