FORCED IMMIGRATION FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA

Forced Immigration From Africa to America by Candiss Brooks

I.

Lesson Plan Overview and Description

1. Expected duration: 1 class period
2. Social Sciences: Geography, Sociology, & History
3. Concepts (Big Ideas): The purpose of this lesson is to a) explore what hardships
Africans endured when they involuntary came to America and b) discover how long it
took Africans to gain equality.
4. Vocabulary
Forced immigration A person or group of people that are moved out of their
homes against their will.
Slavery A system under which people have no freedom and are forced to work
without pay.
5. Skills: Reading, research, critical thinking, and analyzing primary and secondary
sources.
6. Broad Goals of Lesson: Discover that not all groups of people who came to America
came by their own free will or choice.

II.

Content Outline
A. Some people came to America voluntarily others were not given a choice.
B. Africans were brought here against their will and were forced into slavery. Anyone
who tried to resist was severely beaten or killed. Even though there was a possibility
of death, some Africans escaped and fought for a life of freedom instead of captivity.
i. Slavery is a system under which people have no freedom and are forced to work
without pay.
C. In the 1860s slavery was outlawed after years of African Americans fighting for their
rights as equal citizens in America. It took decades after slavery was outlawed for
there to be an effort to work to create that equality

III.

Standards
PDE SAS Standards PA Civics, History, Geography;
NCSS Thematic Strands and Performance Indicators
1. Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards Aligned System
Subject Area 7: Geography
Standard Area 7.3: Human Characteristics of Places and Regions
Grade Level 7.3.3: GRADE 3
Standard 7.3.3.A: Identify the human characteristics of places and
regions using the following criteria:
Population, Culture, Settlement, Economic activities, & Political activities
2. PDE Common Core
N/A
3. National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: Thematic Strands and Performance
Indicators
II.
Time, Continuity, & Change
a. Demonstrate an understanding that different people may describe the

FORCED IMMIGRATION FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA

VI.

same event or situation in diverse ways, citing reasons for the

differences in views.
c. Compare and contrast different stories or accounts about past events,
people, places, or situations, identifying how they contribute to our
understanding of the past.
d. Identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past, such as
documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others.
Power, Authority, & Governance
h. Recognize and give examples of the tensions between the wants and
needs of individuals and groups and concepts such as fairness, equity,
and justice.

IV.

Lesson Objectives
A. After lesson, students will be able to recognize the reason behind the forced
immigration of Africans to America.
B. After lesson, students will be able to understand the hardships and cruel treatment
African Americans went through during and after slavery.

V.

Teaching Procedures
1. Introduction/Anticipatory Set (Teacher talk is italicized)
i. Imagine that you are at the playground with all your friends. Youre having a good
time, laughing and running around. When suddenly someone you dont know takes
you and your friends on a boat. You have no idea where youre going and when you
finally get there all the people look different from you. This isnt the place you grew
up. You dont know where you are family or friends are. These people who have taken
you from your home are now making you work without pay. You are doing hard labor
and hardly ever get a break. If you dont follow the rules you are beaten and you
know some of your friends who have even been killed. What would you do? How
would you feel? [Lead into a discussion about students feelings about the scenario
given to them.] Unfortunately, class, this really happened to some people who came
to America. We have learned a lot about cultures who immigrated here by choice.
Today we are going to learn about a group of people who were not given a choice.
And once they got there were thrown into slavery.
2. Lesson Input
i. We will begin by introducing vocabulary terms.
ii. Students will discuss the hardships slaves encountered by engaging in various
activities. They will read primary documents from this time period, seeing first hand
accounts of the struggles slaves went through. They will watch educational movies
that will give students a visual picture of what life was likes for African Americans
during that time. They will also look through childrens books to read non-fiction
accounts of the time period.
iii. We will explore the reasoning behind slavery and why this happened in America.
Students will then see that even though slavery ended there were many problems for
African Americans after and still today.
3. Guided Practice

FORCED IMMIGRATION FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA

i. In groups, students will be given a different document giving information about

slavery time. They will have to decide whether the source is primary or secondary and
give a small report to the class explaining what they learned from that document
about slavery.
4. Independent Practice
i. Students will complete the Slavery Scavenger Hunt to practice researching
websites and finding information from them.
5. Differentiation
Lesson will be differentiated based on the specific learning and behavioral needs of
students in classroom, such as ELL, gifted (above level), and remediation (below
level).
6. Closure
i. After the lesson, there will be a class discussion about slavery and what they
learned that they did not know previously.
VI.

Teacher and Student Resources and Evaluation of Resources

A. Student Reading Resources
B. Teacher Resources for Lesson Design
C. Evaluation of Teacher Resources
Resource
Influence
3+ Characteristics
Accessibility
Title or
Significant
suggesting that the
Access for
Website
Influence (SI) or
source is a quality
teachers or
Address
Minor Influence
resource, reliable
others
(MI) in informing material
your thinking,
decisions about
the lesson plan
http://hitchco Minor Influence
Great website about
Accessible
ck.itc.virgini
the harsh conditions of for students
a.edu/Slaver
the trip from Africa to and teachers
y/details.php
America for slaves
?
categorynum
=5&category
Name=Slave
%20Ships
%20and
%20the
%20Atlantic
%20Crossing
%20(Middle
%20Passage)
&theRecord
=11&record

Overall Rating
and
Suggestions for
current, future
use of resource

Pretty good

FORCED IMMIGRATION FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA

Count=78
http://teacher
.scholastic.co
m/activities/
bhistory/und
erground_rail
road/children
.htm#keepin
g-control
http://www2.
lhric.org/poc
antico/civilw
ar/timeline.ht
m
http://educati
on.nationalge
ographic.co
m/education/
media/under
groundrailroadjourneyfreedom/?
ar_a=1

Significant
Influence

Story from the point

of view of a slave.
Talks life for slaves on
the plantation.

Accessible
for students
and teachers

Great website

Significant
Influence

Timeline of the civil

war. Helps students
see through pictures
what happened

Accessible
for students
and teachers

Great because
kids made it.
Very kid
friendly

Minor Influence

Game for students to

play to put themselves
in the shoes of a slave

Accessible
for students

Great
interactive
game

VII.

Formative/Summative Assessment(s)
A. Formative Assessment
i. The teacher will observe and monitor the students discussion about why
students think slavery took place.
B. Summative Assessment
i. students will write two paragraphs about one thing they learned about slavery
and how they would feel if they were a slave. The criteria for the essay is as
follows:
3: Students show they have an exceptional understanding of the content by
writing two well-developed paragraphs using examples from what was
learned in class as well as reflective thinking as they put themselves in a
slaves shoes.
2: Students show they have a proficient understanding of the content by
writing two well developed paragraphs that with examples from classroom
assignments and activities.
1: Student shows little understanding of the content due to poorly crafted
paragraphs with m use of in class discussions and activities
0: Student did not complete assignment

VIII.

Technology/Materials/Equipment

FORCED IMMIGRATION FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA

IX.

Computer or laptop with internet and audio capabilities

Projection capabilities to a SmartBoard (or whiteboard) for the
computer/laptop
PowerPoints
Primary and secondary sources from/about slavery

Reflection on Planning
This lesson is an important component of the unit plans plan because it shows the
ugly side of Americas history. The only way to make sure that mistakes are not
repeated is to educate students those mistakes and why they occurred. This lesson
plan gives students a chance to explore many different entry points of slavery, giving
them a lot of exposure to what it was like during that time. This lesson is also
important in understanding the background of African-Americans and the reasons
why they still face injustices today.