Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum
Lesson Plan for Teachers
Includes Pre and Post Visit Activities
3rd - 4th grades - King Cotton: How it was grown and manufactured, its beginnings in Hunt County and its importance to growth in Hunt County
Paddle Board Check Point Activity
Objective: Students will tour the Cotton Gallery. They will learn about the history of cotton for Hunt County. Students will learn how farmers grew, picked and manufactured cotton. Students will recognize the impact of cotton on the economic growth of Hunt County both today and in the past. They will discover items that are made of cotton and compare to items that do not contain cotton. Checking for understanding of concepts will be assessed by participating in the “Is it Cotton?” paddle board check point game. Limited to 25 students.
Supports TEKS: 3rd grade - 113.14 A1-4, B1-2 Social Studies
4th grade - 113.15 A1-4, B4-5 Social Studies
Cotton & Clothes
Objective: Students will tour the Cotton Gallery. Students will learn about the invention of the cotton gin and the changes it caused. They will learn about the history of cotton for Hunt County. Students will learn how cotton was grown, picked and manufactured. Students will recognize the impact of cotton on the economic growth of Hunt County both today and in the past. They will discover items that are made of cotton. Students will get to wash clothes the “old-fashioned” way by using a washboard and hanging them on a line. Limited to 50 students.
Supports TEKS: 3rd grade - 113.14 A1-4,B1-3 Social Studies
4th grade - 113.15 A1-5, B4-5 Social Studies
Be the Cotton Farmer
Objective: Students will tour the Cotton Gallery. They will learn about the history of cotton for Hunt County. Students will learn how farmers grew, picked and manufactured cotton. Students will be given some cotton bolls that they have to “pick” and then they will have to figure out the weight of their cotton so they can calculate how much they would get paid as a farmer in a particular year. The price list will be based on cents per pound but cotton will weigh in the ounces so they will also have to figure out how to extrapolate the cost. The students will also “clean” their cotton and divide it into three piles: seed, trash and clean. A discussion will follow about what each pile would be used for and about the sometimes extreme price differences of cotton during different years. What was happening in the wider world that effected the changes? Limited to 50 students.
Supports TEKS: 5th grade - 113.16 A1-5, 113.16 B4F, 113.16 B23A Social Studies
111.7 A2, A4 Math
6th grade - 113.18 A1-5, 113.18 B20 Social Studies
111.26 A2-3 Math
Be the Cotton Broker
Objective: Students will tour the Cotton Gallery. They will learn about the history of cotton for Hunt County. Students will learn how cotton was grown, picked and manufactured. Students will divide up into small groups. Each group is given some cotton where they will then have to “grade” their cotton. Different categories from best to worst include:
Middling fairStrict low middling
Strict good middling Low middling
Strict middlingStrict good ordinary
MiddlingGood ordinary
Then the cotton broker will try to “sell” the cotton to a different country using the Buentin’s book. The teacher and volunteer can become the “buyers”. Limited to 50 students
Supports TEKS: 5th grade - 113.16 A1-5, 113.16 B4F, 113.16 B23A Social Studies
6th grade - 113.18 A1-5, 113.18 B20 Social Studies
Packet includes Glossary, Pre-Visit and Post-Visit Worksheets and are also available online.
Created by the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum
600 I-30 East
PO Box 347
Greenville, TX 75403
(903) 450-4502