The past couple of weeks we have been reading historical fiction read a louds. It has produced some interesting conversations. Our first read a loud was The Other side. That really is what prompted our discussion. The students could not conceive how the two girls could not just be friends. They asked, "why, how, who" about the time period. It lead us to the discussion of how blacks had been treated poorly during other times.
We then talked about slavery. We read More Than Anything Else, a time after slavery, but not a time that was much better. We talked about the power of an education and how that would lead to a better life. Why Booker, in the story wanted to read more than anything else. He saw the promise an education would give to him.
That lead us ultimately to the discussion of slavery. I have to say I was surprised how little the students knew about such a vast time period in history. Trying to answer all their questions made me realize how limited their understanding was. They asked, " Why didn't they run away?, Why didn't they fight back?. Why didn't they just say, No!"
This made me search to help my students understand this horrible time in our history. This is when I came across this video. In four minutes the students were able to grasp what I had been trying to explain. A picture is worth more than a thousand words. That statement was never so true as the moments when my students watched and learned. It made our discussions deeper and their understanding more real. It was apowerful moment for all of us!
