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Lesson Plan

Lesson 1 - JOURNALING WITH SONGS OF FREEDOM

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park

Grade Level:

High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade

Subject:

Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies

Lesson Duration:

90 Minutes

Common Core Standards:

6-8.RH.1, 6-8.RH.2, 6-8.RH.10, 9-10.RH.1, 9-10.RH.2, 9-10.RH.3, 9-10.RH.4, 9-10.RH.10, 8.W.3, 8.W.3.a, 8.W.3.b, 8.W.3.c, 8.W.3.d, 8.W.3.e, 9-10.W.3, 9-10.W.3.a, 9-10.W.3.b, 9-10.W.3.c, 9-10.W.3.d, 9-10.W.3.e

Additional Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies
I: Culture.
V. Individuals, Groups, & Institutions

Thinking Skills:

Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Creating: Bring together parts (elements, compounds) of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for NEW situations. Evaluating: Make informed judgements about the value of ideas or materials. Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.

Essential Question

What role could music play in the lives of enslaved people?

In what ways does the MUSIC OF ENSLAVED PEOPLE communicate the basic facts of bondage?

What specific facts and truths can be learned from such music?

In what ways do SLAVE NARRATIVES communicate the experience of bondage?

Objective

Learn the facts of day to day existence under the slavery system, including separation of families, physical punishment, and work routines.

Become familiar with slave narratives and the music of enslaved people as PRIMARY SOURCES.

Create a series of journal entries that accurately communicate facts of American slavery

Consider the ethical questions surrounding bondage.

Background

This is the first set of lessons in a multi lesson unit.

In this unit students journal in the first person as if they are passing through the experience of Enslavement-Resistance-Escape/Emancipation. It is based on the two-cd set Freedom Is Coming: Songs of Freedom, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad, available from the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 916 North Peters Street, New Orleans, La, 70116. www.nps.gov/jazz

The Unit uses freely available documents that are in the public domain, as well as musical selections from Freedom Is Coming: Songs of Freedom, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad. If a document is used it is found on a separate page along with a link to the source.

Please be sure to share the source with students.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Two-cd set Freedom Is Coming: Songs of Freedom, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad
• A journal of the teacher’s choice, such as a composition book or a blogging site.
• Lyrics to selected songs (provided here).
• Some means of playing an audio cd.
• Copies for students of various public domain readings.

Preparation

Students will begin by reading an original slave narrative from the Federal Writer’s Project. A slave narrative is a true story told by an enslaved or formerly enslaved person about slavery. In this way the student hears directly from the witness about the experience of enslavement.

• Students will then hear several selections from the cd and will use the lyrics to understand the information, both emotional and cognitive, that is being shared.

• A class discussion will then be held. A separate page gives suggestions for how to guide discussion.

• Students will then have a journaling assignment.

Materials

A SLAVE NARRATIVE is a true story told by a slave or former slave about slavery. Hundreds of slave narratives were gathered in the years after the American Civil War, right up though the 1940's. Reading slaves narratives is one of the best ways to learn the truth about slavery, because the facts come directly from the enslaved persons themselves.

Download Slave narratives handout.

Lyrics to the two songs considered by the students. This can be a handout for marking by learners.

Download Lyrics- Many Thousand Gone and Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray

Questions for Lesson 1

Download Handout for Lesson 1

Handout for Lesson 1 - Answer Key

Download Handout for Lesson 1 - Answer Key

Lesson Hook/Preview

1. Teacher should choose one or two songs that are most likely to interest the students, and play those as the students enter the class.
2. When class is settled, have a short discussion about the songs. 

• What were their reactions?
• What was the song about?
• In what era did the songs originate?
• What facts or emotions did the songs communicate?

Procedure

STEP 1: HEARING THE MUSIC

1.  Play the cd selections. You may wish to project or hand out the provided transcript of the lyrics provided under materials section.

• SONGS USED ∙ D2, #3 MANY THOUSAND GONE ∙ D2, # 14 I COULDN’T HEAR NOBODY PRAY (experience of slavery).

STEP 2: DISCUSSION OF SONGS 

2. Project or distribute lyrics of the two selections. (This might have been done during Step 1) 

3. Ask the students what information about the lives of enslaved persons a listener could gain from the songs. Students should be asked to provide the section of lyrics that gives the information so that they concentrate on the lyrics rather than recycling prior knowledge. You might wish to write responses on the board or type them into a saved, projected computer document. 

  POSSIBLE RESPONSES INCLUDE:

• SLAVES WERE AUCTIONED LIKE CATTLE (No more auction block for me)
• SLAVES WERE WHIPPED (No more driver’s lash for me)( No more Hundred lash for me)
• SLAVES WERE AT THE COMMAND OF MASTERS AND MISTRESSES (No more mistress calls for me)
• SLAVES WERE OFTEN SEPARATED FROM FAMILY MEMBERS AGAINST THEIR WILL.(Couldn’t hear my Mother pray, Lord couldn’t hear my Father pray)
• RELIGIOUS FEELINGS WERE IMPORTANT TO MANY ENSLAVED PERSONS. (Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.) 

 

4. If needed, guide the discussion in certain directions by asking or posting certain questions about the meaning of the lyrics.

 

STEP 3: SLAVE NARRATIVES

A slave narrative is a true story told by an enslaved person or a formerly enslaved person about slavery. Hundreds of such narratives were gathered in the 1930’s under the New Deal Works Progress Administration when elderly African Americans were interviewed. Other narratives were gathered by abolitionists during slave times and more were published commercially after the American Civil War. The slave narratives used in these lessons are in the public domain. If you desire to obtain more for a more in depth examination, you can find them at the web link given with the narrative. 

5. Distribute the Slave Narrative to the students. 

• You may wish to break students into groups if you feel the reading level may cause some difficulty. The site www.random.org will assign students automatically. 

6. Students should read the narratives and answer the questions using the justification model utilizing highlighters. In this method students answer questions by highlighting text on the distributed document. The worksheet gives clear instructions. A grading key is also provided. Alternatively, the narrative could simply be read by the class without use of the graded task. 

7. Reading should be discussed after completion, either by collecting it for a grade and returning it later, or doing a whole class discussion without collection.

 

STEP 4: JOURNALING

Now that the students have gained an understanding of the lives and conditions of slaves, they will journal to demonstrate that understanding. Students should be discouraged from writing in a perceived accent, as was often done when the interviewers recorded the answers of those they interviewed. Instead, they should write properly. Alternatives to journaling include writing plays, poems, or creating visual art that interprets and communicates the facts of the narratives.

 

8. Below is an instructional handout for students. The handout gives specific instructions and is found elsewhere on this site.

• LESSON 1 JOURNALING ASSIGNMENT HANDOUT

  You will be writing journal entries for four different lessons. In each journaling assignment you will imagine that you have lived through experiences similar to those communicated through the songs and the slave narratives. But do not simply repeat verbatim what was told in the songs or the narratives.

Vocabulary

• Slave Narrative: a true story told by an enslaved or formerly enslaved person about slavery

• Slavery

• Bondage

• Oppression

• Emancipation

• Spiritual

• Underground Railroad

Assessment Materials

Slave Narratives Answer Key

This is the answer key for the Slave Narratives Handout found under lesson materials
Students are to highlight or underline text to answer the questions. Directions are on the outline.

ASSIGNMENT I: LIFE AS A SLAVE

Imagine that you have lived through experiences similar to those in Many Thousands Gone, I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray, and the accompanying slave narratives. Write an entry as if you are communicating experiences such as those. Do not attempt to write in “accent” as was done in the narratives that you have read. Instead, imagine that after slavery you were able to get a formal education and to write as a student of your caliber is capable of writing. Write an entry of the length determined by your teacher. You should describe at least THREE experiences based on the lesson. PAY ATTENTION TO THE GRADING RUBRIC AS YOU WRITE. 

1 2 3 4 5 Entry properly communicated at least three experiences 

1 2 3 4 5 The experiences were realistic and were related to the general subject of the songs/narratives. 

1 2 3 4 5 The entries were of sufficient complexity and length to communicate an accurate depiction of American slavery. 

1 2 3 4 5 The entries showed a proper understanding of slave life as related by the songs/narratives. 

1 2 3 4 5 The entries had a minimum had a minimum of grammatical and spelling errors. 

Total points ______ times 4 = final grade of __________

Rubric/Answer Key

LESSON 1 ANSWER KEY

ANNA MARIA COFFEE, Ex-slave, age about 89.

www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/resources/wpa.html

“I was born in North Carolina, near Ensfiel ‘. I was er pretty big girl when de war started. But I don’t known my real age, ‘cause every time I was sold they made my age jes’ what they wanted it. I judge, I must a been about twelve or fourteen years ole when de war started.”

“I was sold on de block more’n once, and I was owned by eleven different owners. I was sold from my mother and father when I was just such er little tot that I can’t hardly member them at all. My father was named James Arbor, and my mother she was Abbie Freeman.”

“I remember bein’ sold to old Jordan White, David Gregory, en David Gregory, Jr., John Freeman, David Teller, Bradley Pickford, Ned Pickford, Kinglin’ Powells, en Thomas Hurt, was my last owner.”

“Ned Pickford stole me from Bradley Pickford, and sold me to Kinglin’ Powells, down in Warsaw, South Carolina. Kinglin’ Powells took me and fourteen other slaves to Richmond, Virginia. Us left Warsaw one night on de train, and when mornin’ come us was crossing the James River, goin’ into Richmond. That old James River was sure muddy that mornin’. They took us to the Trader jail, and give us something to eat, and a change o’ clothes.”

“That Trader Jail was sure a big place. Us set round all day, en when night come, was put in rooms up stairs; de womans and girls all on one side, and the men and boys on de other side along narrow hall. Them 21 sho’ was sad times. All us knowed it was goin’ to be de last time us folks would be together, en mos’ likely, none us never see our folks no more. Every once er while, the keeper comes through to keep em from talkin’ and plannin’.”

“Sale day come. De market place was about a city block big, with seats fixed round like a race track. All the boys and men was fixed on one side; de big ones first, en so on, down to the little ones. De womans en girls the was fixed the same way on the other side de market.”

“I was put on de block en sold for $900.00, to Thomas Hurt. He bought three brothers together, so’s they won’t be sep’rated, and he paid $1500.00 for the three.

WILLIAM EMMONS: Ex-slave, age 93.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/resources/wpa.html

“Why, I seen slave traders buy up ‘womens an’ men for the purpose of breedin’ them just’ like animals, an’ they’d beat them if they didn’t do what they expected of them. The slave traders wanted strong children for work hands, an’ they all time figurin’ to get a strong ‘-ooman to carry out the plans for raisin’ children what would sell real good. They’d keep em an’ feed em for a few years, and then sell em off to de highest bidder. No decency in such folks as them. Slavery was worse than most people kin ‘magine.”

“The darkie traders use to travel all over the country, sometimes an’ buy up slaves from plantation owners who was most ready to go down in debt. I seen men chained together, an’ ‘oomans bein’ carried in wag-ons with they babies. Jes’ takin’ em to market for sale like cattle.”

SARA FRANCES SHAW GRAVES, AGED 87

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html

12) “SOMETHIN’ LIKE HIRED OUT”

13) “HE WAS ALLOTTED TO ANOTHER MAN”

14) FOR PASTIME

15) CAT-O-NINE TALES

16) NINE STRIPS OF LEATHER FASTENED ONTO THE END OF A WHIP

17) ONE IN EACH HAND AND ONE BALANCED ON MY HEAD

TEMPLE CUMMINS, AGE UNKNOWN

18) ONCT A YEAR AT CHRISTMAS TIME

19) WHITE CHILLUNS CAST-OFF CLOTHES SO WORE THEY WAS READY TO THROW

AWAY.

20) CRACK OPEN

21) AT MEALTIME THEY HAND ME A PIECE OF CORNBREAD AND TELL ME “RUN

‘LONG”. SOMETIME I GIT LITTLE PIECE OF MEAT AND BISCUIT. I GATHERED UP

SCRAPS THE WHITE CHILLENS LEF.”

 

LESSON 1 ANSWER KEY

Download Rubric/Answer Key

Supports for Struggling Learners

The most likely difficulty to be encountered by struggling learners is the reading. This can be dealt with in several ways.

1. Place struggling learners with higher level readers.

2. First do the readings as a whole class oral reading. 

3. Use the numbered reading in this section. It is divided into 17 parts. Assign readers a number, give them time to familiarize themselves with their section. Then have the class read the entire selection orally with students responsible for their numbered section.

 

ANNA MARIA COFFEE, Ex-slave, age about 89.
 

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/resources/wpa.html
 

1. "I was born in North Carolina, near Ensfiel '. I was er pretty big girlwhen de war started. But I don’t known my real age, ‘cause every time I was sold they made my age jes' what they wanted it. I judge, I must a been about twelve or fourteen years ole when de war started."
2. "I was sold on de block more'n once, and I was owned by eleven different owners. I was sold from my mother and father when I was just such er little tot that I can’t hardly member them at all. My father was named James Arbor, and my mother she was Abbie Freeman.
3. "I remember bein' sold to old Jordan White, David Gregory, en David Gregory, Jr., John Freeman, David Teller, Bradley Pickford, Ned Pickford, Kinglin' Powells, en Thomas Hurt, was my last owner."
4. "Ned Pickford stole me from Bradley Pickford, and sold me to Kinglin' Powells, down in Warsaw, South Carolina. Kinglin' Powells took me and fourteen other slaves to Richmond, Virginia. Us left Warsaw one night on de train, and when mornin' come us was crossing the James River, goin' into Richmond. That old James River was sure muddy that mornin'. They took us to the Trader jail, and give us something to eat, and a change o' clothes."
5. "That Trader Jail was sure a big place. Us set round all day, en when night come, was put in rooms up stairs; de womans and girls all on one side, and the men and boys on de other side along narrow hall. Them sho' was sad times. All us knowed it was goin’ to be de last time us folks would be together, en mos' likely, none us never see our folks no more. Every once er while, the keeper comes through to keep em from talkin' and plannin'."
6. "Sale day come. De market place was about a city block big, with seats fixed round like a race track. All the boys and men was fixed on one side; de big ones first, en so on, down to the little ones. De womans en girls the was fixed the same way on the other side de market."
7. "I was put on de block en sold for $900.00, to Thomas Hurt. He bought three brothers together, so's they won’t be sep'rated, and he paid $1500.00 for the three.

 

WILLIAM EMMONS: Ex-slave, age 93.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/resources/wpa.html

1. "Why, I seen slave traders buy up 'womens an' men for the purpose of breedin' them just' like animals, an' they'd beat them if they didn't do what they expected of them. The slave traders wanted strong children for work hands, an' they all time figurin' to get a strong '-ooman to carry out the plans for raisin' children what would sell real good. They'd keep em an' feed em for a few years, and then sell em off to de highest bidder. No decency in such folks as them. Slavery was worse than most people kin 'magine."
2. "The darkie traders use to travel all over the country, sometimes an' buy up slaves from plantation owners who was most ready to go down in debt. I seen men chained together, an' 'oomans bein' carried in wagons with they babies. Jes' takin' em to market for sale like cattle."

SARAH FRANCES SHAW GRAVES, AGED 87

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html

 

1. “My name is Sarah Frances Shaw Graves, or Aunt Sally as everybody calls me. Yes’m that’s a lot of name an’ I come by…”
2. “Yes’m. Alotted? Yes’m. I’m goin’ to explain that,” she replied. “You see there was slave traders in those days, jes’ like you got horse and mule an’ auto traders now. They bought and sold slaves and hired ‘em out. Yes’m, rented ‘em out. Allotted means somethin’ like hired out. But the slave never got no wages. That all went to the master. The man they was allotted to paid the master.”
3. “Allotments made a lot of grief for the slaves”, Aunt Sally asserted. “We left my papa in Kentucky, ‘cause he was allotted to another man. My papa never knew where my mama went, an’ my mama never knew where my papa went.” Aunt Sally paused a moment, then went on bitterly. “They never wanted mama to know, ‘cause they knowed she would never marry so long as she knew where he was. Our master wanted her to marry again and raise more children to be slaves. They never wanted mama to know where papa was, an’ she never did”, sighed Aunt Sally.
4. “Yes’m. Some masters was good and some was bad. My mama’s master whipped his slaves for pastime. My master was not so bad as some was to their slaves. I’ve had many a whippin’, some I deserved, an’ some I got for being blamed for doin’ things the master’s children did. My master whipped his slaves with a cat-o-nine tails. He’d say to me, ‘You ain’t had a currin’ down for some time. Come here!!!’ then he whipped me with the cat. The cat was made of nine strips of leather fastened onto the end of a whip. Lots of times when he hit me, the cat left nine stripes of blood on my back. Yes ma’am.”
5. “Yes’m. I worked in the fields, and I worked hard too. Plantin’ and harvestin’ in those days was really work. The used oxen to break up the ground for corn, an’ for plowin’ it too. They hoed corn with a hoe, and cut the stalks with a hoe and shocked (shucked-nps) ‘em. They cut the grain with the cradle and bound it with their hands and shocked it. They threshed the grain with a hickory stick. Beating it out.
6. “I carried water for the field hands. I’ve carried three big buckets of water from one field to another, from one place to another, one in each hand and one balanced on my head.”

TEMPLE CUMMINS, AGE UNKNOWN

1. “I slep’ on a pallet on the floor. They gave me a homespun dress onct a year at Christmas time. When company come I had to run and slip on that dress. At other times I wore white chillens’ cast-off clothes so wore they was ready to throw away. I had to pin them up with red horse thorns to hide my nakedness, My dress was usually split from hem to neck and I had to wear them until they was strings. Went barefoot summer and winter till the feets crack open.
2. “I never seed my grandparents ‘cause my mother she sold in Alabama when she’s 17 and they brung her to Texas and treat her rough. At mealtime they hand me a piece of cornbread and tell me ‘Run ‘long.’ Sometime I git a little piece of meat and biscuit, ‘bout onct a month. I gathered up scraps the white chillens lef’.

Enrichment Activities

    Lessons 2, 3, and 4 are enrichment activities and include additional resources.

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