Summary & Background

Summary:

What were the ways in which people in the South Padre Island met their recreational needs in the 1900’s and the present? Students need to be able to locate and identify common recreational activities of their local communities in the past and the present. We will use this approach to activate students prior knowledge on the South Padre Island. By posing questions throughout the lesson students will have an active learning experience while the teacher will be the facilitator. This elementary lesson will be aligned to the 3rd grade social studies/history standards listed in the TEKS. We used South Padre Island newspapers located at the UTRGV Special Collections & Archives that have been authenticated by UTRGV faculty. This lesson will be based on the South Padre Island which is part of the Rio Grande Valley region.

Background:

The South Padre Island was first inhabited by native Karankawa Indians. In 1759, the island was granted to Nicolas Balli by King Carlos III of Spain and later passed on to his grandson Padre Jose Nicolas Balli, which is who the island is named after. The priest shared with all the residents his teachings of Christianity and soon after the island was called “La Isla Padre” and “Isla de Santiago” by the reputation Balli had for helping everyone. Since then the Island is still known as “La Isla del Padre” or the “South Padre Island” where people keep creating traditions all involving fun things that you can do at the island.