Goals:

1. Construct a historical newspaper to serve as an example of historical perspectives.
2. Use historical resources to extract important information.
3. Interpret historical information.
4. Learn from each other about the Atlantic Slave Trade.
5. Work effectively together.

Resources:

1. Africa in History by Basil Davidson (1991). New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. (ISBN 0-02-042791-3).
2. The Atlantic Slave Trade by David Northrup (1994). Lexington: D.C. Heath and Co. (ISBN 0-669-33145-7)
3. Library Access
4. Internet Access
   
   http://asu.alasu.edu/academic/advstudies/3b.html
   
   

Materials:

1. Poster board
2. Glue
3. Scissors
4. Markers
5. Construction paper

Time:

Approximate time of 5 to 6 hours

Steps one through three (.5 to 1 hour)

Step four (1 to 1.5 hours)

Step five (1.5 to2 hours)

Step six and seven (1 to 1.5 hours)

Procedure:

1. Explanation of newspaper construction. (see sheet)
2. Divide students into groups of four students. (optional)
3. Assign each team a specific perspective to write from. (see sheet)
4. Allow students access to resources to search out information.
5. Give students class time to construct the newspaper as a group.
6. Give students time to present their newspaper to the rest of the class.
7. Allow time for discussion about the newspaper activity.

Assessment:

1. Each team must turn in a fully constructed newspaper on the slave trade from their

   assigned perspective (Criteria for success- see writing rubric).
   

2. Each team must demonstrate use of historical data and documented research

   (Criteria for success- using historical data and documenting research).
   

3. Evaluation of each team member by peers and teacher observation (Criteria for success- see group and self-assessment rubrics).
   

Curricular Strands and Major Concepts:

1. Language Arts- writing skills used to produce articles and reading skills used in seeking

   sources.
   

2. Social Studies- historical information and processing of data.
3. Math- use of charts and or tables to explain economic aspects of slave trade.

Possible Extensions:

1. Further discussion on the role of different perspectives in history.
2. Find newspaper articles that show obvious bias and use them to explain history

   as a "perspective" based subject.
   

3. Visit the local newspaper and speak to the editor about different perspectives in present day news.

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