Lesson Plan
Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Teresa Goodin and Stephanie Doyle
Challenge
Both
90-120 minutes
You have been hired by Frederick Douglass to create a public service announcement advocating for the abolition, or end, of slavery. Your public service announcement should contain images and quotes that illustrate how the institution of slavery is in conflict with the ideas of the founding fathers.
This synthesis activity should be preceded by instruction about the institution of slavery as well as the origins and arguments of the Abolitionist Movement.
At the end of this activity, students will be able to: 1) Analyze and interpret founding Americans’ thoughts and beliefs about slavery and abolition. 2)Choose and use primary source quotations as support for an original argument on slavery and abolition. 3) Construct an original argument on the topic of slavery and abolition.
You can use the document analysis sheets in the Teach Resources section to help guide exploration of the primary sources or use another form you like. If time allows, you can have students watch each other’s PSAs, then vote on the best two or three to be posted in the Showcase.