Researching Slaves Who Learned

to Read
8th grade Language Arts Class
Created by Jessica Hanley
Teaching Research to Children and Adolescents
June 17, 2009

Objective: Students will gather and use information from both print
and electronic resources focusing on African-American slaves in the
1800’s that secretly learned to read. Students will determine what
information is the most useful to their needs and use it to crate a mini-
poster focusing on one slave.

Reason: This project will be done in collaboration with the eighth

grade language arts teacher and is done while the students are
reading the novel Nightjohn by Gary Paulson.

Duration: 1-2 class periods.

Standards: Standard 1- Accesses information efficiently and

effectively to inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. Standard 3-
Uses information accurately, creatively, and ethically to share
knowledge and participate ethically as members of our democratic
society. I-Sail: Illinois Standards Aligned Instruction for Libraries.

Materials: Nightjohn, library set of laptop computers, multiple copies

of Growing Up in Slavey, Stories of Young Slaves as Told by
Themselves, introductions and epilogues by Yuval Taylor, printer,
scanner, heavy paper, markers and coloring supplies.

http://classroom.monticello.org/teachers/resources/profile/259/Slave-
Life-at-Monticello/
http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/36273418/Young-
FREDERICK-DOUGLASS
http://www.penguinputnam.com/static/rguides/us/narrative_life_of_
frederick_douglass.html

Opening Activity: As a class, have students discuss the following

prompts:
• When do you need to be able to read throughout the day?
• What decisions would be harder for you if you did not know
how to read?
• How do you use reading to have fun? Think carefully!
 • What are other ways to get information?
• When slaves were not allowed to read, how do you think
they gather needed information?
• How would you feel if you lived in today’s world and did not
know how to read?
Activity:
1) Students will receive the following assignment:
Since you are reading Nightjohn and learning about the immense
difficulties
slaves face in learning how to read and write, you will learn
about some real
slaves who did just that. Using the book Growing Up in Slavery
and the listed
websites, you will create a mini-poster on the story of a slave
who was able to
learn these things. On your poster, you need to include the
following:
• A picture or drawing of your subject
• The birthplace, lifespan, and other bibliographic
details
• How they learned to read or write
• 2 quotes about how the learned and how it changed
their life
• 1 paragraph about how your life would be different if
you didn’t know how to read.
*Make sure that your resources/quotes are properly cited on the
bottom of your poster. If you use a different resource, make sure it is
appropriate.
2) After students receive these instructions, they will work individually
on located their material using both the books and online resources
(databases not available at my school). Teacher and LMS will circulate
to help students gather and use material.
3) After students find the needed material, they will either print or scan
a picture from the book for use on their poster.
4) Students will spend the remainder of the time putting together their
mini-poster, which will ultimately be displayed in the LMC.

Assessment:
LMS and classroom teacher will grade the posters and reflect on
collaboration.