Slavery and Abolitionism in the United States

Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman are important figures in the shaping of our country. Both were slaves. Both escaped north to freedom. And both were instrumental in the abolitionist movement.

Before reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave or Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, work with a partner to:

Criteria

Pts.

	4	3	2	1
Position Statement	Position is clearly stated and consistently maintained. Clear references to the issue(s) are stated.	Position is clearly stated and consistently maintained. References to the issue(s) at hand are missing.	Position is stated, but is not maintained consistently throughout work.	Statement of position cannot be determined.	____
Supporting Information	Evidence clearly supports the position; evidence is sufficient.	Evidence clearly supports the position; but there is not enough evidence.	Argument is supported by limited evidence.	Evidence is unrelated to argument.	____
Organization	Structure of work is clearly developed.	Structure developed reasonably well, but lacks clarity.	Some attempt to structure the argument has been made, but the structure is poorly developed.	There is a total lack of structure.	____
Tone Of Letter	Tone is consistent and enhances persuasiveness.	Tone enhances persuasiveness, but there are inconsistencies.	Tones does not contribute to persuasiveness.	Tone is inappropriate to purpose.	____
Sentence Structure	Sentence structure is correct.	Sentence structure is generally correct. Some awkward sentences do appear.	Work contains structural weaknesses and grammatical errors.	Work pays little attention to proper sentence structure.
Punctuation & Capitalization	Punctuation and capitalization are correct.	There is one error in punctuation and/or capitalization.	There are two or three errors in punctuation and/or capitalization.	There are four or more errors in punctuation and/or capitalization.
				Total---->	____

Now that you have explored the lives of Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman, choose either Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave or Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad to further your knowledge of one of these great Americans. Be prepared to write a book review at the conclusion of your reading. We will discuss this during the next class meeting.

To extend this lesson plan, I would show artwork depicting relevant pre- and post-Civil War themes. Then I would lead my students in a free writing exercise designed for them to explore their feelings about slavery and abolitionism.

Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

The purpose of this project is to expose my students to the history of their country in a way that sparks their interests. It is my intention to teach them to use the Internet as a research vehicle, to write a persuasive essay while learning about two interesting and important Americans, and to write a book review based on their “Writing a Book Review” handout.

A great preceding event would be a journal-writing exercise that allows my students to recall an experience in which another person (parent, teacher, coach, sibling) had power over them. I would ask them to explore their feelings about this particular experience. Then I would ask my students to imagine that a stranger had control over their every action. Finally, the students would share their writings with the class for discussion. This exercise would be a great introduction to a lesson on slavery and abolitionism.

A possible ensuing event might include watching the movie Armistad and having my students write a film review discussing how the filmmaker portrayed the subject of slavery and human rights. This might lead to a lesson on civil rights.

This product will improve learning in several ways. First, it will introduce my students to the Internet as a viable resource for research. Second, it will provide my students persuasive writing practice wrapped in a history lesson. Third, it will help my students comprehend the book they chose to read (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave or Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad) by providing information relevant to the book’s themes.

This lesson could be improved by requiring my students to produce a PowerPoint presentation depicting the life of Frederick Douglas or Harriet Tubman, or the history of slavery or abolitionism in the United States. My students could use pictures, sound, and text found on the Internet. This would allow my students to learn PowerPoint and provide a great learning tool for my class.