Comments on Day Two

Here was the lesson plan for day two, a continued review of Antebellum reform movements.

Day Two

Objectives:

Formulate questions through inquiry and determine importance of historical events.

Analyze primary and secondary sources.

Materials:

Students- Pen/pencil; binders with paper

Teachers-Northrup excerpt handouts; Uncle Tom’s Cabin handout

Activities:

Do Now: What is the difference between a primary source and a secondary source? List three examples of each that would relate to Antebellum reform and/or slavery. Which do historians generally deem more reliable and why?

-Discuss homework assignment from last night: how did you decide who was worthy of making history and who wasn’t.

-Adapted Lesson Plan 1 from Eve’ry Voice

-View frontispiece from Twelve Years as a Slave by Solomon Northup, 1853

-Read excerpt from Northup’s book. Is this a primary or secondary source on slavery? What makes it so?

-Divide students into small groups. Have them answer the following questions:

Why did Northrup react the way he did?

Why did Burch behave so brutally?

-If time allows, discuss slave narratives. Tell them many of them will read the most famous slave narrative, Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, in their English class this year.

-Review definitions of primary and secondary sources

Homework: Read excerpt from Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Assessment: Students will have a mini-quiz tomorrow on today’s lesson and the homework

HOW IT WENT:

The first time I ran this lesson, I was surprised to find that I finished the activities earlier than I thought I would. I ended up performing an improptu lecture about slavery and slave narratives. I don't think this was the best use of class time though, so I made a change for the next class that I used this lesson with.

The second time I used this lesson plan I showed the clip from Roots where Kunta Kinte is whipped for running away. This episode has close parallels with Solomon Northup's experiences in Chapter III of his narrative. Both men are whipped in a vicious manner. Both men are being asked to give up their identity: Northup is made to admit he is a slave (even though he is not) and Kinte is made to adopt the slave name Tobey. And both episodes humanize the inhumane experience of being a slave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgGLjNMEVR4&has_verified=1

Adding this video clip and comparing it to Northup's tale was incredibly useful. Visual learners were touched in a way that they weren't when we just read Northup's narrative. It set off a valuable class discussion. It also integrated technology, as I used youtube.com and the LCD projector to show it to the class. I even asked students if Roots was a primary or secondary source, and they knew the answer!