Lesson Plan
Title: Enslavement and the Enslaved at Monticello
Descriptive Subtitle: The lives of enslaved people living at Monticello will be explored, analyzed, and documented by students. Enslaved people such as Sally Hemings and her family, along with other enslaved persons will be analyzed. The focal point of the activities is centered around Monticello’s Mulberry Row.
Grade Level: middle (6-8)
Author Information:
Name: Sheldon Wilson
Email: s_wilson@dadeschools.net
School: Herbert A. Ammons Middle School
City: Miami
State: Florida
Duration: 240 min over 4 school days (1 hour per day)
Overview: The presentation tool ThingLink is used to present information to students. The lesson will focus on the enslaved people living and working on Monticello with an emphasis on Mulberry Row. The links on the ThingLink are embed on a map of Mulberry Row. This fits within my curriculum through a unit on slavery. It can also be used on the Early Republic, the founding fathers, internal slave trade, Revolutionary Era, and so on.
Prior knowledge: Prior knowledge such as the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Revolutionary War
Standards:
SS.6.A.2.3 Differentiate economic systems of New England, Middle and Southern colonies including indentured servants and slaves as labor sources.
SS.6.A.3.15 Examine this time period (1763-1815) from the perspective of historically under-represented groups (children, indentured servants, Native Americans, slaves, women, working class).
Objectives:
Students will understand the complexities of slavery and how it affected the lives of real people.
Students will be able to analyze the lives of several enslaved Blacks that were enslaved on Monticello.
Students will know about the lives of enslaved people on Monticello outside of the classification of being enslaved.
Steps:
DAY 1:
Bell Ringer: log on to www.padlet.com and open up the KWL padlet listed below. If students have access to mobile devices, computers, or a laptop, share the link with the students so they can access the padlet. Allow students to post their responses for the first two columns only. They will complete the third column after the completion of the lesson. (10 minutes)
The thinklink is organized with different colored bullets. The bullets are:
Home Learning: Have student review any bullets not presented in class. Write a 100 word essay summarizing at least 2 bullets.
DAY 2:
Bell Ringer– Have students answer the question- What was most compelling aspect of the life of the enslaved people discussed last class? Explain why. Allow a few students to share their responses. (10 minutes)
*NOTE: Every student must have access to a computer with a word processing application and access to the internet. Students will create to history labs. One lab will remain blank (this will be used by another student) and another for an answer key.
IMPORTANT- Students must send the teacher a copy of the history lab without answering any comprehension questions
*this copy will include: standard, essential question, lst of documents in first column, copy of each document with title on pages 2-5.
* the 2nd and 3rd columns where a student will write their responses will remain blank. Also, the thesis section will remain blank
Home Learning: Students MUST finish their labs at home
DAY 3:
Bell Ringer– What document (preferably not an article) tells the story at least one enslaved person on Mulberry Row the best? Explain. (10 minutes)
Home Learning: write planning sheet for their essay using the information in the history lab.
DAY 4: Essay writing
Bell Ringer– What was your thesis and why did you choose it? (10 minutes)
Home Learning: Students will write the final draft of their essay using a word processing program such as Microsoft Word.
Materials:
Assessment(s): Students will write a five-paragraph essay on either one enslaved person, multiple enslaved people, or life on Mulberry Row for an enslaved person
Assessment Criteria: (rubric, checklist, etc.)
An essay rubric will be used for the assessment.
Accommodations: Many of the documents and links used in this lesson come from classroom.monticello.org or monticello.org. The articles used are on different readability levels. Every article chosen here were generated for middle school students. However, there are elementary and high school versions which could be substituted for the middle school version.