Vacaciones

Today is Friday, and I've been on spring break this past week, and will be heading back to work on Monday. It's been a nice break, a nice chance to relax, catch up on some reading, and go places with my kids. I'm currently reading the book My Jim, by Nancy Rawles. It's the story of Sadie, a black woman slave near the end of slavery in the mid 1800's. She was married to Jim, the same Jim from Huckleberry Finn fame (and of course, it's fiction).

It is an interesting book, I've always had some difficulty reading books written in the incantatory voice of the slaves, but it is sad to actually feel their treatment from up close. I'm going to sit down this weekend and think of some good stories to read and things to do when teaching slavery. I did my slavery unit back in November, I try to, in 5th grade social studies, start with pre-Colombian native tribes, and move all the way up through the present. It's an ambitious task that I only pulled off for the first time last year. I put the finishing touches on a World War II / Holocaust unit right as the break hit, so I'm hoping 8 weeks will be long enough to get up to the present.

I'll post very soon with some ideas and resources for teaching slavery.