This lesson will analyze African American folktales, songs, and hymns that existed during the time of slavery. Students will learn when, why, and how they began; the importance of folktales, songs, and hymns for African American slaves; and the uniqueness that they brought and continue to bring to African American culture and traditions. Focus will be placed on reading and understanding the many differing folktales, spirituals, hymns, and songs of that period in history.
Juneteenth is an official holiday in several U.S. states and is growing in popularity both nationally and globally. Juneteenth is the celebration of the end of slavery; the last place to abolish slavery in the United States was Galveston, Texas, on June 19th, 1865, two-and-one-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863. There are several theories why emancipation came so much later to Galveston, and those theories are some of the topics that students will discover as they research the end of slavery in the Western Hemisphere.
This lesson uses the book Meet Addy by Connie Porter to teach the characteristics of historical fiction, making inferences and using visualization, and Civil War history. The book tells the story of a young girl who escapes from slavery during the war. Students learn how to visualize and infer events from the author’s choice of words and then refine their comprehension by questioning the text together.
When visiting the recommended website in this lesson, students learn about the Underground Railroad and “walk in the shoes” of an escaping slave. Using the picture book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, students create a problems/solutions/events chart to help them understand the relationships between Clara’s problems and how she solves them. Similar to Clara’s map that shows the path north to freedom, students create their own map, designing a key, a compass, and landmarks surrounding their home and school.
# Students gather information about the history of the U.S. holiday Juneteenth.
# Students understand the historical elements that contributed to the delayed announcement of the emancipation of slaves in Texas.
# Students recognize the look of authentic historic documents and reproduce a facsimile of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
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