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Humanities Texas is pleased to announce a new curriculum set supporting classroom use of Texas Originals, our radio series profiling individuals who have had a profound influence on Texas history and culture.

The curriculum set provides methods to integrate Texas Originals episodes into the classroom with expectations for reading, writing, and using accepted social studies conventions and practices. Activities and lessons include:

Meet the Originals

These activities are intended to be used as part of a larger lesson or activity. Each “Meet the Originals” activity contains the full script of an episode and three unique questions supporting students’ understanding of the featured individual.

Write Your Own Texas Originals Script

Students are asked to examine the life of someone who has made an important contribution to Texas history and write a short radio script using the format of an episode of Texas Originals. This activity can be customized to ask students to consider either how individuals have shaped Texas history at specific points, such as the Texas Revolution, or more broadly around topics such as civil rights.

Dinner Party Discussions

Students evaluate and compare the contributions of individuals to Texas history by inviting three guests to a dinner party. Students are challenged to describe the individuals, identify commonalities, and create questions they would like to ask the guests about their role in Texas history, as well as questions the guests might ask each other.

Spanish language transcripts of all episodes are available. Lessons are designed to support the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) but are also widely relevant to Common Core standards.

Humanities Texas offers a range of instructional resources and materials for educators. To view other available materials, visit the Education section of our website.