ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] ALA (4) 4 :

4 ) Relate the relationship of the five geographic regions of Alabama to the movement of Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century.

•  Identifying natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century

•  Describing human environments of Alabama as they relate to settlement during the early nineteenth century, including housing, roads, and place names

[ELA2015] (4) 12 :

12 ) Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. [RI.4.3]

This lesson looks at the natural resources that drew settlers to Alabama.  Students will explore the 1818 letter from Joseph Noble to his friend, Samuel B. Bidgood, describing the town at Tuscaloosa Falls.  Students will explain ideas within this historical text based on specific information presented in this primary source.

Follow up lesson - Alabama: A Boundless Field of Speculation

This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2015] (4) 12 :

12 ) Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. [RI.4.3]

[SS2010] ALA (4) 4 :

4 ) Relate the relationship of the five geographic regions of Alabama to the movement of Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century.

•  Identifying natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century

•  Describing human environments of Alabama as they relate to settlement during the early nineteenth century, including housing, roads, and place names

This lesson looks at the natural resources that drew businesses to Alabama. Students will explore the adapted 1820 letter from Mason and Dexter in Cahaba, Alabama to Richards and Simmons in Cumberland, Rhode Island.  Students will explain ideas within this historical text based on specific information presented in this primary source.

This lesson can be used as a stand alone or can follow A Natural Attraction: The Natural Resources of Alabama During the Early Nineteenth Century. 

This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] ALA (4) 4 :

4 ) Relate the relationship of the five geographic regions of Alabama to the movement of Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century.

•  Identifying natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century

•  Describing human environments of Alabama as they relate to settlement during the early nineteenth century, including housing, roads, and place names

[ELA2015] (4) 1 :

1 ) Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. [RL.4.1]

[ELA2015] (4) 35 :

35 ) Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace. [SL.4.4]

[ELA2015] (4) 12 :

12 ) Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. [RI.4.3]

In this lesson, students will work in small groups to examine a letter describing the environment of Alabama and identify reasons which might have encouraged settlers to move to Alabama in the early nineteenth century.   Students will choose an interesting attraction of Alabama mentioned in the letter and design a postage stamp around that attraction. 

This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.