Taking African American History to Heart
Imagine this cast of characters: a diverse group of people—spanning more than three centuries—who accomplished great things despite immense challenges. Sound like a movie theme or a great novel storyline? For students in Kathy Bailey’s third grade class, it’s also a summary of their winter term social studies unit on notable African Americans that culminated with individual monologues presented to classmates, parents, and other guests.
Each student selected the individual he or she wished to study—from Barack Obama and Condoleezza Rice to Jesse Owens and Madam C. J. Walker. Then, with the support of librarian Anne Hedgepeth began developing their research skills. Writing, re-writing, and editing their monologues was the next step, followed by memorizing them. Although the assignment emphasized gaining an in-depth understanding of one particular individual, the learning opportunities went far beyond that. Students developed respect and appreciation for other cultures and gained a better understanding of the realities of life that influenced and shaped the people they were researching.
To gain context for their research, students learned about key points in African history, slavery, and the civil rights movement. They gained insight into the African-American experience during the 1950s by reading The Gold Cadillac. Branching beyond the classroom, students visited the School of Nations Museum, where they interacted with cultural objects from western African countries to get a taste for Africans’ lives prior to enslavement and to recognize the influence of that early culture on those they studied. During music class, students learned both Underground Railroad and cakewalk songs. (The latter were first sung by slaves and later revived during the ragtime era.) In art, students created “self”-portraits of their subject.
The unit concluded with each student transforming into his or her notable African American. In costumes and speaking in the first person, students delivered well-practiced monologues that transported their audience across different time periods and cultures.
Reflecting on this interdisciplinary learning experience, Kathy Bailey summarized its wide-ranging value: “This is a wonderful project because the children own every piece of it—from choosing a subject and doing the research, to writing the monologue, memorizing it, and performing it. Our study unit was impactful in other ways, too. Learning that slavery could have existed—that people could have treated other people so cruelly and that courage and perseverance enable people to accomplish great things gave the students a much greater level of appreciation, respect, and compassion for others.”
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