Units May 29, 2024
Resilience, Power and Pride
State:
Grades:
Links: Unit resources
This unit was created by the Radical Possibilities Collective as part of the 2023 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. It is designed for facilitation across approximately eleven 90-minute sessions.
Objectives:
Today you will get smarter about...
- The resistance that began in 1619 from the enslaved against the colonizer
- The Little George Ship Revolt and Bisa Butler, an artist-activist
- Slave revolts led by women
- The role the abolitionist movement played in resistance and revolts
- How music has historically been used as a tool for black joy, activism and resistance
- The history of the Crosswhite Affair, the Underground railroad, and how art has been used as a form of expression and activism by Faith Ringgold
- The role the abolitionist movement played in resistance and revolts, by learning about Anthony Burns and the Boston Slave Riot as well as the history of black hairstyles
- The origins and impact of the Black Panther Party
- The movement to abolish prisons
- The origins and impact of the Black Lives Matter movement
Unit Overview
Using Dr. Alfred Tatum’s Framework to teach literacy, we explore the complex 400+ year history of resistance and resilience through the eyes of the enslaved as well as the Abolitionists who worked beside them. Through a broad range of literature and media, students will understand how this history connects to their current-day culture, activism, and the systemic issues facing American citizens. They will further see themselves as the next Abolitionists in this ongoing struggle for freedom.
This unit is centered on building literacy skills as well as high-interest content. Through a combination of Dr. Alfred Tatum’s Framework, GLAD strategies and a culminating student-led research project. To learn more about this methodology and how it is employed in this unit, refer to the Teacher Facilitation Guide [.pdf][.docx].
Teachers should read The 1619 Project created by Nikole Hannah-Jones, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, and "Understanding the Historical Perspective" by Erica Murdock to build a solid foundational knowledge on which these lessons have been crafted and materials have been created.
Before engaging in the unit, the teacher must ensure that students:
- Feel safe intellectually, and emotionally while engaging in collaborative discussion
- Have a basic understanding of slavery and the colonies and the United States
- Have been introduced to main idea, key details, theme, and facets of non-fiction text
In this unit each era begins with anchor texts that are read before engaging with the slide deck and reviewed throughout by using GLAD strategies, and narrative charts.
Colonial Era (1619-1750)
Anchor Text: “The White Lion,” Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson
Civil Era (1800-1865)
Anchor Text: January’s Sparrow by Patricia Polacco
Modern Era (1966-2023)
Anchor Text: Stamped for Kids by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
In addition, each era will begin with an anchor map that can anchor students to the time period being taught and what the country (America / United States) looked like at that time in terms of colonies, states, etc. Each era will also contribute to an interactive timeline that captures important events, movements and legislation during each era. Students will continue to leverage new learning to extend the timeline.
Performance Task:
Research Project Student Packet (Guidelines)[.pdf]
After all lessons is implemented, students will apply their knowledge about U.S. History to conduct their own research project capturing underrepresented histories with their community. They will present what they learned about resistance and resilience through their own research and explain how their project connects to learning from the unit.
Each student will conduct a research project based on a list of key figures, events or movements from the unit (or from topics touched on in the unit). Students must:
- Choose at least 2 sources to create their project including articles, anchor texts (from the unit), web pages, student journal entries, etc.
- Students will use these sources to create three subtopics on their chosen subject and create or find two graphics about their topic.
- Students will then choose the method they want to present their project with such as Google Slides, essay, or video.
Assessment / Evaluation:
Formative: At the end of each Lesson (slide deck) students will write one full page about what they learned in an ongoing learning journal. Journal response rubric for formative assessments [.pdf]
Summative: Rubrics (Student & Teacher) and Student Project Checklist [.pdf]
11 90-minutes lessons include pacing, materials, resources, and instructional methodology. Review the Resource Map [.pdf][.docx] and the Teacher Facilitation Guide [.pdf][.docx] prior to instruction. The Resource Map is reshared below. The Teacher Facilitation Guide includes an extended explanation of the curricular methodology and a list of the multimedia resources used to develop each slide deck. Download below or scroll down to review key resources included in the unit plan.
Resource Map
This table lists the anchor texts and slide decks for each era taught in this unit. For a list of resources and accompanying citations for texts, videos, or websites used in each slide deck can be found in the Teacher Facilitation Guide [.pdf][.docx]
| Era of Study | Anchor Text | Slide decks |
| Introduction | Introduction to the unit [.pdf][.pptx] Alfred Tatum Framework [.pdf][.pptx] |
|
| Colonial Era (1619-1750) | “The White Lion,” Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson Free Read-Aloud Resource: The 1619 Project Born on the Water READ ALOUD Book by Nikole Hannah-Jones & Renee Watson from Reading Rocket (15:08) |
Colonial Era Slide Deck 1: White Lion PDF [.pdf][pptx] Colonial Era Slide Deck 2: Enslaved People Revolts on the Ships [.pdf][pptx] Colonial Era Slide Deck 3: Women Led Revolts [.pdf][.pptx] |
| Civil Era (1800-1865) | January’s Sparrow by Patricia Polacco Free Read-Aloud Resource: Part 1: Reading with Ms. Anthony- January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco (22:05) Reading with Ms. Anthony- January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco Last Part (21:00) |
Civil Era Slide Deck 1: Resistance, Abolitionists [.pdf][.pptx] Civil Era Slide Deck 2: Crosswhite Family [.pdf][.pptx] Civil Era Slide Deck 3: Anthony Burns [.pdf][.pptx] |
| Modern Era (1966-2023) | Stamped for Kids by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi Free Read-Aloud Resource: Full playlist: Stamped (For Kids) Read Aloud from Mr. Spencer ELA "Twenty & Odd" | Exploring 400 years of the African American Experience from National Park Service |
Modern Era Slide Deck 1: Black Power [.pdf][.pptx] Modern Era Slide Deck 2: Angela Davis: Abolitionism Today [.pdf][.pptx] Modern Era Slide Deck 3: Black Lives Matter Today’s Civil Rights Movement [.pdf][.pptx] |
California Social Science Standards
5.4.6 Describe the introduction of slavery into America, the responses of slave families to their condition, the ongoing struggle between proponents and opponents of slavery, and the gradual institutionalization of slavery in the South.
Essential Knowledge 15: In every place and time, enslaved people sought freedom.
Essential Knowledge 16: Enslaved people worked to preserve their home cultures while creating new traditions
Essential Knowledge 20: Students will know that after the Civil War, formerly enslaved people faced many obstacles, including racism and political, social and economic inequality. Their descendants continue to face similar oppression today, though it may look different now than it did then.
Diversity Domain
8. Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences of others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way.
10. Students will examine diversity in social, cultural, political and historical contexts rather than in ways that are superficial or oversimplified.
Justice Domain
13. Students will analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice on the world, historically and today.
14. Students will recognize that power and privilege influence relationships on interpersonal, intergroup and institutional levels and consider how they have been affected by those dynamics.
15. Students will identify figures, groups, events and a variety of strategies and philosophies relevant to the history of social justice around the world.
RL.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.,
RI.5.4 Determine the meaning between general academic and domain specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or a subject area.
RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate and answer a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
RI.5.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic.
RF. 5. 3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. A. Use combined knowledge of all letter sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context.
RF.5.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. A. read on-level text with purpose and understanding. B.Read on-level text prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings C. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition, word understanding, re-reading as necessary.
W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine topics and convey ideas and information clearly.
W.5.4 Produce clear coherent writing including multiple-paragraph texts, in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.
W.5.5 With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
W.5.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact with and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting., W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes. and finished work and provide a list of details.
W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
W.5.10 Write routinely over extended time frame (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames to single sitting or a day or two for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Student Reflections:
Through journaling and reflection, students shared their connections and takeaways from the anchor texts and themes explored in the units:
This story helped me to understand …to push hard and never give up on your hopes on getting a bit of freedom. Also...understanding what our ancestors when through just to give us life, food, and language.
Asma, 10 years old
...Before the Africans got captured, they had land. They had their own culture, language, food, and most importantly life.
Kamal, 10 years old
I connected to this story because I was forced to come here because of the wars.
Hasiba, 10 years old (Level 2 emergent bilingual student)
In our class study of the book, Born on the water, we never learned about the true history of enslavement. I connected with this because Muslim girls can’t even walk down on the street without someone asking them “what is that fabric on your head?” and in the book, Born on the Water, African People get harassed and mistreated just like Muslim people.
Zahra, 11 years old (emergent bilingual student)
Summative Research Project & Presentation
Students conducted a research project based on a list of key figures, events or movements from the unit resulting in a presentation.