John Brown Lives! Hands-On History

The unit will be centered around a local history that's knitted into the "new origin story" told in Born on the Water, and will introduce 2nd through 5th grade students to the history and legacy of slavery and the struggle for rights by Black Americans through oral storytelling and decodable texts. The unit of study will show how events in students' own backyard connect to that greater story through a field trip to the John Brown Farm, where they will encounter, through interactive activities, storytelling, and primary sources, the mid-19th century Black settlers who staked their claim to vote by taking possession of land in the wilds of the Adirondacks and establishing farms and communities.