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Good Citizenship: Revolutionary Texas Companion Reading and Viewing List

Explore more, one week at a time. Every week of Good Citizenship: Revolutionary Texas has an optional video, a continued-learning resource and a recommended book. They are gathered here with the sources each lesson cites, so families with a printed copy can reach them from the weekly QR code. Books are optional; borrowing is welcome. All required lesson information and short-check answers are in the curriculum, and no paid media is required.

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Week by week

Optional resources. Preview with an adult and use captions when available. Online pages and access can change.

Week 1 Texas Before the Revolution

Book
Texas History for Kids: Lone Star Lives and Legends, with 21 Activities on Amazon (opens in a new tab) by Karen Bush Gibson (Amazon)
How to use it
Children's nonfiction and activities. Use the contents or index to find early peoples and colonial Texas. Compare the overview with a Native nation's own account.
Free option
Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas: A Native Nation's Own History (opens in a new tab)
Read the Tribe's public history and identify an example of its government or community in the present.
Optional video
UNT Libraries, Texas History for Teachers: American Indians in the Texas Revolution (opens in a new tab)
Video, about 7 minutes. Look for Native nations making political choices. Their history extends before and after the Revolution.
Sources and links from the Week 1 lessons

Lesson sources (free)

Back to the week list

Week 2 Mexican Texas

Book
Texas History for Kids: Lone Star Lives and Legends, with 21 Activities on Amazon (opens in a new tab) by Karen Bush Gibson (Amazon)
How to use it
Children's nonfiction and activities. Return to the same core book. Find the sections on Mexican Texas, colonization, and the growing conflict. List two causes the author emphasizes.
Free option
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Stephen F. Austin and Anglo-American Texas (opens in a new tab)
Explore the original records and explanation of the colonization project. Distinguish Spain's initial approval from later Mexican rule.
Optional video
UNT Libraries, Texas History for Teachers: Preview of the Texas Revolution (opens in a new tab)
Video, about 5 minutes. Notice that people within Texas disagreed about the conflict and its aims.
Sources and links from the Week 2 lessons

Lesson sources (free)

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Week 3 Alamo & Goliad

Book
Remember the Alamo: Texians, Tejanos, and Mexicans Tell Their Stories on Amazon (opens in a new tab) by Paul Robert Walker (Amazon)
How to use it
Historical nonfiction for middle-grade readers. Compare the accounts of Texians, Tejanos, and Mexicans. Which source helps you understand a person beyond the familiar battle story?
Free option
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Travis's Letter from the Alamo (opens in a new tab)
Inspect the handwritten document and transcript. Ask who wrote it, who was meant to read it, and what action it requested.
Optional video
UNT Libraries, Texas History for Teachers: Goliad, Virtual Field Trip (opens in a new tab)
Video and virtual tour, about 18 minutes. An adult should preview the treatment of wartime executions and choose a suitable portion.
Sources and links from the Week 3 lessons

Lesson sources (free)

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Week 4 San Jacinto

Book
Make Way for Sam Houston on Amazon (opens in a new tab) by Jean Fritz (Amazon)
How to use it
Children's historical biography. Trace Houston's military and political roles. Check the difference between an interim president and the Republic's first elected president.
Free option
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Texas Declaration of Independence (opens in a new tab)
Read the transcript of the March 2, 1836 document. Locate its claim to independence, then ask whose participation that claim represented.
Optional video
UNT Libraries, Texas History for Teachers: The Battle of San Jacinto (opens in a new tab)
Video, about 14 minutes. Follow the explanation of the battlefield and compare military victory with diplomatic recognition.
Sources and links from the Week 4 lessons

Lesson sources (free)

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Week 5 Republic of Texas

Book
Texas History for Kids: Lone Star Lives and Legends, with 21 Activities on Amazon (opens in a new tab) by Karen Bush Gibson (Amazon)
How to use it
Children's nonfiction and activities. Revisit the core book's Republic-era sections. Compare its account of leaders, finances, and Native relations with the promises discussed in this lesson.
Free option
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Republic's 1836 Constitution (opens in a new tab)
Read the archive's explanation of the document's framework and exclusions. Compare a promise of rights with a rule about who could participate.
Optional video
UNT Libraries, Texas History for Teachers: Preview of the Republic of Texas (opens in a new tab)
Student overview video. Identify one challenge facing the Republic and one proposed solution. The viewing page provides captioned options.
Sources and links from the Week 5 lessons

Lesson sources (free)

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Week 6 Texas Statehood

Book
All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom on Amazon (opens in a new tab) by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis (Amazon)
How to use it
Historical picture-book narrative. Read the picture book aloud, then compare its narrated experience with the dated historical account of June 19, 1865. Keep story and evidence distinct. The child narrator is imagined; this is not a primary-source diary.
Free option
National Park Service: Juneteenth, Historical Context (opens in a new tab)
Read the historical overview. Distinguish the Emancipation Proclamation's date from the Galveston announcement commemorated by Juneteenth.
Optional video
WHUT Shorts / PBS: Juneteenth, A Journey through History and Celebration (opens in a new tab)
Short video about the history and meaning of Juneteenth. Use it to connect the Galveston announcement with the continuing work of freedom.
Sources and links from the Week 6 lessons

Lesson sources (free)

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Week 7 Texas Government

Book
What Can a Citizen Do? on Amazon (opens in a new tab) by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris (Amazon)
How to use it
Picture book about community participation. Use this short family read-aloud to consider voluntary service and community participation. Compare those ideas with the actual duties of Texas government. Written for younger children.
Free option
Texas House of Representatives: How the Texas House Works (opens in a new tab)
Read the official overview of the Legislature and lawmaking. Compare the House, Senate, and governor's roles.
Optional video
Texas House of Representatives: Watch Texas Government at Work (opens in a new tab)
Video archive. With an adult, choose about five minutes of an archived committee or chamber session. Identify the legislative branch doing its work.
Sources and links from the Week 7 lessons

Lesson sources (free)

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Week 8 Local Texas History

Book
Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story on Amazon (opens in a new tab) by John Jakes, illustrated by Paul Bacon (Amazon)
How to use it
Illustrated historical retelling. Compare this later historical retelling with the Dickinson profile. Record one claim, one supporting source, and one question you still have. A later retelling, not an eyewitness account.
Free option
Bastrop County Historical Society: Historic Communities of Bastrop County (opens in a new tab)
Use the local histories as a starting point. A family outside Bastrop County may compare them with records from its own Texas town.
Optional video
UNT Libraries, Texas History for Teachers: Who Was Susanna Dickinson? (opens in a new tab)
Video, about 10 minutes. Consider how a survivor's account becomes part of a community's historical memory.
Sources and links from the Week 8 lessons

Lesson sources (free)

Back to the week list

Books at a glance

Recommended reading

Book

Make Way for Sam Houston

By Jean Fritz.

Children's historical biography. Trace Houston's military and political roles. Check the difference between an interim president and the Republic's first elected president.

Suggested connection: Week 4.

View Make Way for Sam Houston on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

Book

All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom

By Angela Johnson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis.

Historical picture-book narrative. Read the picture book aloud, then compare its narrated experience with the dated historical account of June 19, 1865. Keep story and evidence distinct. The child narrator is imagined; this is not a primary-source diary.

Suggested connection: Week 6.

View All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

Book

What Can a Citizen Do?

By Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris.

Picture book about community participation. Use this short family read-aloud to consider voluntary service and community participation. Compare those ideas with the actual duties of Texas government. Written for younger children.

Suggested connection: Week 7.

View What Can a Citizen Do? on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

Book

Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story

By John Jakes, illustrated by Paul Bacon.

Illustrated historical retelling. Compare this later historical retelling with the Dickinson profile. Record one claim, one supporting source, and one question you still have. A later retelling, not an eyewitness account.

Suggested connection: Week 8.

View Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story on Amazon (opens in a new tab)