Memorializing the Discovery of Clotilda’s Wreckage

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Social Studies

Grade(s)

5

Overview

Students will be presented with Senate Resolution 315, which was passed in 2019 to memorialize the discovery of the wreckage of the ship Clotilda. The resolution identifies Mobile as a site of slave trade, recognizes Africatown as a significant historic site in Alabama, and identifies significant social and cultural contributions of the survivors of the ship Clotilda. Students will have the opportunity to read the resolution silently, discuss it, and practice reading it aloud. Finally, students will demonstrate fluency in reading the informational text by presenting a read-aloud of the resolution and discussing the important dates noted in the resolution to determine what should be added to the class timeline started in previous related learning activities.

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
ELA21.5.5

Learning Objectives

The students will

  • read aloud fluently an informational text.
  • speak fluently in discussing an informational text.
  • identify Mobile as a site of the slave trade while participating in a class discussion of an informational text and adding events to a timeline.

Activity Details

The teacher will:

  1. Project the teacher's computer screen and navigate to Senate Resolution 315 on the class screen or interactive whiteboard.  
  2. Note to the class the 2 summaries (using the drop-down menu), one that was when the resolution was presented and the other was when the resolution was passed, and note the date the resolution passed.  
  3. Click the text tab, and allow students time to read the entire text silently.
  4. Explain that the class will read the resolution aloud in a choral reading.  Distribute the sections of the resolution so that each student has a part to read.  Point out how some simple wording has been added in brackets to make the document more readable for the purpose of the choral reading.  
  5. Give the students time to practice their parts silently as you answer any questions that individuals may have about their parts. Extra explanation may be required for some parts, as students may not be familiar with the formal manner in which Senate resolutions are written.  
  6. Start the choral reading by having the students read aloud their parts in numbered order. 
  7. Once it is finished, go back through each numbered part and allow the assigned student to share what that part meant to them. Then open the comments to the whole class so that others can share what they think each part means or why it is important. Continue this discussion until each student has had a chance to speak in response to the resolution.  
  8. Project the History of Enslavement Collaborative Timeline.
  9. Distribute highlighters and ask the class to read back through their parts and highlight all dates of events indicated in the resolution. Some parts do not include dates.
  10. As a group, look at the collaborative timeline and see which of those events have not been indicated on the timeline. Add those events with dates as decided by the class under the teacher’s direction.

Assessment Strategies

Monitor students for fluency as they read aloud their parts.

Monitor the students for fluency in speaking in response to their part or their classmates’ parts of the resolution.

Monitor student responses in the class discussion and timeline discussion to verify that they identified Mobile as a site of the slave trade.

 

 

 

Acceleration

Allow students to enter the events on the timeline as the class is discussing in step 10. 

Intervention

During step 5, allow students to practice their reading part with you or a peer before the class read-aloud time.

 

Background / Preparation

The students should be able to read and speak at a level that allows them to participate in the read-aloud and discussion, and they should be familiar with classroom procedures for discussion. They will need to have background knowledge of the slave trade and the Triangular Trade Route. The teacher will need to be prepared to project the Senate resolution to the class, be familiar with the resolution’s text, and know how to switch between tabs on the resolution page to view the summary and the text. Reading parts will need to be cut apart before class, and the teacher will need to be ready to assign and distribute them. A highlighter for each student will need to be available. The teacher will need to be ready to project the History of Enslavement Collaborative Timeline created in the preceding associated learning activities and add events from the resolution to it. The teacher will need to be prepared to teach the topic of slavery in a respectful way that adheres to the school district’s policies and procedures for teaching sensitive subject matter.

Learning Activity (Before)

Memorializing the Discovery of Clotilda’s Wreckage

Total Duration

16 to 30 Minutes

Learning Activity (During)

Clotilda and Africatown Today

Learning Activity (After)

What We Learned About Clotilda’s Survivors

Materials and Resources

Student Materials

  1. Highlighters
  2. Reading parts of Senate Resolution 315 assigned by the teacher

Teacher Materials

  1. Teacher computer with internet
  2. Classroom projector or interactive whiteboard

Access to the History of Enslavement Collaborative Timeline started by the class in previous related learning activities

Senate Resolution 315 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-resolution/315
Text of Senate Resolution 315 (divided into numbered parts and made more readab…
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VRBju3EEDOBXF7I1ptxJ5uJ8PjSAQvRDl220QcBX7S8…

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

sjordan
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