The Alamo

The Alamo

The Alamo
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	high interest, readability grades 5 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.03

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		historic, dictator, cottonwood, twelfth, military, fighter, ammunition, assault, mission, bravery, victory, lasted, equipment, battle, lines, early
	content words:		Native Americans, San Antonio, Texas Revolution, Santa Anna, William Travis, Jim Bowie, David Crockett

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The Alamo
By Cathy Pearl

¹     The Alamo is in Texas. It was first used as a mission. Missionaries and Native Americans who became Christians lived in the mission for almost seventy years. In 1793, the mission land was given to Native Americans that still lived in the area. They farmed the fields. They also helped San Antonio begin to grow into the city it would become.

²     In the early 1800s, Spanish soldiers used the mission. They started calling it the Alamo. This is the Spanish word for "cottonwood." A grove of cottonwood trees grew nearby. The military would stay in the mission until the Texas Revolution.

³     In Mexico, Santa Anna had become a dictator. Settlers in Texas were worried about what he would do. The settlers felt it was time to take action. They had the support of many Tejanos. These were Mexican people who had been born in Texas. The Tejanos didn't always care if Texas became free. They did want to get rid of Santa Anna.

⁴     In 1835, the town of Gonzales battled Mexican troops. They forced the troops to leave the town. Santa Anna was not happy. He marched north from Mexico with his army.

⁵     Volunteers from the army went to the Alamo. They worked to make the defenses even stronger. They knew that Santa Anna would be coming to attack the city.

⁶     The Texans did not have a lot of equipment. They did not have a lot of ammunition. There was not a lot of food or water in the mission, either. If the Texans were trapped in the mission for a long time, they would run out of things to eat and drink.

⁷     In February of 1836, Santa Anna's army got to the Alamo. There were 6,000 men in his army. There were about 150 men in the mission.

⁸     William Travis was in charge in the mission. Also inside were Jim Bowie and David Crockett. These men were famous for what they had done on the frontier. Bowie was also a famous knife fighter. Crockett was known for how well he could shoot. There were also some women and children inside the Alamo.

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