Mexican-American War: U.S. History

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Mexican-American War, and supports the standard of analyzing the causes, course, and consequences of United States westward expansion. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

• What do you already know about westward expansion in the U.S.? 

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Mexican-American War topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
• Have students read one of the Related Reading articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Students take the Mexican-American War Quiz, applying essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about the Mexican-American War while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce a mini-documentary that explains how the Texas Revolution led to the Mexican-American War.
• Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying the causes and effects of the Mexican-American War.
• Creative Coding: Code a digital museum exhibit featuring artifacts and figures to represent the history and impact of the Mexican-American War.

More to Explore 

Time Zone X: Mexican-American War: Place historical events in chronological order in this interactive timeline game.

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of history related to the Mexican-American War with these topics: Mexican Revolution, Texas Revolution, and Westward Expansion.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.