Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slave Revolts: Armed Resistance to Slavery

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss the fear of slave rebellions in the South. They discuss the reasons behind this fear. Students draw a timeline showing slave resistance between the 1712-1831. They answer questions regarding slave revolts. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In Their Own Words: Slave Narratives

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students identify primary sources, explain the strengths and weaknesses of personal accounts in history, and negotiate the Library of Congress Database. They also analyze documents and write a summary that compares and contrasts the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Patriotic Slaves

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders listen to a song and read the lyrics and discuss what patriotism means to them. After viewing pictures of important patriots throughout history, they describe their contribution to society. They write in their journals...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Triangular Trade Route

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explore The Middle Passage and the Triangular Trade Route. They read their text to explore the treatment of African slaves and their route to America. After observing maps and pictures of slave ships, 8th graders share...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Middle Passage

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students examine historical documents and the role they played in history. They read excerpts from the book The Middle Passage by Olaudah Equiano to receive a first-hand description of the difficulties during the middle passage and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Triangular Trade and Middle Passage Review Individual Worksheet

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explore the key concepts within the Colonization of America, the significance of the Triangular Trade Route, the origin of slavery, and the Middle Passage. After a short discussion and review, 8th graders orally practice...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WEEK TWO

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Young scholars research in books and on the Internet on the Underground Railroad. They work on a constructivist project to promote both group collaboration and individual creativity. Students are given an authentic task: to create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

On the Run: What Was Necessary To Plan an Escape From Slavery in 18th Century America?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers identify and discuss characteristics of runaway slaves in 18th Century, read A Narrative of the Adventures and Escapes of Moses, select five advertisements for Virginia Runaways Digital Project to complete On the Run...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slave Narratives

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Young scholars use a database to find and read examples of slave narratives. In groups, they read the various narratives and discuss their feelings about them. They also research the time period in which the narratives were written to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Equaino

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students describe and discuss reasons that slaves were treated with indignity. While reading passages from the author Olaudah Equiano, students stop periodically to discuss major points about The Middle Passage. They investigate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What makes a Southern Colony a Southern Colony

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders answer questions put to them by the teacher that are intended to help them understand the different lives of slaves and indentured servants in colonial times. They make a list of Aristocrats and Farmers from their text...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Declaration of Independence

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students begin their examination of the Declaration of Independence. Using the text, they answer questions for their citizenship interview. They also examine the role of Jefferson in creating the document and how he participated in slavery.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Longfellow Meets German Radical Poet Ferdinand Freiligrath

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students, after researching the backgrounds to both Longfellow and Freiligrath, examine and analyze selected works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow via his association with the German radical Ferdinand Freiligrath. They discuss and draw...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trial of John Brown, 1857

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students examine how John Brown's 1857 trial related to conflicting viewpoints on slavery, view perspectives of radical abolitionists, moderate abolitionists, and slave owners, and form their own opinions on issue of slavery.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Abolitionists in U.S. History

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read and discuss excerpts from the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass and Sarah Parker Redmond. They compare and contrast the views of the three abolitionists concentrating on the experiences and reasons for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Children and Slavery Document Search

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students review the causes of slavery, the Middle Passage, triangular trade and the spread of slavery throughout colonies. They work in small groups and search documents in order to find the answers to a question and document packet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slave Narratives

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers examine many different slave narratives living in the 1700s. In groups, they identify and describe the major events in their lives and arrange them into chronological order. They use this information to create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Follow the Drinking Gourd: Creative Writing

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners conduct Internet research to identify the conflicts and positions of slaves, slaveholders, and members of the Underground Railroad network in the time preceding the Civil War. Students write an essay about their findings written...
Lesson Plan
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Exploring the Life of a Slave

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore importance of abolitionists who worked to advance freedoms of black Americans prior to/during Reconstruction era, read and identify key concepts in Frederick Douglass's narrative, recognize how Douglass's slave...
Lesson Plan
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Debt Slavery and Children in India, A Case Study

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the child labor situation in India. Using the internet, they research the conditions these students work under and how they are part of the debt slavery system. They read the Human Rights Watch and determine if this is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Conflict Between the States

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore the conflicts which evolved into the Civil War. Students examine the differences between the north and the south. They discuss slavery and the battles during the war. Students create a mural and write battle songs...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Samuel's Choice - Social Studies Using Children's Literature

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders read a book about independence, freedom, and slavery. Students create a story map of the book. They research the causes of the Civil War. Students write a newspaper article from the point of view of an American colonist.
Lesson Plan
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American Civil War

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders read a collection of stories about the Civil War. Based upon their readings, they perform various activities to reinforce facts about the Civil War. Students create time lines, maps and reports about the war. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language Arts: Ran Away Story

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students write fictional stories about the search for a runaway slave. Their tales are based on the search by William Harris from South Carolina for his slave, George, in Detroit. Students include the answers to teacher-provided...