Learning Activity

History of Enslavement

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Social Studies

Grade(s)

5

Overview

Students will actively listen to the audio of two brief articles about the history of slavery worldwide and in the United States. Using a document that includes landmark dates, the students will use the content of those audio sources to summarize information that identifies the establishment of the slave trade and Triangular Trade routes in the Western Hemisphere as they learn about the overall history of the slave trade worldwide and in the U.S. They will cite information that they have summarized using the citation tool in a library database.  

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.6

Describe colonial economic life and labor systems in the Americas.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.5.6

Vocabulary

  • economic
  • labor system
  • establishment
  • Triangular Trade Route
  • Hemisphere
  • Americas
  • Latin America
  • North America
  • South America
  • island

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Each colony's economic life and labor system was unique and based on the geographic location of the colony.
  • Most slaves came from a variety of countries in Africa and were brought to the Americas by slave traders using the Triangular Trade Route.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Locate each colony on a physical and political map.
  • Describe and explain the types of labor used in each colony (indentured servitude, slaves, free blacks, merchants, farmers, shipping, fishing/whaling, among others).
  • Trace, examine and evaluate the Triangular Trade Route and its impact on colonial economy and labor systems.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Different labor systems were used to build and grow each of the 13 colonies.
  • Slave labor was brought to the Americas by the Northern colonial shipping industry and purchased and used in the Caribbean islands and Southern colonies.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.6.1

Recognizing centers of slave trade in the Western Hemisphere and the establishment of the Triangular Trade Route
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 5

ELA21.5.28

Use audio and/or visual sources of information to obtain the answer to a question.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.5.28

Vocabulary

  • Audio sources
  • Visual sources

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Questions can be answered by utilizing information from audio or visual visual sources.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Answer a question by using relevant information from an audio and/or visual source.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Information can be obtained from a variety of sources.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 5

ELA21.5.29

Summarize in writing a variety of texts, stating their implied and/or explicit main ideas.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.5.29

Vocabulary

  • Summarize
  • Implied main idea
  • Explicit main idea

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The main idea is the most important idea presented in the text.
  • Sometimes an author will clearly state the main idea, while other times an author will merely suggest the main idea.
  • A summary is a short statement explaining the main point or most important details of presented information.
  • Writing skills.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Identify the implied or explicit main idea of a text.
  • Write a summary stating the implied and/or explicit main idea(s) of a text.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Most texts have a main idea, or most important message.
  • An author can choose to state the main idea in the text or provide clues through details in the text to imply the main idea.
  • They can demonstrate their comprehension of the text by writing a summary that explains the main idea(s).
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 5

ELA21.5.29b

Cite appropriately when summarizing.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.5.29b

Vocabulary

  • Cite
  • Summarizing

Knowledge

  • Citation conventions.
  • Text evidence must be cited appropriately in writing.

Skills

  • Appropriately cite text evidence in a written summary.

Understanding

  • When they use text evidence in their writing, they must give the original creator credit by including appropriate citations.

Phase

During/Explore/Explain
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

The students will:

  1. use the content of audio sources to summarize information and answer questions.
  2. identify centers of slave trade in the Western Hemisphere and recognize the establishment of the Triangular Trade. 
  3. appropriately cite information they have summarized using the citation tool in a library database.

Activity Details

The teacher will:

  1. Share the learning objectives of the activity with the students.
  2. Distribute the Guided Notes sheet for the first article to each student.
  3. Instruct the students to look over the guided notes page to be aware of what information they are listening for.
  4. Use the Listen icon at the top to play the audio of the article, Atlantic Slave Trade, for students or demonstrate how to navigate to it as the students follow along.  Show them the “Listen” icon at the top of the article and how it will read the article aloud.  
  5. Play the audio for the group or allow the students time to listen to the first article (while not reading along). It will take less than 3 minutes, but you may want to allow them time to replay the article as much as needed to complete the Guided Notes document that pertains to that article.  
  6. Point out that the first article they listened to was a broad overview of the history of slavery in the world.  Explain that they will listen to a second article that explains more of the history of slavery in the United States and how it came to an end.
  7. Distribute the Guided Notes document for the second article and allow students time to look over it and view what information they are listening for.  
  8. Play or allow the students time to listen to the second article (while not reading along). It will take less than 4 minutes, but you may want to allow them time to replay the article as much as needed to complete the Guided Notes document that pertains to the second article.
  9. Once they have finished everything on the Guided Notes sheets except the citation part, stop to discuss the main points as a group, emphasizing the identification of centers of the slave trade and the establishment of the Triangular Trade Routes. 
  10. Allow them to look at their computer screen and introduce students to the cite tool at the top of each article.  Have a brief discussion with them about why citing your sources is important and is a requirement when doing research and or summarizing someone else’s information.   
  11. Allow them time to copy the two citations onto the Guided Notes pages.  
  12. Collect their sheets according to your established classroom procedures. 
Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategies

Monitor students’ verbal responses in the discussion portions of class to verify that they:

  • are correctly identifying centers of slave trade in the Western Hemisphere (primarily the Atlantic Coasts of the Americas and Africa) and understanding the establishment of the triangular trade routes (Europe to Africa to the Americas and back).
  • know what cite means and how to use the tool in Britannica School.

Collect students’ Guided Notes to check that:

  • students used the content of the audio sources to identify centers of slave trade and recognize the establishment of the Triangular Trade routes. The teacher can view the provided answer keys to assess student mastery of the content.
  • appropriately cited their 2 sources used to summarize information.

Assign points according to your established procedure​​​​​​.

Acceleration

Use the Level 3 reading option that is available for advanced students

Allow advanced students the opportunity to create more guided note prompts that could be used with each article and complete the prompts.

Provide students who finish early paper to draw a map of the Triangular Trade. 

Intervention

Use the Level 1 reading option for students who may need a simpler audio resource.

Print the article and allow students to read along as they listen and highlight dates or important points to help as they complete the Guided Notes sheet. 

Approximate Duration

Total Duration

16 to 30 Minutes

Related Learning Activities

Learning Activity (Before)

Know Their Names: The Clotilda's Survivors

Learning Activity (During)

History of Enslavement

Learning Activity (After)

History of Enslavement Collaborative Timeline

Background and Preparation

Background / Preparation

The teacher should be familiar with the Britannica School Elementary database on the Alabama Virtual Library, practice accessing both articles, and be ready to demonstrate using the cite tool near the top right of each article.  Each article has 3 reading levels, so select which option is best for your students.  Level 2 (Lexile 1210-1400) is used in the activity instructions. Be aware that slavery and the slave trade are difficult topics. Practice care and sensitivity when teaching these historical events, and follow your district’s policies and procedures for handling this sensitive topic.  Make copies of the Guided Notes pages for each student or share them digitally, and make sure that you can either play the audio of each article aloud to the entire class or that each student has access to a computer and headphones to listen to the two audio resources individually.  

*Note that Alabama Virtual Library links sometimes do not take you back to the original resource. To locate both of the articles needed for this activity:

  • go to avl.lib.al.us
  • select Elementary School
  • click Britannica School Elementary
  • search Atlantic slave trade
  • when results appear, choose the level 2 tab
  •  the Atlantic Slave Trade article (document 602896) will be at or near the top of the results list
  • repeat the process to find the Emancipation Proclamation article (document 274168)

Students should be familiar with the slave trade as it was a part of the grade four course of study. They will need pencils, a digital device, headphones or earbuds, and the 2 Guided Notes documents. They should have basic computer skills for playing, pausing, and accessing the audio resources.

Materials and Resources

Materials and Resources

Teacher:

Student:

  • printed copy of the Guided Notes documents
  • digital device for online access to each article if listened to individually
  • headphones to listen to the audio if played individually
  • pencil

Digital Tools / Resources

Atlantic Slave Trade and Emancipation Proclamation articles found on The Alabam…
https://www.avl.lib.al.us/

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

sjordan
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