Units February 10, 2022
Uncovering and Reclaiming Historical Identities
State:
Grades:
This unit was created by educators in Michigan, as part of the 2021 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. It is designed for facilitation across approximately 3-4 weeks, or 22 class periods.
Objectives
Students will be able to explore, analyze, and answer the following questions through the unit:
● What makes Africa’s history rich? What makes it diverse?
● What is the history of slavery in America? Who was enslaved?
● How does knowledge of resistance cultivate a historical identity?
● How can we reclaim and uncover our own historical identities?
Unit Overview
Uncovering and Reclaiming Historical Identities is a collection of over twenty lessons that follow the history of Black people in America, from the 1500s to the present, and focuses on the essential question, “How do you uncover and reclaim a historical identity?” Using Born on the Water as a mentor text, along with other resources, the unit examines the themes of empowerment and resistance. By studying the stories of individuals, students uncover and reclaim their own historical identities in a multimedia culminating project.
Starting in West Africa in the 1500s, students begin the unit by challenging their stereotypes about Africa as they uncover the diverse cultures, communities, and histories throughout the continent. Next, they study enslavement across the Middle Passage and during colonization through a lens of strength, survival, and resistance. They consider the questions, “What is the history of slavery in America? Who was enslaved?” and dive into resources that are focused on the Middle Passage and lives of people who had been enslaved.
Students then explore the question, “How does knowledge of resistance cultivate a historical identity?” by examining the stories of various enslaved people and abolitionists. Students will consider what it means to “resist” and discuss different forms of resistance. Readings will emphasize the strength, survival, and resistance of individuals.
Finally, students will consider how they can reclaim and uncover their own historical identities by rereading Born on the Water and learning about ways to use multimedia to tell their stories. Methods include an auditory storytelling experience, creating a picture book, or writing a “Where I’m From Poem.”
At the conclusion of the unit, students will present their work to their families and community.
Performance Task
“Claim Your Historical Identity” project. This project asks students to claim who they were as who they are. Students will develop something that expresses their reclaiming of their own historical identities.
Project options include:
● StoryCorps Project - interview someone in your family
● Write a picture book about the story of the book’s creator
● Write another “Where I’m From” poem that is connected to your historical identity and create accompanying artwork
● Another idea from the students
22-lesson unit plan for teachers, including pacing, texts and multimedia resources, guiding questions for group discussions, and performance tasks for the unit. Download below, or scroll down to read the complete unit plan.
Unit Topic 1
Guiding Question: What makes Africa’s history rich? What makes Africa diverse?
This topic offers three lessons centered around the question, “What makes Africa rich?” that are built on potential student stereotypes and misconceptions about Africa. These lessons use Born on the Water as a mentor text. It is recommended that teachers include additional lessons that portray more accurate and complete representations of African people. See Michigan State University Explore Africa Curriculum for lesson plan resources: http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/.
| Pacing | Focus text(s)/resource(s) for today’s lesson | Lesson Objective(s) or Essential Question(s) | Lesson/Activities | Lesson Materials |
| Day 1 | SWBAT demonstrate what they know about the history of West Africa, racism, and enslavement using prior knowledge. | Pre-Assessment for Topic 1: Discuss the following questions with students: > What do you know about Africa? > What does it look like? > What’s the land like? > What do you know about the people who live there? |
> Pre-Assessment [.pdf] > Pre-Assessment [.docx] |
|
| Day 2 | > Born on the Water | SWBAT evaluate and challenge stereotypes about Ancient Africa using Born on the Water. | Share Born on the Water as part of a read-aloud. Read up to line “And they danced” (stopping just before the section,“Stolen”) After reading, ask students to respond to any stereotypes or other preconceptions that came up in the Pre-Assessments on Day 1. |
|
| Various additional lessons | > Michigan State University’s Exploring Africa Curriculum | SWBAT evaluate and challenge stereotypes about Africa using additional resources. | Students continue to examine and challenge preconceived notions and stereotypes about the African continent. It is recommended to use Michigan State University’s Explore Africa Curriculum to supplement lessons that challenge student stereotypes reflected in Pre-Assessment Data about students’ knowledge of Africa. |
|
| Day 3 | SWBAT demonstrate their knowledge about the diversity and richness of Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries using previous lesson work. | 1. Post-assessment for Topic 1 What do you know about Africa? What does it look like? What’s the land like? What do you know about its people? 2. List all the words that come to mind when you think of Africa. 3. Students discuss the following: > What makes Africa diverse? > What makes Africa’s history rich? > Who were important figures from Ancient Africa? What made them important? |
> Post-assessment [.pdf] > Post-assessment [.docx] |
Unit topic 2
Guiding Question: What is the history of slavery in America? Who was enslaved?
This topic offers eight lessons centered around the questions, “What is the history of slavery in America? Who was enslaved?” These lessons use Born on the Water as a mentor text and various 1619 Project resources.
| Pacing | Focus text(s)/resource(s) for today’s lesson | Lesson Objective(s) or Essential Question(s) | Lesson/Activities | Lesson Materials |
| Day 1 | > Excerpts from the book Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan | SWBAT demonstrate their knowledge about slavery before engaging with 1619 Project resources. | Pre-Assessment: > What was slavery? > When is the first time you remember learning about slavery? > How old were you? > Who taught you about it? > What did you learn about it? > Who was enslaved? Whole Group: Read “Peggy” and “Peggy’s Dreams” from Freedom Over Me Independent Work: Students respond to the following questions: > What do you know about Peggy? > What dreams does she chase? > What struggles does she face? Closing: How do you think dreams and struggles are connected? |
> Pre-assessment [.pdf] > Pre-assessment [.docx] |
| Days 2 | > Born on the Water | SWBAT develop their understanding of Black resistance, strength, and pride by using the text Born on the Water and by reflecting on prior thinking. | Whole Group: Read Born on the Water from the beginning up to “We were born on the water./We come from the people who refused to die.” Journal Prompt 1: Review the last lines of the section: “We were born on the water./We come from the people who refused to die.” What do these words mean to you? Discussion: Discuss those last few lines and anchor the discussion in the topic’s guiding question, “Who was enslaved?” with an emphasis on who. If time allows, return to illustrations in the text and focus on symbolism while posing the question, “What do the illustrations show us about the people who were enslaved? What words come to mind to describe the people?” Closing (or Mid-Workshop Interruption): Discuss the word “slave” versus “enslaved people/person.” Ask students what difference this language makes as you share these two terms. Ask students why they might see one or the other in resources they explore throughout the unit. Connect this discussion back to the guiding question, “Who was enslaved?” |
> Quotes from the Pre- Assessment > Student journals |
| Day 3 | > Facts from Why You Should Know About the Year 1619 adapted for matching Middle Passage Video from History Channel (Roots: The Middle Passage from The History Channel) > Map of the Triangular Trade Excerpt about Olaudah Equiano from A Brief History of Slavery by Mary Elliott and Jazmine Hughes |
SWBAT define the Middle Passage as a part of the history of slavery in America using texts, maps, and videos. | Introduction: Review the guiding question,“What is the history of slavery in America?” Engage Together: Map: Show a map of the Triangular Trade and focus on the Middle Passage as the name of the journey between West Africa and the U.S., as well as the journey that was described in the portion that students read from Born on the Water. Facts: Present students with the facts below from “Why You Should Know About the Year 1619” and ask them why the numbers are important? Ask, “What is the author trying to communicate by starting with numbers?” > “12.5 Million People: The estimated number of people of African descent forcibly transported from their homelands to plantations across the Americas and the Caribbean from the 16th century to the 19th century.” > “5,000: The estimated distance, in miles, of the Middle Passage, which describes the slave-trade route from the coast of Africa to one of the colonies in the Americas or the Caribbean.” Video: Watch clips of this video (times listed below): http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fugitive-slave-acts/videos/the-middle-passage Watch 0:22-1:03 and 1:54-2:13 Independent Work: Students read an excerpt from ‘A Brief History of Slavery’ about Olaudah Equiano to learn more about experiences on the Middle Passage and to continue to answer the question, “What was slavery in America?” Excerpt text: “As Olaudah Equiano, the formerly enslaved author…to full-blown mutiny. Closing: Return to the map from the beginning of the lesson and remind students that today’s focus was on the Middle Passage. Discuss the guiding questions: > What was slavery in America? > Who was enslaved? Focus on what students have learned about The Middle Passage throughout the lesson. |
> Student journals |
| Day 4 | > Video introducing The 1619 Project > Trailer for The 1619 Project Podcast > Copies of the poem “White Lion” from 1619 Project: A New Origin Story* > Excerpt from Why You Should Know About the Year 1619 > Historical marker from Virginia commemorating the arrival of Africans on The White Lion in 1619 Map of the Triangular Trade |
SWBAT describe the importance of the year 1619 by studying and analyzing videos, podcasts, poetry, and/or text from The 1619 Project. | Introduction: 1. Read the Point Comfort page of Born on the Water (last line - 400 years ago in the year 1619). 2. Return to the map of Triangular Trade and tell students that this lesson will focus on the arrival of Africans to the English colonies (what would become the U.S.) and the Caribbean in 1619. Say, “You may have seen or heard of the year 1619. You can see that it is in the book Born on the Water.” 3. Ask, “What do you know about this year? Why is the year 1619 so important?” 4. Share that 1619 is the year the first slave ship arrived in Point Comfort, carrying more than 20 enslaved Africans. (from “Why You Should Know about the Year 1619”) 5. Show The 1619 Project Video OR share the trailer for the The 1619 Project Podcast. Lesson: Read and analyze the 1619 Historical Marker and/or analyze “White Lion” by Claudia Rankine from The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story (pg 3). Then, read the following quote from Ta-Nehisi Coates: “Slavery is not an undefinable mass of flesh. It is a particular, specific enslaved woman, whose mind is active as your own, whose range of feeling is as vast as your own; who prefers the way the light falls in one particular spot in the woods, who enjoys fishing where the water eddies in a nearby stream, who loves her mother in her own complicated way, thinks her sister talks too loud, has a favorite cousin, a favorite season, who excels at dressmaking and knows, inside herself, that she is as intelligent and capable as anyone.” ― Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me Closing: Students journal or discuss the questions. “Why is the year 1619 so important? How is this year connected to American history?” OR Journal or discuss the following question: What is the history of slavery in America? |
> Student journals |
| Day 5 | > A Brief History of Slavery by Mary Elliott and Jazmine Hughes | SWBAT describe the Slave Trade using text from The 1619 Project. | Introduction: Return to the question, “What is slavery in America?” and discuss with students. Independent Work: Close reading of an excerpt from 1619 'A Brief History of Slavery' (introduction and basket section) Throughout reading, ask, “Who was enslaved?” to remind students to humanize those who were enslaved. Discussion/Written Response: What does it mean to describe slavery as a “system” of enslavement? What makes enslavement a system? Use the text to support your responses. Alternative Question Students could also respond to an alternative question that Ann Arbor students raised when they experienced the unit in fall 2021: Why did they enslave Black People? Refocus the conversation back to “Who was enslaved?” |
> Student journals |
| Day 6 | > Excerpts from the book Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan | SWBAT develop a humanizing understanding of people who were enslaved by reading narratives of people who had been enslaved and by considering their dreams and struggles. | Introduction: Return to the guiding question, “Who was enslaved?” Highlight to students that the people whose stories they will hear in this lesson are people who overcame oppression & struggle. Group Work: Divide students into groups to explore the book, Freedom Over Me. Give each group the text and ask each student to read two pages from the text to read and reflect on together. Students respond to the questions below about the person they read about > What do you know about this person? > What dreams do they chase? > What struggles do they face? > How do you think dreams and struggles are connected? Discussion: Discuss/respond in journals to the last question that students discussed in groups, “How do you think dreams and struggles are connected?” Revisit the word “resistance” in this discussion. Closing: Ask, “WHO was enslaved?” Push students not simply to name people but to describe things that they know about the people who were enslaved (i.e. they loved to cook, they had dreams of becoming a chef, etc.) |
> Question sheet [.pdf] [.docx] for groups about the individuals whose stories were featured in Freedom Over Me > Student journals |
| Day 7 | > Map of the Muslim world > Omar Ibn Said Coloring Book from Post and Courier |
SWBAT describe the diversity of people who were enslaved by learning about Omar Ibn Said, a formerly enslaved Muslim man who wrote an autibiography documenting his experience with enslavement. | Introduction: Say, “We have learned that many people from West Africa were enslaved and forced to come to the U.S. West Africa was a diverse place with lots of different languages, cultures, traditions, and religions. Many people who came to the U.S. did not speak the same language or have the same practices. Some people were Christian, while others were Muslim. Many people also practiced religions we haven’t learned about yet.” Show a map of the Muslim world (add or include titles with continents on it) and ask, “What do you notice about this map?” Lesson: Read the opening of the Omar Ibn Said Coloring Book aloud to students. Then go through the coloring book lesson with students, pausing to discuss questions. Closing & Journaling: Build on Question 2 on page 39 of the workbook: “How is Omar Ibn’s story an example of resistance?” Closing of Topic: Students add to their notes to answer the question, “Who was enslaved?” and discuss how the story of Omar Ibn Said adds new layers to their understanding |
> Student journals |
| Day 8 | SWBAT demonstrate their understandings of the questions, “Who was slavery in America?” and “Who was enslaved?” using their notes, texts, and resources from the topic. | Written post-assessment (open book): 1. What was slavery in America? 2. When is the first time you remember learning about slavery? How old were you? Who taught you about it? 3. Who was enslaved? Gallery Walk: Post student quotes from questions on the Pre-Assessment about slavery. Have students note in their journals what they see, what they think, and what they wonder. Post-assessment Journal/Discussion: I used to think… Now I think… Note for teachers: Only use this prompt if, throughout this topic, you do see a shift in thinking in most students. Take close note if BIPOC expressed the same sentiments on the pre-assessment that they did on the post-assessment. If so, this sentence stem is not appropriate. Have students reflect on the differences or similarities between pre-and post-assessments by responding to the prompts, “I notice…” “I’m thinking…” “I’m wondering…” |
> Post-assessment [.pdf] > Post-assessment [.docx] |
Unit Topic 3
Guiding Question: How does knowledge of resistance cultivate a historical identity?
This topic offers three lessons centered around the question, “How does knowledge of resistance cultivate a historical identity?” These lessons use Born on the Water, as well as various picture books about resistors, as mentor texts.
| Pacing | Focus text(s)/resource(s) for today’s lesson | Lesson Objective(s) or Essential Question(s) | Lesson/Activities | Lesson Materials |
| Day 1 | > Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan | SWBAT share their knowledge about the concepts addressed in this topic through a pre-assessment. | Pre-Assessment: 1. What does resistance mean? What does resist mean? Give examples. 2. Why is it important to learn about your history and the history of others? Read the story of another person from Freedom Over Me if there is extra time. Option: Share articles and videos with students about legislation related to critical race theory and/or the teaching of The 1619 Project in schools. |
> Pre-Assessment [.pdf] > Pre-Assessment [.docx] |
| Days 2 | > Born on the Water | SWBAT define “resistance” and begin to share examples using Born on the Water and prior knowledge. | Introduction: Share, “We have read about people who experienced enslavement. Each time we read about people, we are reminded of their strength and the ways they overcame obstacles. Today, we’re going to move into a topic where we learn about resistance.” Journal: Students make a word map of the word “resistance” and what it means to them so far. They will return to this word map everyday throughout the unit, so make sure they leave room for at least seven more pieces of information. T-Chart for Unit: Set up a t-chart that students will add to throughout the unit with the titles “Resistors” and “Ways of Resisting.” Lesson: Reread Born on the Water (through “Resist” section) Discuss & Journal: Students respond to the guiding question of this topic as a small “pre-assessment:” “How does knowledge of resistance cultivate a historical identity?” |
|
| Various additional lessons | SWBAT to describe various forms of resistance through picture books and music. | Explore one or more of the following suggested texts with students and guide them in a discussion about where they see resistance in the stories: > Moses by Carole Boston Weatherford > Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine > John Brown: His Fight for Freedom by John Hendrix > Love Twelve Miles Long by Glenda Armand : Text about Frederick Douglass > Video about the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” > Songs of The Underground Railroad from Harriet Tubman Historical Society > Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson > Video about the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” > Sojourner Truth’s Step, Stomp, Stride by Andrea and Brian Pinkney > Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson |
||
| Day 3 | SWBAT to demonstrate their understanding of resistance and history through strength using their knowledge of resistors and abolitionists from the period of enslavement in America. | Post-assessment (open book): 1. What does resistance mean? What does resist mean? Give examples. 2. Why is it important to learn about your history and the history of others? |
> Post-assessment [.pdf] > Post-assessment [.docx] |
Unit Topic 4
Guiding Question: How can we uncover and reclaim our historical identities?
This topic offers eight lessons centered around the question, “How can we uncover and reclaim our historical identities?” These lessons use Born on the Water as a mentor texts.
| Pacing | Focus text(s)/resource(s) for today’s lesson | Lesson Objective(s) or Essential Question(s) | Lesson/Activities | Lesson Materials |
| Day 1 | > Born on the Water | SWBAT begin to take pride in knowing one’s historical identity by reading Born on the Water. |
Introduction: Introduce the word “legacy.” Ask students to share or if they have ideas about this word. Introduce the word “reclaim” Reclaim: to get back something that was lost or taken away Lesson: Reread Born on the Water through “Legacy and Pride” (whole book). Discussion: Discuss, “Why did the main character choose to draw the American flag to represent her identity?” |
> Student journals |
| Days 2 | > Amistad quote StoryCorps examples Picture book selection “Where I’m From” poem examples |
Introduction: Remind students of the end of Born on the Water. Journal: Share the quote from the character Cinque in the movie, Amistad “Who we are is who we were.” What does this quote mean? Use examples to explain your thinking. Discussion: Discuss the question and support students in connecting their responses to the concept of historical identity. Lesson: Introduce students to the “Claim Your Historical Identity” project. This project asks students to claim who they were as who they are. Students will develop something that expresses their reclaiming of their own historical identities. Project options include: > StoryCorps Project: interview someone in your family > Write a picture book on Book Creator > Write another “Where I’m From” poem that is connected to your historical identity and create accompanying artwork > Other ideas from the students Explore: Through stations, students explore resources as examples of these projects. 1. Picture books: Choose a selection of picture books where the main character learns something about their history and tells their story. Examples include Baseball Saved Us by By Ken Mochizuki/ Illustrated by Dom Lee, The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad, The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi, Where I’m From by Chante Thomas, The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal 2. StoryCorps: Students listen to a selection of StoryCorps links to hear what the interview process is like. 3. Where I’m From Poems: Students read through a variety of “Where I’m From” poems that focus on historical identity (examples) Closing: Students make their selection of the way that they want to express their final project. Teacher breaks students into groups based on their selections. |
> Student journals | |
| Day 3-6 | > Supporting resources based on project selections and student need | SWBAT research and compose their final projects documenting their historical identities. | These days are student workdays. Break students into groups based on the types of projects they have selected and provide appropriate scaffolding to support their development of these projects. Some suggestions for scaffolding these projects: 1. Interviews: > Students re-examine the StoryCorps pieces and work together to write questions that might be important to get information about their own historical identities. > Students design a documentation page for how they will prepare and record their questions for their StoryCorps piece. 2. Picture Books: > Students plan out their picture books using a paper template by sketching images and writing notes before turning their notes into a picture book. > Students make lists of photographs they need to collect, or drawings they need to make, to support their picture books. The list can include, “Drawings to Make, Photographs from Home, Images from the Internet” in order to support their organization. 3. “Where I’m From” Poems > Students compare and contrast “Where I’m From” poems they created at the beginning of the year (or other examples) with the historical ones they explored during the unit. > Reread “Where I’m From” by Chante Thomas to consider how this text is connected to historical identity > Students use a “culture map” that has boxes for different types of information about culture (food, music, dance, traditions, religion, holidays) in order to support them in gathering information for them to write their own “Where I’m From” poem. |
|
| Day 7-8 | SWBAT to complete and present their final projects. | Share and celebrate student work! Options include: > Share in small groups over a few days > Gallery walk around the classroom of students’ final projects > Invite families in for a “Museum Celebration” of their projects |
Michigan Social Studies Standards: 5th Grade
U1.3: African Life Before the 16th Century: Describe the lives of peoples living in West Africa prior to the 16th century.
5 – U1.3.1 Use maps to locate the major regions of Africa (North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa).
5 – U1.3.2 Describe the life and cultural development of people living in West Africa before the 16th century with respect to economic (the ways people made a living) and family structures, and the growth of states, towns, and trade.
U1.4: Three World Interactions: Describe the environmental, political, and cultural consequences of the interactions among European, African, and Indigenous Peoples in the late 15th century through the 17th century.
5 – U1.4.1 Describe the convergence of Europeans, Indigenous Peoples, and Africans in the Americas after 1492 from the perspective of these three groups.
5 – U1.4.4 Describe the Columbian Exchange and its impact on Europeans, Indigenous Peoples, and Africans.
U2.1: European Struggle for Control of North America: Compare the regional settlement patterns and describe significant developments in Southern, New England, and the Mid-Atlantic colonies
5 – U2.1.1 Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies, including:
patterns of settlement and control, including the impact of geography (landforms and climate) on settlement.
- the development of slavery.
U2.2: European Slave Trade and Slavery in Colonial America: Analyze the development of the slave system in the Americas and its impact.
5 – U2.2.1: Describe Triangular Trade, including:
- the trade routes.
- the people and goods that were traded.
- the Middle Passage.
- the impact on life in Africa.
5 – U2.2.2 - Describe the lives of enslaved Africans and free Africans, including fugitive and escaped slaves in the American colonies.
5 – U2.2.3 - Describe how enslaved and free Africans struggled to retain elements of their diverse African histories and cultures to develop distinct African-American identities.
5th Grade ELA Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 - Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.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.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6 - Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7 - Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.9 - Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.10 - By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.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 sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1 - Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.5 - Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
Performance Task:
“Claim Your Historical Identity” project. This project asks students to claim who they were as who they are. Students will develop something that expresses their reclaiming of their own historical identities.
Project options include:
● StoryCorps Project - interview someone in your family
● Write a picture book about the story of the book’s creator
● Write another “Where I’m From” poem that is connected to your historical identity and create accompanying artwork
● Another idea from the students