Language Arts Standard One

All teachers must know a broad range of literacy techniques and strategies for every aspect of
communication and must be able to develop each student’s ability to read, write, speak, and
listen to his or her potential within the demands of the discipline.

Description:

For standard one of the Language Arts portion, I chose a Document-Based Question handout
activity surrounding Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. In this activity, students are
asked to bring their textbooks to read a portion of the novel about slave trading. The students
are asked to read from the passage and answer questions on a reading guide. The text in the
book has been taken from the actual novel and is written with dialect. For those student who
struggle with the reading, there is a modified version (rewritten in plain text) of the text
available. Upon completion of the reading and the handout, students are given the modified
version and asked to read it. Then they are to determine if their answers changed based on
the different version. After all students are finished, the teacher leads a discussion about the
text.

Meeting the standard:

This artifact meets the standard because it asks students to read material, answer questions
based on the material, and discuss those answers aloud. The Uncle Tom’s Cabin DBQ activity is
not unlike many lessons focused on literacy, but this is merely put in the context of social
studies. It is clear that all teachers are reading teachers and are trained to promote literacy.
This is just one example of the way I have promoted literacy in my classroom.

How this demonstrates my development as a teacher:

This artifact shows my development as an educator because of the way it was planned. In the
past, any activity that followed this same script did not account for accommodations or
struggling students. Beginning with this lesson, I felt comfortable adapting and differentiating
reading lessons. I found that when giving this lesson, all students were engaged, learning, and
hopefully improving on their literacy skills. It is the benchmark lesson as my first successful
attempt at formal (planned) differentiation.
 Lesson Plan: Tuesday, 4/5/2011
Class: US History
Unit: Civil War
Topic: Uncle Tom’s Cabin

ISBE Standards: 14.D.2, 16.A.2a, 18.B.3b

Objectives (Students will):

 Attempt to better understand the life of a slave through reading passages of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
 Analyze the historical interpretation of the passage and discuss whether or not it is accurate.


Materials:
News, Pre-Civil War PowerPoint, Outline Handout, Projector, Smartboard, Uncle Tom’s Handout

Procedure:
 INTRODUCTION:
1. Begin class by taking attendance.
2. Have the assigned student read the news, then supplement the news with other stories.
 LESSON:
1. Ask students to retrieve/get out the Chapter 14 outline and their books (PAGE).
2. Begin the PowerPoint and talk briefly about the background of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
3. Pass out the UTC worksheet and ask students to put away outlines.
4. Allow students to work in partners to read the text and follow the worksheet and answer questions.
 IF TIME REMAINS: Bring up the slave market posters and have student analyze the depictions of slaves –
Tie this into the UTC discussion.
 CLOSING: With a couple minutes left, have students place their outlines in their folders and hand in the
UTC worksheet. Explain what is happening the following day (note taking and Dred Scott activity) Dismiss
the class when the bell rings.

Assessment:
Student participation will be evaluated by the completion of the outline and the UTC worksheet.

Assessment Tool:
Chapter 14 Outline & UTC Worksheet

Plans for Diversity:

The topics covered in Chapter 14 allow for discussion of topics surrounding race, social class, and even gender.
Throughout this lesson, I will discuss the issue of African-Americans and their servitude during this era.
 Uncle Tom’s Cabin Reading Guide
Name: __________________________________________ Hour: _______ Score: _______

Answer the following questions from the reading on page 492 & 493.

1. What are the main points or the key ideas in this work?

2. What Harriet Beecher Stowe trying to accomplish by writing this part of the book?

3. Do you think that Stowe accomplished the purpose? Why?

4. What information does Stowe assume is true? How do you know her information is true?

5. Is the author trying to persuade you to think a certain way after reading this material?

6. How does this fit into the historical context?

 Uncle Tom’s Cabin
By Harriet Beecher Stowe
Adapted from pages 492-493 of America: The History of Our Nation

“Come on, are you going to trade the girl? How much will you take for her?”

“Mr. Haley, she will not be sold,” said Shelby. “My wife would not let me sell her for her weight in gold.”

“Ah, women say all kinds of things because they don’t know anything about what something is worth. Just
show her how many nice things she can buy with the money and that will change her mind”

“Stop talking about it Haley, I said no and I mean it,” Shelby said decidedly.

“Well then you’ll sell me the boy then,” the trader said, “You must admit I’ve offered a fair price for him.”

“What on earth can you want with that child?” said Shelby.

“Why, I have a friend that is going into the slave trading business – he wants to buy some handsome boys to
raise and sell. They will be used as waiters and things like that, and rich people will buy them. It really makes
your plantation house fancy – a real handsome boy to open the door, wait, and tend. They can be worth a lot of
money, and this little devil is a funny, entertaining one, he’s exactly what I want to buy!”

“I would rather not sell him,” said Mr. Shelby, thoughtfully; “the fact is that I’m a humane man, and I hate to
take the boy from his mother, sir.”

“Oh do you? I understand perfectly. It’s unpleasant dealing with women sometimes, I always hate when they
cry and scream. They are really unpleasant, and in my business, I generally avoid them, sir. Now, what if you
get your wife to leave home for a day, a week, or so; then sell the girl to me quietly – so the whole thing is done
before she comes home. You could get he some earrings, a new dress, or something else expensive to make it
up to her.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Lord bless you! These critters ain’t like white people, you know; they get over things and can be okay. Now
they say,” said Haley in a candid and confident way, “that trading slaves makes you forget your feelings, but it
has never happened to me. The fact is, I could never be like some other traders. I’ve seen traders that would
pull a woman’s child out of her arms, and put him up for trade in the market, and the mother was screaming the
whole time – this a very bad policy – it damages the slave – makes them worthless sometimes. I knew a real
handsome slave woman, in New Orleans, and she was ruined by this sort of treatment. The man that was
trading for her didn’t want her baby; and she was one of those who would fight if she was angry. She grabbed
her child and began saying awful things. It makes my blood run cold to think about it; and when they took the
child away, and locked her up, she just went crazy, and died in a week. It was a waste of a thousand dollars, sir.
It’s always best to do the humane thing sir; that’s been my experience.” And the trade leaned back in his chair,
and folded his arms, with the appearance that he was a good man, apparently considering himself a second
Wilberforce (an English man against slavery).