American History through American Lives

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 20.01.03

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction and Rationale: The False Narrative
  2. The False Narrative in Education
  3. Demographics
  4. The Benefit of Biography
  5. Unit Objectives and Components
  6. What is humanity? (1600s-1800s)
  7. What is Freedom? (1800s-1900s)
  8. What is Citizenship? What is Justice? (1900s to Present)
  9. Teaching Strategies
  10. Classroom Activities
  11. Conclusion and Unit Product
  12. Adaptations and Extensions
  13. Annotated Bibliography
  14. Appendix for District Standards
  15. Notes

“Faces in the Frame: More than a Narrative”-The Lives that Frame the True History of the United States through Primary Sources

Taryn Elise Coullier

Published September 2020

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Unit Objectives and Components

My goal to address this unjust and distorted teaching of African American history requires not only teaching the full truth of the historical events but teaching the life stories of people from four-hundred years to connect movements and events. The goal is for students to have a true understanding of history to better understand who they are and what it means for the world they live in today. Using primary sources is vitally important in this unit; they allow us to show the truth about people, events in history, and allow students to uncover truth for themselves. This curriculum will use linked biographies along with supporting primary sources. Students will keep their information in notebooks as well as primary source information in a binder. We will spend one week on each specific figure through research, discussion and learning to foster historical thinking and inquiry in the classroom using primary sources.15 Students will complete a research and writing assignment for each historical figure, and this will turn into a collaborative writing project piece, with an audio-digital component. For a historical through-line to connect events and these individual lives, I will be using the text: “From Slavery to Freedom” a History of African Americans by John Hope Franklin and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham for teaching purposes.

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