Uncovering and Reclaiming Historical Identities

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 Resources

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