BACKGROUND
This lesson was
part of a larger unit on slavery
in America. We were preparing
students to answer a unit-ending
prompt on the middle passage
of the triangle of trade in
which they would make use of
their readings on the capture
and enslavement of Olaudah Equiano.
COMMENTARY
We chose as a
team to engage the students
through the use of a classroom
simulation. The simulation activity
proved far more successful than
we had anticipated. Students
were actively engaged throughout
the lesson, responding to the
visual images of the exchange
of commodities and the treatment
of humans within that system.
One key component of lesson
study is the actual observation
of the collaboratively designed
lesson. We had two distinct
elements in our lesson: a mapping
exercise and the simulation.
After observing and debriefing,
we chose to break the lesson
into two separate experiences.
Prior to this lesson and in
preparation for the discussion
on the Middle Passage and American
slavery, the instructor provided
the students with a brief overview
of life in West Africa. This
included the kidnapping of slaves
by African and European slave
traders and the transport of
captured Africans to the West
Coast of Africa.
The observed lesson focused
on the triangle of trade. Adapting
a map from the assigned textbook,
students were led through a
mapping exercise. We found that
it was important to incorporate
a geography review by labeling
specific continents, countries,
and cities. We decided this
would be a good time to have
students prepare the commodities
posters for the next day’s
simulation.
The following day’s
lesson included the actual reenactment
of trade. When we initially
observed the simulation, we
were overwhelmed with the student
response. They were able to
clearly understand how slavery
was one aspect of an international
economic endeavor that included
the treatment of people as commodities.
As a visual aid, the commodity
posters further clarified this
complex and abstract concept.
The lesson also amplified for
some students the colonial economic
dependence and subjugation to
British imperial and economic
needs. At the end of the simulation,
most were able to articulate
the economic basis of slavery
while also acknowledging the
cruelty of enslaving other humans.
After debriefing the written
and oral responses of the students,
we decided to revise the simulation
in order to ensure the active
participation of all students.
Because there were more students
than commodities, some students
had to be observers. They were
assigned a new task. In the
revised lesson they were required
to complete feedback sheets.
We also devised more explicit
instructions for participants.
We followed our lessons on
the triangle of trade with excerpts
from the autobiography of Equiano,
which discussed his kidnapping
and middle passage experience.
These readings would further
prepare students for a formal
writing assignment.
In our original culminating
assessment we included both
writing prompts. This prompt
would be our revised culminating
assessment:
How does Equiano’s writing
help us understand the experience
of Africans as part of the triangle
of trade? How did Equiano’s
autobiography help further your
understanding?
Having the background on the
colonial and imperial trade
routes, students possessed a
greater context through which
to understand Equiano’s
story. In the final writing
assignment, despite assistance
with note-taking and scaffolding,
most students still had a difficult
time extrapolating from Equiano
to the experience of enslaved
Africans.
We found that students had
difficulty deciphering the vocabulary
and language in historical documents.
Despite teacher led note-taking,
students continued to struggle
with translating their notes
into formal writing. Although
students were able to identify
specific evidence, they continued
to have a difficult time with
analysis. They did have an easier
time finding evidence for their
final writing because they had
access to notes. However, too
often student writing included
what they anticipated the teacher
wanted. In general, they were
unable to draw their own conclusions.
In our final debriefing, we
decided that analysis needs
to be regularly practiced in
the classroom, recognizing that
analysis is difficult for both
teacher and student. Lacking
an explicit plan to instruct
students in analysis, we grappled
with where to place emphasis
and how to evaluate statements
during the lesson.
One of the areas in which
students were continually successful
was their ability to express
empathy and make connections.
Biography offers the possibility
for students to visualize and
empathize with the human aspect
of the historical experience.
They were able to tap into one
person’s life story. Because
they had difficulty drawing
conclusions from the specific
story, we decided it would be
important to pull in more view
points to demonstrate the complexity
of historical events. We found
that it remained difficult for
them to generalize to the big
question of “What does
their experience tell us about
that period in history?”
Accessible biographies and autobiographies
are hard to find at the fifth
grade reading level. It takes
time to find useful passages
to share with students
We would like to extend our
explicit instruction to Equiano
and examine how to teach biography,
so that students can transfer
specific information from one
individual to a shared experience
or generalization about a group.
One idea was to send students
home to watch a family routine
such as the dinner meal. The
following day they would share
in class. Then, students would
come up with generalizations
about how families take their
evening meal. This exercise
on specific-to-general would
develop a schema for teaching
Equiano’s capture and
experience in the middle passage
as illustrative of a shared
experience.
We did not anticipate how
successful the simulation would
be and how explicitly we needed
to direct the mapping activity.
Students needed to be reminded
of geographic features during
the mapping. We had not anticipated
all of the steps in the mapping
exercise. We do believe the
combination mapping and simulation
would be helpful for second
language learners since visual
and kinesthetic cues are an
integral part of the experience.
In the subsequent lessons, which
included the Equiano excerpts,
language and vocabulary were
difficult for students and required
a lot of re-phrasing on the
part of instructor. In conclusion,
the two areas we must work on
as teachers are:
- finding resources to add
multiple perspectives
- helping students to limit
their tendency to exaggeration.
