Clotilda’s Story

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Social Studies

Grade(s)

5

Overview

Students will view the short video that tells the overview of the story of the Clotilda and her survivors. They will use their own notes to write a paragraph summarizing the information from the video to tell the story of the ship Clotilda starting with its voyage from Mobile to Africa, including the settlement of Africatown after Emancipation, and ending with the discovery of its wreckage in 2019. Using a template, students will also create an MLA citation for the YouTube video. In writing the summary and creating the citation, students will demonstrate their knowledge of West Africa and Mobile as sites of slave trade, their ability to summarize in writing, and their capability to cite information appropriately.

Phase

During/Explore/Explain
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
ELA21.5.29
ELA21.5.29b

Learning Objectives

The students will

  • summarize in writing the information from a video about the voyage of the Clotilda, her survivors and their settlement of Africatown, and the discovery of the ship’s wreckage in 2019.
  • identify Mobile as a site of the slave trade on the Triangular Trade routes in their written summaries.
  • cite their source of information appropriately using MLA style.

Activity Details

The teacher will

  1.  Conduct a brief oral review with the class about what they have learned about the slave trade, Triangular Trade routes, and Mobile as a site of slave trade.  
  2. Show the 3 minute 21 second long YouTube video, The Clotilda.
  3. Explain that you will show the video again while students take notes.  Students will use these notes to write a summary of the information presented in the video.  Tell the class that their summary should be 5 to 7 sentences long and should summarize the video from beginning to end. Discuss as a class what important points they may be listening for and taking notes on as they view the video the second time. A few suggestions might be the following:
  • plan and hiring of the crew in Mobile before the voyage to West Africa
  • circumstances surrounding the purchase of the enslaved
  • voyage back to Mobile
  • arrival at night and burning of the ship
  • survivors’ circumstances before and after emancipation, including settlement of Africatown
  • discovery of the ship’s wreckage in 2019
  1. Play the video again while students take notes.
  2. Give them time to write a paragraph summary making sure they understand your requirements (spelling, punctuation, length, handwriting, etc.)
  3. Explain that students used the video as their source of information for their summary. Discuss how a writer should always cite the source(s), and explain how it is a way of giving attribution or credit to the creator or author.
  4. Distribute the citation templates and also project the template on the classroom screen or interactive whiteboard.  Give students time to fill in each blank as you go through and complete each field of the template with them. Ask students to share what they filled in for each blank and come to a consensus as a class about the correct answers. Also, point out that the template shows the correct punctuation to use between each element, and it gives pages to reference in the MLA Handbook if they need further information. Model looking up additional information as needed on elements that the class is not sure about.    
  5. Now, use the space at the bottom of the template to write or type out the citation in the correct MLA format. Note that an answer key has been provided. Students will follow along as you model and write or type the citation in the space at the bottom of the template.
  6. Collect the summaries and citations.  

Assessment Strategies

Collect the summaries and citation templates from each student.  

  • Check to see that they summarized in writing the information from the video and correctly expressed the main idea and supporting details.  
  • Check the templates to verify that students cited their video source appropriately. 

Acceleration

Students may create a graphic text to accompany their summary and further explain the information presented in the video.  For example, they may create a map that shows the route of the Clotilda or a diagram that demonstrates how deep the wreckage was resting in the Mobile River.  

Intervention

Provide students with a list of the specific information to listen for that the class discusses in step 3 of the activity.  Students can use this list as a prompt while they are taking notes. Pause the video every 30 seconds or so or at natural breaks in the story to allow time for note taking, guiding students with suggestions as needed.

Background / Preparation

The students will need prior knowledge of the slave trade and Triangular Trade routes, including Mobile as a site of the slave trade.  Students will need basic note-taking and writing skills and be somewhat familiar with citing sources using MLA style. The teacher will need to be sensitive to teaching the topic of slavery. The video includes illustrations that depict the harsh reality of the conditions endured in the cargo hold of the ship and shows the enslaved people naked and in chains.  Be aware of your district’s policies for teaching about slavery and approach this topic with care and respect. Additionally, the teacher will need to prepare to show the video to the entire class using a projector and sound system.  The teacher will need to make copies of the citation template for each student, check with the school librarian to get a copy of MLA Handbook, access the answer key to the citation template, and keep it on hand.

Learning Activity (Before)

Mobile’s Cooper Riverside Park: UNESCO Site of Memory

Total Duration

31 to 45 Minutes

Learning Activity (During)

Clotilda’s Story

Learning Activity (After)

The Discovery of Clotilda’s Wreckage

Materials and Resources

Student Materials

Teacher Materials

Black History in Two Minutes or So: The Clotilda
https://youtu.be/JKn_0TUg_Mo?feature=shared

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

sjordan
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