Next month I'll be starting a novel study of The Book of Negroes with a grade 12 class. I've been looking for resources and ideas to incorporate into the unit -- reading slave narratives, history books, browsing pictures, and watching video clips. I think it would be really interesting to do a lesson on spirituals that slaves sang (you know, "Sweet Chariot" or "Wade in the Water"). I figure this is something many teachers have probably taught before, so, as usual, I thought -- "Why reinvent the wheel?" and did an online search.
One of the ideas I came across: using the supplied handout, "for homework students will write their own Negro spiritual."
???
A class of white upper-middle class kids writing their own spirituals? What a joke! I think sometimes history teachers forget that they are telling the story of real people -- people who deserve respect. When I read about Holocaust crosswords, "write-your-own-spiritual" handouts, or inappropriate role play I realize that this is sometimes lost.
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