Social Studies Lesson Plan - Slavery

Bonnie Collette

296066

North MiamiMiddle School

Social Studies Lesson Plan - Slavery

1. The Lives of Slaves--- 8th Grade

2. Students need to understand this topic because it is important to know about the lives of the people who make up the history. History is not simply a story of facts, dates, and events, but of the lives of those who experience it.

Essential Questions-

What was unique about the system of slavery that developed and was sustained in the United States and how were those held in servitude able to develop and sustain their cultures?

3. SunshineState Standards-

SS.8.A.5.2

SS.8.A.5.3

Objectives-

Use research and inquiry skills to analyze American History using primary and secondary sources.

Analyze the role of slavery in the development of sectional conflict.

Vocabulary-

Slave Codes

Spiritual

Overseer

4. Students will learn about the daily lives of slaves including information about life in the slave quarters, marriage, religious practices, language, work, oral tradition,resistance, and punishments. Students will be able to explain how these aspects of slaves’ lives impacted the people and their culture.

Formative Assessment-

Discussion questions and classroom dialogue.

Summative Assessment-

Student created project constructing an aspect of slave life with an explanation of its impact on their culture and history.

5. Materials: Slave Life PowerPoint and diorama construction materials.

Primary Sources-

Excerpt from “Slave Auction 1850”

Page from the Eustatia Plantation Account Book 1861

6. Procedure:

• This lesson will take place in the context of a unit on slavery. Students will already have background knowledge on what slavery is and how it came into existence in the United States.
• Students will be presented a PowerPoint covering the following aspects of slave life: marriage, religious practices, language, work, oral tradition, resistance, and punishments.
• Students will engage in image analysis of each photo in the PowerPoint. They will answer discussion questions such as: What were the images of slavery leading up to the Civil War? What was the reaction to these images? What information about culture do these images reveal?
• Students will be provided primary source documents to analyze. These documents will provoke more discussion and help students to more clearly understand contrasting views on the daily life of slaves.
• Following the class discussion, students will be split into heterogeneous groups of 4-5. Each group will be assigned one of the specific aspects of slave life covered in the PowerPoint.
• Students will conduct research on the immediate and subsequent impact of the aspect of daily life they were assigned in relation to slave culture and the historical context of the time period.
• Students will construct a diorama representing their category along with a written explanation of the impacts.
• Lesson review and closure

7. Activities will move from teacher-directed discussion to student-directed research.

Activity 1- A classroom discussion of slave life using the PowerPoint presented to facilitate image analysis and reading of primary source documents.

Activity 2- Students conduct research on the impact of a specific aspect of slave life, creating a diorama and written explanation of the topic.

Activity 3- Students share their findings with the class.

8. This lesson accommodates a variety of learner needs by integrating the use of a variety of learning styles; audio, visual, and tactile. Students will be working in collaborative groups which will allow each student to use their own strengths as well as receive support from other group members. Since the research is self-directed, students will be able to select materials appropriate to their reading level.

9. Students will be using computers to conduct their research. Lesson content will be addressed through the use of a variety of online resources.

10. The ideas and concepts learned throughout this lesson will be reviewed by revisiting the PowerPoint presentation and each category of slave daily life. As each topic is addressed, student groups will share their research finds with the class.