Mobile’s Cooper Riverside Park: UNESCO Site of Memory

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Subject Area

Digital Literacy and Computer Science
Social Studies

Grade(s)

5

Overview

Students will view a photograph of the historic marker placed in Mobile to commemorate the arrival of five ships containing enslaved Africans to that location. They will read the information on the marker to understand why it was placed and to gather details about the ships, such as their names, arrival dates, places of origin, number of captives on board, and number of deaths that occurred during the Middle Passage. Students will utilize this information to recognize Mobile as a center of the slave trade. They will collaborate locally to add the dates and a summary of the information to an online digital timeline.

Phase

Before/Engage
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.6

Describe colonial economic life and labor systems in the Americas.

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
DLCS18.5.20

Learning Objectives

The students will:

Identify Mobile as a center of slave trade after reading a historical marker.

Collaborate locally using an online tool to create a timeline of events documenting  Mobile’s history as a center of slave trade.

 

Activity Details

The teacher will:

  1.  Ask students to recall what they know about centers of slave trade in the United States, noting that Mobile, Alabama, is a documented site of the slave trade.
  2. Direct students to view the online photograph of the historical marker in Cooper Riverside Park in Mobile and to read the text that appears on it.  
  3. Discuss the contents of the text, directing students to note the dates, number of captives that were on board each ship, how many died during the Middle Passage, etc. 
  4. Instruct students to break into their small groups and navigate to the timeline.
  5. Assign each group one of the ships noted on the historical marker.
  6. Provide time for each of the five groups to add a field to the timeline that depicts the date the ship landed and where it landed.  They should also include the information you have discussed as a class, such as the country of origin, how many captives were on board, the name of the ship, etc.  
  7. Debrief by projecting the collaborative timeline on the classroom screen.   Note the dates of the five ships in context with the other dates and events you may have added to the timeline in previous related learning activities.

Assessment Strategies

Monitor students’ verbal responses in the review and discussion portions of the activity to assess their knowledge of Mobile as a center of the slave trade.

Review timeline entries to ensure that students collaborated using the online tool, Sutori.  Also, check that they correctly identified Mobile as a center of slave trade in their entries. 

Acceleration

Allow students to read the news article that accompanies the photograph and tells the story of the placement of the marker. If time allows, they may add an entry to the timeline that shows when the marker was placed at the park, by what organization, etc.  

 

Intervention

Provide a print copy of the photograph and a timeline for students if needed. There are many examples of timelines and templates available online.  Students may be allowed to write their entry on the paper copy, highlight the information about their assigned ship, or tell a group mate who records the entry.

Background / Preparation

Students will need to have basic reading and computer skills in order to access, read, and comprehend information from the photograph of the historical marker.  They will need access to an online collaborative tool to add dates to a timeline.  Students will also have already learned about the history of enslavement, centers of slave trade, and the establishment of the Triangular Trade Route.  Students will need to be familiar with the classroom procedures for working in a small group.  

The teacher will need to share a digital timeline with students so they can add dates to the timeline during this learning activity.  If the class has participated in previous related learning activities in this learning unit, they will already have access to the Sutori History of Enslavement Timeline Template.  If not, the teacher will need to create a blank story in Sutori and share it with students.  In this case, the teacher will need to become familiar with Sutori and how students will use it to add the dates and information from the historical marker in order to create a timeline of those events.  The teacher will also need to determine how the class will be divided into five groups.  Each group will be assigned one of the ships noted on the marker.  The group will add their assigned ship’s date and information to the collaborative timeline.

Learning Activity (Before)

Mobile’s Cooper Riverside Park: UNESCO Site of Memory

Total Duration

0 to 15 Minutes

Learning Activity (During)

Clotilda’s Story

Learning Activity (After)

The Discovery of Clotilda’s Wreckage

Materials and Resources

Student Materials:

  • Electronic device with internet
  • Access to a Sutori account set up by the teacher AND one of the following options

                                        OR

  • Shared access to a blank Sutori story set up by the teacher (if the teacher is using this activity as a standalone lesson)

Teacher Materials:

Photograph of Marker Placed at Mobile’s Cooper Riverside Park on December 19, 2…
https://www.al.com/resizer/3lgX3Y-ilbLQVuTEUf_C3IuARXs=/800x0/smart/arc-anglerf…

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

sjordan
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