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Documenting the Lives of Enslaved People

Civil War Race Slavery Black

Much is known about the awful legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and, more broadly, about how European and, later, American perpetrators maintained the slave system. Much less is known, however, about enslaved people and their life experiences. Aside from slave narratives, what is known is scattered among a variety of different sources spanning the history of slavery and the slave trade. A new project has been undertaken to fill this critical knowledge gap. Listen to learn about Enslaved.org, a project that aims to document the lives and stories of enslaved people.

?L LEXILE AUDIO MEASURE

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Story Length: 4:20

Listen to the Story:

Listening Comprehension Questions

  • In what ways did Andrew Carnegie’s libraries serve their communities?
  • How did Carnegie benefit from a library when he was growing up?
  • Which personality traits helped propel Carnegie from poverty to riches? Bring specific details from the story to support your ideas.
  • According to Carnegie, what should rich people do with their money and why? Why was Carnegie known as both generous and “brutal”?

Discussion Themes

  • In your opinion, what should really rich people do with their fortunes?
  • What does it take for a person to rise from “rags to riches”?

Socrative users can import these questions using the following code: SOC-1234

Listening Organizers

  • Fact, Question, Response

  • Language Identification Organizer

  • Deeper Meaning Chart

Related Lessons

Social Studies • ELL

Founding Fathers and Slavery

In the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson argued that “all men are created equal,” yet during his lifetime he owned over 600 men, women and children. Jefferson wasn’t the only Founding Father who owned slaves and supported slavery. How could men who believed in liberty also believe in slavery? This lesson explores this contradiction, as well as the lives of slaves who made Jefferson’s lifestyle possible.

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Boston Historic Building Has A Story To Tell

Many old buildings have stories to tell. One building in downtown Boston, 26 Court Street, played an important role in Boston’s fight to help end slavery. Trials held in this courthouse galvanized the abolitionist movement in Boston during the 1850s. Before and after this building was a courthouse, it served several other purposes that are also part of Boston’s rich history. Listen to learn more about this building’s history, as well as its future.

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Harriet Tubman's Birthplace

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland. She escaped and came back to lead hundreds of enslaved people to New York and Canada along the route of the Underground Railroad. She was also a spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War. Nearly 200 years after her birth, Harriet Tubman is being honored with a visitor center in her name, located near her birthplace in Maryland. The visitor center depicts her life and the Underground Railroad, including interactive images that show her journey to the north. Listen to learn more about Harriet Tubman and this inspirational and historic place.

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40 Acres and a Mule

After Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, millions of enslaved people in Confederate territory were freed. This raised the question of what was to happen to them now that they were free. In Savannah, Georgia, a group of Black leaders met to discuss this very issue. This meeting led to an order to distribute land taken from the confederacy and some army mules to local Black people. But the promise was taken back. This led to the phrase “40 acres and a mule,” a phrase historically taken to symbolize the broken promises made by the U.S. government to America’s Black population in the post-war years. In this story, several historians are interviewed about this famous meeting in Savannah. They detail the historical context for the meeting, the details of the conversation, the resulting field order, and the reasons behind why the order was later taken back.

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Lexile Audio Measure

The Lexile Audio Measure is an indicator of the complexity of an audio passage. It is based on a scientifically developed scale with a maximum score of 2000L.

How to Use Lexile Audio Measures

Find stories at the right level of complexity for your students, so that they will be challenged without being frustrated. The measures are categorized into low, medium, or high in order to aid teachers in story selection when they do not know students’ Lexile listening levels.

Listening Level Lexile Audio Measures
0L -1250L
1251L -1555L
1556L-2000L
Recommended Lexile Audio Measures by Grade Level

These recommended ranges are for instructional use of Listenwise audio content in combination with supports such as the interactive transcript, etc.

Grade Lexile Audio Measures (Recommended Ranges)
1 215L - 610L
2 490L - 855L
3 725L - 1060L
4 945L - 1250L
5 1045L - 1350L
6 1125L - 1430L
7 1190L - 1500L
8 1250L - 1555L
9 1300L - 1610L
10 1345L - 1655L
11/12 1385L - 1695L
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