Helen B. Sellers
Reading Public Schools
Slavery as Forced Immigration
February 27, 2009
Grade 5
Colonization Unit
Submitted for “A Different Lens” Film series and
“Writing for History” courses as organized by the TAH grant
“Slavery as Forced Migration”: Mini Unit
These lessons will be a mini-unit or arc of lessons that will be part of a greater unit
of the Colonization Period (1500-1750) of the United States. Some of these
lessons are new and based on content information and strategies from both the
“Writing for History for Elementary Teachers” and the Immigration Film series.
Some of these lessons are adaptations of ones that I have been doing. I will also
reference lessons that are part of required/prescribed social studies curriculum,
and how my new lessons with content and strategies from both workshops will be
paired with these other lessons.
Enduring Understandings- There would be no United States of America if there
had not been immigrants. The movement of groups of people from place to place
has had a profound effect on what our country has become. For most Americans,
including children, an understanding of immigration is tied to the belief that people
move by choice. Sometimes those choices are precipitated by difficult
circumstances in their homelands, but the ultimate choice lies with the immigrants
themselves. The introduction of Africans to North America was a form of
immigration, but it was immigration by force.
Massachusetts Frameworks

5.11 Explain the importance of maritime commerce in the development of the
economy of colonial Massachusetts, using the services of historical societies
and museums as needed. (H, E)

5.12 Explain the causes of the establishment of slavery in North America.
Describe the harsh conditions of the Middle Passage and slave life, and the
responses of slaves to their condition. Describe the life of free African
Americans in the colonies. (H, G, E, C)
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Essential Questions
1. What are some of the different motivations of immigrants to leave their
homes?
2. Is there always a choice in immigration?
3. What were some of the different choices/dilemmas that faced Africans
when taken into slavery?
Historical Thinking Benchmarks Addressed

Analysis of primary and secondary sources

Understanding that although the past tends to be viewed in terms of
present values, a proper perception of the past requires a serious
examination of values of that time
Day 1-Activator- “What is Immigration?”
Learning Objectives
1. Students will participate in a Visible Thinking activity focusing on images of
immigration.
2. At the end of this activity, students will answer an exit card about their
changed impression of immigration.
Materials: Chart paper, images, markers, index cards
Visible Thinking Activity; See/Think/Wonder
1. Students will be divided into small groups (3 or 4). Each group of
students will carousel from large pieces of chart paper that will be hung
around the classroom. Each piece of chart paper will also have an image
related to immigration/immigrants at the top. (I won’t tell students what
that we will be looking at images related to immigration because I want to
see their honest, untainted responses.)
2. At each piece of chart paper, groups of students will observe their
picture and record one response in each of the categories, “I see”, “I
think”, “I wonder”. As the rotate, groups will take their markers with
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them so when the activity is finished, it will be clear the different
colored responses of each group.
3. When finished, we will share the ideas of each group. I will ask students
what they think all these pictures have in common. (Do they recognize
that all these images are related to immigration? We will discuss what
this word “immigration” means.) I will look to pull out ideas and responses
that focus on where these people appear to be going, what they are
taking with them, how the cartoon image relates to this discussion, and
ending with the image of Africans in a canoe. This final image will be the
kickoff discussion for our theme of forced migration.
4. This image shows Africans kidnapping people of other tribes to trade
with Europeans. We will discuss how Africans faced difficult dilemmas
when it came to slave hunters. Africans of West Africa wanted
desperately what the Europeans offered; goods they didn’t have, and
especially weapons. Should they sacrifice people of their own villages or
capture those of other villages to sacrifice instead?
5. As an end to this activity, students will answer an exit card, “What
feelings do you have now about immigration and especially the image of
Africans?”
Assessment: The exit card will serve as part of ongoing assessment of
understanding.
Day 2- 1 hour- How many Africans were affected by this forced
slavery? The Economy of the Americas forced the introduction of
slavery
Learning Objectives
1. Students will create a pie-graph about the population of the 13 Colonies in
1750. They will answer a question, “What two things most surprised you
about the results of this pie-graph?”
2. Students will participate in a class discussion focused on the pie-graph that
they constructed.
Materials: colored pencils, markers, “Population of the 13 Colonies in 1750”
worksheet, percent circle templates
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Activity: In math, students have been working with different kinds of data and
ways to report that data. Asking students to interpret the data is an excellent
application of their mathematical skills. Students will be provided with a basic
worksheet that includes the breakdown of the population of the 13 Colonies in
1750. According to information from our textbook, Harcourt Horizons United
States History: Beginnings, 49% of the colonists were English, 20% AfricanAmericans, 8% Scotch-Irish, 7% German, 6% Scotch, 5% Other, 3% Dutch, French
1%, and Swedish 1%. Students will be shocked to see that 20% of the population
was African-American. Students will realize that this 1/5 of the entire population
did not come to these colonies by choice. (They are also puzzled by the small
amounts of French and Dutch considering their own colonies’ proximity to the
English colonies.) At the end of the lesson, students will be asked to draw a line
underneath their response to the original question that they had answered. This is
called as “below the line” strategy and is something we use in class. They will then
be asked to add any additional thoughts they have about the results of the graph
now after the discussion.
Assessment: I will review their responses to see their thoughts about the graph.
Day 3- New England Economy lesson
Activity: Using our assigned Harcourt text, we will read the Lesson entitled, “New
England Economy”. The lesson is broken down into three major sections that
represent the importance of maritime commerce/jobs to New England; Fishing and
Whaling, Trading, and Shipbuilding. Students will gain content information from
this lesson and additional information that I will instruct them with from John
Bezis-Selfa’s lecture, “Connections between Colonial and Revolutionary
Massachusetts and Latin America/ The Caribbean”( 11/25/08). I will emphasize
the role of New England in the triangular trade, and the importance of sugar,
molasses, and rum. Rum was the key product traded for slaves in West Africa, and
Rhode Island merchants dominated the Afro-American slave trade for New
England after 1730. It will be in this lesson that they will be introduced to the
concept of “middle passage” which will play an important role in future lessons.
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Learning Objectives
1. Students will create vocabulary cards that contain definitions and visuals for
the following terms; export, import, triangular trade route, middle passage
2. Students will read the “New England Economy” lesson of our text and answer
the review questions at the end of each sub-section orally with a partner or
in a small group
3. Students will create informational webs about New England’s Economy using
the “Inspiration” program
Materials: textbooks, index cards, Inspiration software
Procedure
1. Before reading, students will create vocabulary cards for the lesson: export,
import, triangular trade route. They will follow the class routine where they
find the definition within the text of the lesson, copy it down on the lined
side of the card, and draw a visual representation of the definition’s meaning
on the front.
2. Students will next preview the text and have a brief preview of the content
information on the Smartboard. Next they will read the lesson either alone,
with a partner or along with the CD at the rug area. At each review
question, which ends each section, they will pause and answer the question.
3. When completed, students will gather together and discuss the lesson. We
will use a map of the world on the Smartboard to record the routes and the
items traded on the triangular trade. We will also discuss the importance of
this term, “middle passage” and its role in the forced migration of Africans.
Assessment- For this lesson, the creation of their inspiration webs will serve as my
assessment for their understanding of New England’s Economy. They will begin with
a basic web that contains the three major sections of the lesson; Fishing and
Whaling, Trading, and Shipbuilding. Students will add at least three ideas from
their textbook to each of these sections. Their Trading section must contain
“imports” and “exports” of New England. When they have completed the text of
their web, then they may change the basic circle structures to coordinating
pictures of their choice. (This is the part of the activity students most enjoy.)
Students will also participate in a biweekly vocabulary game that will include
the words that they learned in this lesson. Through this game, students practice
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their understanding of the words in a kinesthetic way. These words will eventually
be part of a larger, more formal assessment.
Day 4- Using a Primary Source to learn more about the Middle
Passage
Learning Objectives
1. Students will define the difference between a primary source and a
secondary source
2. Students will read the primary source, “Ship of Horrors” by Olaudah Equiano
3. Using guiding questions, students will analyze and evaluate the primary
source.
4. After reading and discussing “Ship of Horrors”, students will create found
poetry using 20 powerful words that they choose and highlight from the
text
Materials: copies of the Equiano account for each student
Procedure: Students will have previously worked with a lesson from our “History
Alive” text program that will give them additional background information about
slavery, and the process by which Africans were taken from their homes and
brought to the Americas.
Students will be given background information about this man, Gustavus
Vassa, also known as Olaudah Equiano. He was kidnapped from Africa in 1756, when
he was 11 years old. His description of life aboard the slave ship is vivid and will
show the students personal insight into his thoughts while aboard the ship.
The lesson begins with a discussion/review of the differences between
primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are those things that come from
the time period that is being studied. They can be journals, letters, pictures, and
many other things. Secondary sources are accounts written by someone who was
not an eye-witness or not from that time period. This would include our text book.
We will discuss the importance of using both kinds of materials.
We will look at this selection, “Ship of Horrors”, paying particular attention
to the image at the top of the page. I will ask the students what they believe the
image shows. Who are these people? Why do they appear to be lying down? The
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reading level of this particular passage seems to be a good fit for my fifth
graders. Because it does not seem too challenging, I will assign students
partnerships, and ask them to read this selection together. (If the text had been
more difficult I would have made it a shared reading with the whole class.) While
reading, or after reading, I will ask them to fill in the corresponding sheet about
“Analyzing a Primary Source”. After everyone has completed this, we will meet to
discuss their findings.
Assessment: For homework, I will ask students to highlight at least 20 words that
they feel stand out to them as particular important in this account. (If they
highlighted while they read previously, I will give them a clean copy that they can
freshly highlight.) In the next class, I will show them how I would like them to
take those words that they highlighted (or the 20 that they narrowed down their
selections to) and create a “Found” poem. (This technique was acquired from the
Buzzards Bay Writing Project, in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth.) In order to help them, I will share some samples of other Found
Poems so that they have an idea of what the final product will look like. Their
poems will be judged with FCAs (focus correction areas) which are part of our
writing program. The FCAs for this writing assignment will be: 1. At least 20 words
from the selection are used (35 pts.) 2. Poetic Look (variety of fonts, sizes,
designs) (30 pts.) 3. Poetic Sound (words chosen given an accurate summation of
the feel of the reading) (35 pts.)
Day 5-“Prince Among Slaves”
Learning Objective
1. Using a word splash, students will identify which aspects of the film “Prince
Among Slaves” correlate with information they have learned previously about
slavery and the middle passage.
Activity/Procedure: As a culmination to these lessons/activities, I will share with
the students the excellent “Prince Among Slaves” documentary that we watched in
the Film Series. The film focuses on the experience of Abdul Rahman, who was
kidnapped in 1788 from the Futta Jalon on the West Coast of Africa and forced
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into slavery in Natchez, Mississippi. Much of what the students have “read” about
slavery can be seen in this movie.
After learning about the term “middle passage” and reading about the
experience of Equiano, the best way to show elementary aged students what the
feeling and experience of the middle passage was really like is to show them a
reenactment. Since this documentary is not necessarily geared toward the age of
my students, I would like them to be able to focus most of their attention to
listening to the movie. Instead of traditional notes or questions to answer while
listening, students will use a word splash with ideas that they have already learned.
I would like the students to watch most of the film. The last section of the
movie about Rahman’s release from Foster and his travels around the United
States on his quest for freedom is very engaging and I know that it would be
greatly enjoyed by my students.
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Bibliography
A Young Nation. Banks, James; Beyer, Barry; Contreras, Gloria; Craven, Jean;
Ladson-Billings, Gloria; McFarland, Mary; Parker, Walter. McGraw Hill. 2001.
An anthology that was part of a greater text series and contains all different kinds of
primary sources that are appropriately geared for elementary aged students.
Bolster, W. Jeffrey. Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1997.
This book was introduced to me last year as part of the TAH grant book club. It was a very
detailed book with much background knowledge of the life that African-American sailors had away
from the life of slavery. This book contains information about Olaudah Equiano that I will share
with my students after we read his account of his crossing the Atlantic.
Harcourt Horizons United States: Beginnings. Berson, Dr. Michael J. ed. New York:
Harcourt School Publishers. 2005.
This is the textbook that is used in Reading. It is a surprisingly good fit with our
Massachusetts state standards, and its readability isn’t too difficult for the majority of fifth
graders.
History Alive: America’s Past. Bower, Bert and Jim Lobdell. Palo Alto, California:
Teacher’s Curriculum Institute. 2001.
This is an additional interactive social studies curriculum that we use in Reading. It uses
many primary sources, especially pictures, also role play and other techniques to help elementary
aged students become engaged with the material.
Kalin, Andrea dir. Prince Among Slaves. 2008 -An excellent film from PBS that will cause
students and adults off all ages have a different look at slavery.
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Immigration Images for See/Think/Wonder Activator
www.grahamdbrown.com/index.php/immigrants/
www.charlestonyourhome.com/blog/
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http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/1923-EllisIslandHistoricalDocuments.html
Immigrant Outer-Garment ID tag
http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/1923-EllisIslandHistoricalDocuments.html
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http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/aird/pics/2999_dutch_immigrants_2020.jpg
Above-Dutch Immigrants arriving in Canada
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/09gBbnUgpBeVT/610x.jpg
Cuban immigrants
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http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us/~vms/carlton/Rome_Reading_1.html
http://africanhistory.about.com/od/slaveryimages/ig/Slavery-Images-Gallery/TransportingSlaves.htm
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Name:__________________________________ Date:_________
Population of the 13 Colonies, 1750
Directions: Use the circle below to create a circle/pie graph that shows the
countries from which colonists had come. Color and label the graph.
English – 49 %
African-American- 20%
Scotch-Irish- 8%
German- 7%
Scottish- 6%
Other- 5%
Dutch- 3%
French- 1%
Swedish- 1%
French- 1%
What are two things that surprised you about this graph? (Write at least two
complete sentences)
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Name:_________________________________Date:___________
Analyzing a Primary Source
What kind of document is this?_________________________
_________________________________________________
What is this document mostly about?________________________
____________________________________________________
Is there a date on this document?___________________________
List three things the author said that you think are important.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Why do you think this document was written?___________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
What evidence in the document helps you know why it was written?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Write a question to the author that is left unanswered by the
document.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
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Name:_________________________________Date:__________
“Ship of Horrors” Found Poem
Directions:
1. After reading the primary source, “Ship of Horrors” by Olaudah
Equiano, you should highlight words or phrases that spark you or
stand out to you as being important to the story of Equiano.
2. Decide on 20 words or phrases that you think are the most
important or dramatic.
3. Rewrite these words or phrases on a separate piece of paper.
4. Look over the words you have chosen. Move them around and find
an order where you believe the words “sound” poetic/dramatic.
5. Once you have decided upon your words, now you may decide how
you would like your poem to look. Add poetic effects to the
piece. (Ideas to consider- font size, creative placement, color)
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