Image of a taco
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The History of Tacos

Take a trip back in time to learn about this yummy food.

By Meg Richardson with Lesley Téllez
From the December 2022/January 2023 Issue
Lexiles: 560L
Guided Reading Levels: J
DRA Level: 16-18
Featured Skill: Text Features, Key Details,
Vocabulary: tortillas, miners, ingredients, guacamole
Topic: Social Studies,
Common Core Standards
  • RI.2.1 Key details RI.2.4 Vocabulary RI.2.5 Nonfiction text features RI.2.10 Read grade-2- appropriate informational text SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts L.2.4.a Use sentence-level context as a clue to a word’s meaning
TEKS Standards
  • Social Studies
    (3) Geography. The student understands the concept of location. The student is expected to: (C) identify and use geographic tools that aid in determining location, including maps and globes. (4) Geography. The student understands physical and human characteristics of a place to better understand self, home, family, classroom, and the world around them. The student is expected to: (B) identify how geographic location influences human characteristics of place such as shelter, clothing, food, and activities.

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The First Tacos

Jim McMahon/Mapman ®

Let’s talk about tacos! Tacos are from the place we now call Mexico. Mexico is a country south of the United States. 

No one knows when the first taco was made. It was probably more than 10,000 years ago! The first tacos were made with corn tortillas. They were filled with meat, fish, and more. 

The Word “Taco”

The word “taco” was first used by silver miners in Mexico about 300 years ago. Miners are people who dig for different kinds of rocks. 

Tacos were an easy meal for miners to eat while they were working. Tacos didn’t get their hands messy. Plus, they didn’t need plates. Tortillas are like a plate you can eat. The tacos were also delicious! Miners put potatoes, hot sauce, and other ingredients in their tacos. Yum!

Tacos Come to New Places

Over the years, people from Mexico moved to new places. They brought tacos with them. They used ingredients that they found in their new homes. 

In the U.S., tacos became popular about a hundred years ago. Many people in the U.S. put ground beef, cheddar cheese, and crunchy lettuce in tacos. 

Tacos Today

Shutterstock.com

Tacos are made with tortillas.

Today, people all over the world love tacos. People put many different things in tacos: creamy guacamole, spicy meat, sweet pineapple, and more! What do you like to put in tacos?

Taco Timeline

Florentine Codex/Wikipedia (First Tacos); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)

10,000 years ago: The first tacos are made.

300 years ago: Miners use the word “taco” for the first time.

100 years ago to today: Tacos become popular in the U.S.

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Slideshows (1)
Activities (5)
Skills Activities
Quizzes (2)
Quizzes (2)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (5) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Quizzes (2)
Quizzes (2)

About the Article

Social Studies Focus

Long ago and today, culture

Vocabulary

tortillas, miners, ingredients, guacamole

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
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Essential Question

The big question of this issue of Storyworks 2 is, what can we learn from the foods we eat?

  • Reading and discussing “The History of Tacos” along with the other themed texts in the magazine (the Mini Read, “The Pokémon Café”; the paired texts, “The Gingerbread Man” and “Real Gingerbread”; the fiction, “Stone Soup”; and the poetry kit, “A Lot Dog”) will help kids think about this question.

1. BEFORE READING

Show “The Big Question” Video (10 minutes)
 
Watch “The Big Question: What Can We Learn From the Foods We Eat?” (This video also goes with other stories in this month’s Storyworks 2.)
  • Before your students watch, ask them to think about the question “What can we learn from the foods we eat?”
  • Before your students watch, ask them to think about the question “What can we learn from the foods we eat?”
  • After watching, ask the question again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper.

Preview the Vocabulary (3-5 minutes)

  • Play the online vocabulary slideshow. This article’s featured words are tortillas, miners, ingredients, and guacamole.

Text Preview Bookmarks (5-10 minutes)

  • Our skills page has both fiction and nonfiction options for kids to cut out to help them preview the text. They can use the nonfiction bookmark for this story.

2.  READ THE ARTICLE (10 MINUTES)

  • Now tell students they are going to read an article about the history of tacos. Students can read the article individually, in small groups, or as a whole class.

Assessment: Quiz (10 minutes)

  • Pass out the quiz to assess comprehension.
  • We offer this quiz in multiple-choice and written-answer formats.

ELA Focus: Nonfiction Text Features (20 minutes)

  • This piece is packed with nonfiction text features. Kids can do our Nonfiction Text Feature Hunt skills page either online or on a printed copy.

ELA Focus: Writing

  • Using the “Emoji Writing With Nosey” printable, kids can translate emojis into words to decode stories about Nosey.

Whole Issue Scavenger Hunt (20 minutes)

We created a scavenger hunt for several stories in this month’s Storyworks 2, including this nonfiction piece. The scavenger hunt can be done by students independently at home or during class time.

This is a self-contained group of slides that guide your students on a scavenger hunt through the whole issue. It’s not only fun, it also helps them make text-to-text connections.

To find it, look in your Resources section. Scroll down to Activities. You will see it there.To find it, look in your Resources section. Scroll down to Activities. You will see it there.

 

2.  AFTER READING: FOCUS ON ELA SKILLS (10 MINUTES)

Assessment: Quiz (10 minutes)
  • Pass out the quiz to assess comprehension.
  • We offer this quiz in multiple-choice and written-answer formats.

ELA Focus: Parts of Speech (15 minutes)

  • Using the printable “My Yummy Day,” students can fill in the blanks with different parts of speech to create a silly story about cooking a meal.

ELA Focus: Nonfiction Text Features (20 minutes)

  • This piece is packed with nonfiction text features. Kids can do our Nonfiction Text Feature Hunt skills page either online or on a printed copy.

Enrich the Learning: Paired Text Opportunities (time amount varies)

  • Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for your students to make connections.

Pairable Texts: the Mini Read, “The Pokémon Café” (pages 2-3); the paired texts, “The Gingerbread Man” and “Real Gingerbread” (pages 18-21); the fiction, “Stone Soup” (pages 24-29); and the poetry kit, “A Lot Dog” (page 32)

  • These texts ask questions similar to those posed in the story.
  • Kids can compare the texts by using our “Yummy Chart” printable. How are the texts alike, and how are they different?

Whole Issue Scavenger Hunt (20 minutes)

We created a scavenger hunt for several stories in this month’s Storyworks 2, including this nonfiction piece. The scavenger hunt can be done by students independently at home or during class time.

This is a self-contained group of slides that guide your students on a scavenger hunt through the whole issue. It’s not only fun, it also helps them make text-to-text connections.

To find it, look in your Resources section. Scroll down to Activities. You will see it there.To find it, look in your Resources section. Scroll down to Activities. You will see it there.

 

Text-to-Speech