Gap Lesson for 3-4.1
Materials Needed:
1. blank chart of social classes
2. “Antebellum South” power point from the following website:
http://americanhistory.pppst.com/slavery.html
3. Streamline video “Sandlapper’s Corner: Life in South Carolina During the 1800s”
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm
Teaching the Lesson:
The teacher will divide students into groups of four. Each group of students will then
create a list of everything they can remember about a slave’s daily life. The teacher
will then lead the class in a discussion and use this as a way to introduce the students to
the social classes of people who lived in South Carolina during the Antebellum period.
After the discussion the teacher will share a power point called “Antebellum South” to
help students understand the daily life of the various social classes. The teacher will
then give students a chart that the class will complete together to compare the daily
life of the elite, middle class, lower class, independent farmers, Free African Americans,
and Enslaved African Americans. After completing the chart the students will watch
the streamline video “Sandlapper’s Corner: Life in South Carolina During the 1800s” to
wrap-up the lesson.
Procedure:
Day 1
1. Divide students into groups of four.
2. Have each group of students create a list of everything they can remember
about the daily lives of slaves. (15 minutes)
3. The teacher will then make a class list from the groups and use this as an
introduction to the various classes of people who lived in South Carolina during
the antebellum period. (5 minutes)
4. Give each student the following chart to be filled in during a teacher led
discussion. (25 minutes) see chart below
Classes
Elite
Middle Class
Lower Class
Independent
Farmers
Jobs/ Occupations
 Slave owners
 sold cash crops
such as cotton
and rice
 political leaders
 merchants
 doctors
 lawyers
 shopkeepers
 owned a few
slaves
 had very few jobs
Education
 children were
taught by private
tutors at home
 attended private
schools
 children were
taught to read
and write
 uneducated
 children were
needed at home
to work
 owned small farms
and did the work
themselves
 some children may
have been
educated at
home
Homes
 owned large
plantations with
lots of land
 most lived in cities
and towns
 often lived on
someone else’s
land and farmed
enough to feed
their families
 many lived in the
upstate
 some worked as
Free African
Americans
carpenters,
ironsmiths, or brick
masons
 had to carry
freedom papers
with them to prove
they were free
 were not treated
equally
 may have been
educated at
home
 were no public
schools
 most stayed near
larger cities to find
jobs
 lived on
 forced to work
Enslaved African
Americans
and were not paid
for it
 worked on
plantations
 worked from sunup to sun-down
 had very few rights
 it was illegal for
slaves to learn to
read or write
because their
masters were
afraid they would
escape
plantations in a
one or two room
cabin
 watched over by
an overseer
 were not allowed
to travel without
written permission
 families were often
divided when one
member was sold
to another slave
owner.
Classes
Elite
Middle Class
Lower Class
Independent
Farmers
Free African
Americans
Enslaved African
Americans
Jobs/ Occupations
Education
Homes
Day 2
5. Day two have students watch the streamline video “Sandlapper’s Corner: Life in
South Carolina During the 1800s”. (25 minutes)
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/
6. Discuss with students the events from the video and make connections/ extensions to
their charts from the previous day.
Extensions
See strategies under Suggested Instructional Strategies on the South Carolina Support
Systems Instructional Guide.
Assessing the Lesson:
1. The teacher can use questioning as a form of formative assessment.
2. Have students complete Venn Diagrams to compare two or more of the classes.
This will also be a formative assessment.