Christian Nussbaum

Deeper look into American Slavery

Juniors/Seniors
45 Min
US History

Standards (include NCTE/NCSS/NGSS/NCTM):

● SS.H.7.9-12: Identify the role of individuals, groups, and institutions in people’s struggle
for safety, freedom, equality and justice.

● SS.H.5.9-12: Analyze the factors and historical context that influenced the perspectives
of people during different historical eras.

Educational Objectives:
● The students will be able to (SWBAT)
● The SWBAT analyze multiple sources and identify different struggles for the individual
and groups of American slaves in the antebellum era.

Assessment on Learning:
● The students will complete a worksheet with questions based on their own and their
peers areas of ‘expertise’ while completing a jigsaw.

Central Focus
● The central focus is for the students to identify different struggles for the individual
slave and the slave population.

Accommodations for students with specific learning needs:

● Visual aids, a worksheet to help them remain on task, further undivided attention from
the teacher.
 Academic Language
Language Function (select 1):

Analyze Compare/Contras Construct Describe Evaluate

t

Examine Identify Interpret Justify Locate

Explain Prove Argue Synthesize

Identify a learning task from your plan that provides students with opportunities to
practice using the language function identified above:
Students will be given multiple questions and discuss different areas of slavery
considering multiple perspectives.

Additional Language Demands. Given the language function and learning task identified
above, describe the following associated language demands (written or oral) students need to
understand and/or use:

Vocabulary:
- Antebellum
- Perspective
- Individual history

Plus at least one of the following:

Syntax
Discourse- students will have 2 different chances to discuss their content, one with their
‘expertise’ groups and another with groups that will teach them other areas of content they
gained ‘expertise’ in.

Materials:
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/teaching-resource/historical-context-facts-about-
slave-trade-and-slavery 

https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/experience/education/history.html 
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1609-1865/essays/aafamilies.htm 

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/emancipation/text8/institutionwpa.pdf 

Anticipatory Set/ Attention Getter:

Smoked meat fact/story
Brainstorm aspects of slavery you have never considered before.

Questions to Ask
1.How do we define and understand what slavery was like in America? 
 
2. What do stats about slavery provide us that individual experiences do not? 
 
3.What are ways that slaves expressed their culture? 
 
4.How was family life and cultural practices effected for those who were enslaved?

Sequence of Events (include time needed):

1. Introduction- what are some aspects of slavery you never considered? Attention Getter (3
Min)
2. Explain Jigaw, separate into 4 groups (2 min)
3. Time to read article (15 min)
4. Discuss questions on text with expertise groups (5 Min)
5. Discuss your area of expertise with your other group (16 min)
6. Close class with summary/ restate attention getter question

Conclusion/Summary:
What is one thing that you learned about slavery today? Do you think there are other
aspects of slavery you have never considered? It is important to know we will never know
all the details in history, so it is our job to try our hardest to before creating our
conclusions. Today you learned about statistics of slavery, personal stories, family life in
slavery and slave culture. Thank you for your focus and respect, have a good day!

*Some lesson plan prompts come from SCALE.

 Lesson Plan Guidelines

1. Common Core Standards

▪ Standards provide the focus, foundation for school curriculum and daily lessons
▪ Standards provide the guidance for teachers to create new learning opportunities
for students to meet and exceed the Illinois State Standards
▪ To make standards work, resources need to be carefully targeted toward students’
achievement of the standards
▪ Cite the standards using text and numbers

2. Educational Objective(s)

▪ Always begin with the statement: The student(s) will be able to:
▪ What is the purpose of the lesson?
▪ What do you want the students to learn or accomplish?
▪ What concepts are you attempting to teach?
▪ Have you achieved connection to the standards listed?
▪ What is the intended learning?

3. Assessment On Learning

▪ Reflect on how you will assess the intended learning.

▪ What is the method of assessment?
▪ Include the assessment tool—rubric, test etc..
▪ Describe the assessment plan.
▪ Include any rubric or other assessment plan with the lesson plan.
▪ How will you know if the students achieved the standards, goals, benchmarks and
behavioral objectives listed.

4. Central Focus

▪ What is the central focus of the lesson you are planning?

▪ What are students learning?

5. Academic Language

▪ Identify Language Demands

▪ Support student’s academic language development
▪ Include evidence of language use in the lesson plan

6. Materials Required for the Lesson

▪ List ALL materials needed to teach the lesson
 ▪ Think about the beginning, middle and end of the lesson

7. Set or Attention Getter

▪ Plan an opening to gain the students’ attention
▪ Engage students in learning
▪ Begin to deepen student learning during instruction
▪ Set the state-of-the-lesson (overview—what can the student expect).
▪ Link new material to previously learned material

8. Sequence of Activities
▪ What are you going to teach?
▪ How are you going to teach it?
▪ When are you going to teach it?
▪ What Academic Language will be used?
▪ Independent work? How? Include materials
▪ Cooperative work? How? What roles? Etc..
▪ List each step as if a substitute teacher was teaching the lesson—Do not assume!—
be complete and thorough by writing details
▪ Assessment
✓ Analyze student work
✓ Use feedback to guide further learning
✓ Use assessment to inform instruction

9. Questions to Ask
▪ Use Bloom’s Taxonomy and LABEL each question choosing one of the taxonomy’s
labels:
▪ knowledge
▪ comprehension
▪ application
▪ analysis
▪ synthesis
▪ evaluation
▪ Plan questions that demand higher levels of thinking.

9. Conclusion and Summary

▪ Bring the lesson to a close.
▪ Check for student understanding. How will you do this?
▪ Include a transition to the next content area, activity or lesson. How will you
accomplish this?