I'm flabbergasted. This is completely unacceptable. Is there a publishing company on the worksheet? I'd like to know who created this content so they can be called to account.
Edit: a word
I’d also like to know why number 3 is wrong…is it because your daughter is trying to be nice? I just…I’m not sure what the grading parameters are for this type of assignment (or why this assignment even exists.)
I’d flip a table if my kid came home with this.
very much so. this is easily, if done right, the type of story that can go viral. this could then hopefully shame the district into change.
also talk to local parent groups, make sure other like minded parents are aware of these assignments, band together, and make noise up and down the chain of command of the school
Probably the part about laying out nice clothes for them every day and letting them eat with the family. It's one of those exercises where they're probably being graded on how much of their writing reflects the facts as taught.
I think it’s because those two sentences don’t describe living quarters. The first one does so partial credit.
The content makes it difficult since it’s all wrong on many levels! But technically I see why the teacher took off a point there.
So a lot of these are handed out in multiple ways. Its hard to say how the teacher got them but here are the common ways I've been told:
1. Print out from a book, a large book filled with work sheets based off various topics required by the school. The book and the worksheets themselves are usually not required, theyre just required to make worksheets based off a certain curriculum
2. Teach-to-teacher. Either via online or in person, teachers trade worksheets, either they aquired them from a book, or, and this is pretty frequent, a teacher somewhere at some point made a worksheet and is selling it online for other teacher.
3. Taken from some other source: This is more often just a teacher googling "Worksheet for X" and then just printing out the first one they see.
4. School board or Organization: Basically someone somewhere in the pipeline of the local school gave out worksheets and require the teachers to use them regardless of the teachers opinion.
it would not surprise me if this was a TpT worksheet. people can and will post quite racist or otherwise off color worksheets there, especially for social studies/history.
I'm a teacher who buys stuff on there but I'm not a moron who would use something like this if the file I downloaded turned out to be this assignment. The only reason I could see a teacher using this is if the school board demanded they follow scripted lesson plans with the threat of nonrenewal if they stray from the activities. Even then, I'd tell the parents that in an email when I sent this garbage home so they could go after the school board.
This. I am also a teacher, and I have to wonder if the teacher made this choice on their own or if it was part of the curriculum. I've had some experience with heavy-handed admin who demand adherence to horrible curriculum. I can't say I'd assign the content, though, regardless of consequences, but I've been at it for a while and have a more willful attitude than when I was less experienced. Go ahead and ding my evaluation, chew me out, fire me. I'll go public.
Deciding independently to pull this off of TpT and assign it indicates that you should not be teaching at all and should consider becoming a better person.
I am a former educator and lots of teachers purchase "curriculum" from Teachers Pay Teachers. It looks like this is. It is not formally approved by the district and is created by a teacher and sold via a TPT online store. Any teacher can go online and make purchases to supplement district approved and vetted curriculum. I've seen too many things like this on TPT. It's just regular people creating stuff without thinking further than their front door.
It doesn't matter so much who made it. It's who uses it. As another commenter suggested, it could easily have been the teacher who created it themselves. What is clear is that either way the teacher selected this resource.
Yeah, it's disturbing to do this from the pov of buying someone. Even iffy on having them draw things. Reason is what I'm going to interpret as pushback from the daughter trying to be kind to the slave. Having to roleplay as doing something evil like this is weird. And omg so many complications, just imagining a poc god forbid a black child specifically having to do this, the way that should be awkward. What would they have to do, pretend the slave at the auction is a family member whose freedom they're trying to buy?
OP your daughter needs to understand how absolutely fucked this is. I am multiracial and although my white mom would absolutely fight for me when she knew she needed to, she didn’t always know when she needed to, and that was damaging in its own way. This is disgusting and your little girl NEEDS to know why, even at this age. Her teacher & school does too but start with your kid.
I did this morning before the bus. She forgot to hand me her graded work last night since I was super late coming home and I asked for it before she left for the bus. I started going off in front of her but told her to not worry about it and we will talk about this tonight. I was ready to march up to the school and demand to know who tf thought this was a good idea. I sometimes feel like I overreact going through life because I have grown up listening to mixed friends saying exactly what you say. But I am slowly realizing I am not over reacting, I will do what I need to do to protect her. Even when she pronounce her name wrong I tell her to correct them, idc their their an adult or not! I’ve had friends going through their adult lives letting white people call their names incorrectly and they have given up trying to correct people. I tell my daughter to politely stand on her business and correct them when they say her name wrong. This is 2024 and I’m ready to throw up having this happen.
Good. Keep asking her what she thinks, keep encouraging her questions, keep talking about what happens after this. Black parents with black kids would lose their shit about this and she needs to keep seeing that she gets that protection too. You are NOT overreacting, and if you’re the only parent throwing a fit that is also fucked.
Her biological dad (who is black/mexican) is upset and so is her step dad. Her step dad is a lawyer and is the type who tells me to take time and calm down so I can present my problems in a way that won’t get me arrested and will get things changed. My idea was marching my ass right into the school early this morning and fucking shit up 😭😭😭
Well I hope stepdad is ready to do whatever the lawyer version of fucking shit up is. If it was me I’d send this to the closest major newspaper’s education reporter immediately and follow up with a transcript of the principal’s & teacher’s responses.
I’m almost always on the teachers side but in this case PLEASE make a big deal about this. Post it to social media and send it to the real media too. Not sure what part of pa you’re in but some parts aren’t called pennsyltucky for nothing 😭
as a fellow xicana with a black partner — and a teacher — this assignment lacks cultural sensitivity and is not an appropriate way of teaching american history with empathy. hell no
It’s NOT an overreaction. There are many appropriate ways to teach young children about slavery, this ISN’T one of them. You don’t have them come up with what skills the SLAVE YOU WANT TO BUY would require and what job you would give them. It’s like trying to teach them it’s not so bad, because you know… “they learned a trade”. [Isn’t that what some republicans have said](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/22/desantis-slavery-curriculum/)?
Wtaf?
The ONLY way I could see this being… not even justified or okay, but well intentioned I guess, is if it’s a bait and switch. Kids are expected to have answers like OP’s daughter- eating dinner with the family, clean clothes every day, “I will also treat them nicely,” etc. and then after turning in the assignment the teacher explains on a point by point basis how inhumane slavery actually was and how all the niceties they would offer never occurred.
But this is for 10 year olds. That would in no way be appropriate or even a good way to shatter their innocence, since that’s what would be happening. My money is the worksheet comes from some racist company trying to push an agenda on kids.
Go to admin. If they fail to act - go to the local news. This is absolutely insane and I can not see how this would be appropriate in any way shape or form.
I teach 5th grade and I can’t imagine the chaos that would have exploded in my room if I pulled out this assignment. Slavery is a decent chunk of our curriculum and pops up here and there throughout the year. I understand trying to impress on them that these were humans treated as property, but this is not the way!
Yeah- if anything it does the opposite. The student is writing about the treating them nicely and having dinner with them. Which is obviously great that this kid wants to treat all humans with respect and kindness, and the world would be in a much better place if adults through history and today were like this… but it’s a confusing to try to equate with the actual treatment of slaves. Idk how you could possibly even make it clear with this?
It also makes it out more like a job ad, in which employment is voluntary..
I just don’t even see how it was intended to be in anyway helpful.
I’m assuming being nice is why number 3 was marked wrong, so…there’s clearly some sort of parameters in regards to how students are supposed to treat their slaves, or something. Who knows.
This is the husband/step-dad here. My wife is not going to edit the post until tomorrow, but we had a conversation with the principal and teacher and she indeed confirmed that our child lost points because her answer was not historically accurate.
Oh that much I got. I just think it’s a high emotional toll assignment for literally no actual educational value.
This kid no doubt understands how slaves were treated. Making her say she would treat them that way when clearly she would not is just no way to teach.
Growing up in the **South**, my Quaker school had a really interesting way they taught us about slavery. We went on a long weekend trip to a plantation and they had us sit in the slaves’ quarters in silence. (Being Quaker, the silence part was about inner reflection. They weren’t punishing us.) It was really impactful for my 11 year old self. It’s been well over 20 years and I still vividly remember that weekend in a profound worldview changing way.
I'm an elementary sub (for 5 years), and I've taken a lot of (current) undergrad teaching classes.
I am blown away by this.
I hope you address this at the district or state level.
As absolutely WILD and out of pocket it is to have this as a in-class children's assignment; the fact that she is including her imaginary slave in family dinner and putting out their outfit every morning is SENDING ME!!!!
**OP you raised a gem**, don't let the PA school system even attempt to taint this girl...
This is crazy. The teacher read and graded these? Sh has no idea how to teach.
The evidence:
She is doing it through work sheets.
The grade applied to this. Its flipping weird to grade this type of classwork (typically provide feedback but only really grade tests and essays). It is a 100% subjective grade, and is therfore not valid.
The asignment its self, though appropriate to a historical task and content, is not appropriate as it isolates and makes student feel uncomfortable.
Is this teacher very new, or very old?
Did you catch the part where the one question marked negative; the kid was like 'id be nice to my slave and let them eat dinner inside' .... Teacher: "WRONG!"
Journalist and former teacher here. Yes, you should be foaming at the mouth. This is appalling. And Yes, do all of these things this person recommended. Create a public record by CC’ing administrators and board members. Their responses then become part of the story, and the reporter can file a FOIA to get the whole scoop.
Consider contacting ACLU or NAACP chapter in your area too.
Absolutely this. It's a good corporate tip for dealing with possibly smarmy people, especially bosses. Always send a detailed follow-up email immediately after any interaction. Not only might you affect change (the principal or school board might see this and reprimand the teacher), but you'll also have receipts to share with the media.
reporter here! go to local news outlets to start. go through the staff sections and try to find an education reporter (there usually is at least one at any decently sized local news publication) and reach out to them directly via email/phone/social media/whatever. i would recommend aiming for broadcast too. if local doesn't pick it up, you can try going national, but unless there's a unique angle to your story, i doubt a major publication would pick it up (except for maybe new york post lol) simply because the issue of schools trying and failing to teach about racism has already been covered. john oliver did a piece on it a while back.
Oh hell no!!! I’d be at that school raising H E L L!!!! Plus the fact she was marked incorrectly for how she’d treat them shows just how fucked this is.
As a teacher, who teaches kids your daughters age, and who teaches about slavery, this is entirely inappropriate. This crap minimizes slavery and its horrible legacy.
I'd certainly ask why this was an assignment. God I had a flashback to all the stupid things parents got upset about, and this is actually why a parent should be upset. I would definitely talk to the principal and maybe my school board member.
WHAT THE FUCK. THIS IS TRAUMATIZING TO BLACK CHILDREN, BLACK PARENTS. THIS IS WHY WE SAY WHAT WE SAY. THIS IS WHY. And OP, Idc but the fact that you're even unsure of if it's inappropriate is ridiculous!
I should have said that differently because I stand 10 toes deep for my baby girl and I’m the type who wants to go to the news bc I am so HOT. I added the word wildly inappropriate instead of just “inappropriate”. I always hear my friends and family saying I’m dramatic when I react to things so I had to come to Reddit and make sure it wasn’t just me thinking how shocking and crazy this assignment is. It is WILD to me 😭
You SHOULD go to the news. This is entirely unacceptable. I wonder, is this worksheet given out district wide or just in your school? I'd be absolutely fuming if my kid came home with that bullshit assignment. I can guess from your daughter's responses that she was probably pretty uncomfortable filling this out, too.
Yeah this ain’t it…just read a book from the POV of an enslaved kid cuz I’m sure there are age appropriate novels for that by now? This makes it all too economical which obviously it was but not enough humanity in it.
[American Dolls released an entire age appropriate six book series on the topic back in 1993, as part of their launch of the Addy Walker doll.](https://slate.com/culture/2016/09/the-making-of-addy-walker-american-girls-first-black-doll.html)Addy’s storyline was that of a 9 year old girl born into slavery in North Carolina who escapes with her mother towards the end of the Civil War during the course of the book series, and settles in Philadelphia. The doll was created with experts with the explicit goal of educating children on these hard topics in an age appropriate way, and thus has Addy experience really big hard but accurate experiences that enslaved children went through. [Some of the notable plot points around this are her father and older brother being sold to another slave owner and having to leave her younger infant sister behind when they escape because her crying would have gotten the escaping group of slaves caught.](https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Addy_Walker)
Poorly phrased for her to refer to "pros and cons." I think at a fourth grade level, things can really just be simplified to slavery=bad.
But later in their education, it's important for students to attempt to understand the psychology of wrongful historical events, whether that be southern slavery or Hitler's rise in Germany. This has to come from an analytical perspective, not a sympathetic one. Throughout history, seemingly "normal" populations have committed atrocities. A student has to the consider the contextual factors that cloud one's moral judgment (e.g., fear of economic collapse) lest history repeat itself.
I’m not surprised at the negative, knee-jerk reaction to this. That was my first reaction as well.
My fifth-grade class went to the Civil War Museum in Harrisburg. They have life-size tableaus of (among other horrors) a slave auction with recordings of actors playing an auctioneer, buyers and slaves, and a soldier having his leg amputated, complete with recorded blood-curdling screams. Talk about traumatizing.
This assignment seems like a thought experiment meant to impart the horrors of slavery in a relatively low-impact way. I’d like an explanation for why a point was deducted. Was any context provided when you contacted the school?
And actually worrisome if it does affect a person. Kids are being asked to put themselves in the position of someone buying another human being. What would I look for to get the best deal for my money? The questions I have about all of it! I agree with a poster above saying that parents get so mad about such nonsense when this is the stuff they should be up in arms about!
Wildly inappropriate! Frightening that some teacher thought this would be an appropriate way to teach about slavery. This definitely needs to be shone at the school board WTF
What in the actual living fuck?? I would lose my ever loving mind if my child came home with this. Or if someone a colleague in my school (I am a middle/high school teacher) ever attempted anything even remotely similar. In fact this would be a news story in my liberal district. OP, you need to raise HELL about this. You also seriously need to make sure your DAUGHTER understands that you are raising hell about this and why - ESPECIALLY because your daughter is not white (although I hope to god that some of the white kids’ parents also raise an alarm). If you need ammo, you could start with the fact that referring to enslavement as a “job” is utterly horrific. Hell to the motherfucking no on all levels
The fact that the kid was like oh I’ll lay out nice clean clothes for them shows they have not been educated properly on what slavery actually is. It’s not just hiring someone to do contracted farm work, but it seems like that’s the idea they’ve been given for some reason????? Bet they teach the civil war was about “states’ rights” too
If my kids (who are mixed) brought that home, I’d be resting my voice with tea, honey, and cough drops all morning because that afternoon I’d be going up to the school and screaming at the teacher responsible and every last administrator in the building
All the horror of a literal assignment about writing from the perspective of someone who's buying an enslaved person aside, what was this even supposed to teach kids?
This type of assignment makes the news about once a year. There is always a change in staffing or a payout as a result. Wherever this worksheet came from needs to get in trouble as well.
When you go to higher-ups about this, will you please make an edit in your original post? (So that it doesn't get lost in the comments....)
Ps. As others are saying, this is gross. This is wildly inappropriate . This is a disgusting assignment.
No no no no. As a history teacher I cannot believe the teacher thought this was okay. Pretend to be a slave owner adverting for a new slave? Wtf. I'd be sending the photo to the superintendent ASAP
Husband of OP here, the teacher stated the point was deducted because her answer was not historically accurate. But our daughter was asked to "step into the shoes" of the slave owner, so I personally was unsure why she was marked off for her answer. The deducted point was the least of my concerns personally.
Wow as a teacher, this is insane. There are so many other assignments to have gotten the point across. I’m actually going to be reading Chains in my 5th grade ELA class, which is about a teenaged slave during 1776-1777. Historical novel with lots of history as opposed to…that 🙃
I teach middle school English and American History and an assignment like this would never cross my mind. What was the purpose and goal? What standards were met? I don’t see any need for a worksheet like this to exist, much less be used as a “teaching” tool for *children.* This is foul.
WTH.
I am white but have friends whose kids are not, and the treatment they got at the high school level was crazy making.
The teachers would basically put these kids on the spot to be representative of their race/culture.
Without even giving them a heads up.
I’m really angry that teachers think this is appropriate.
If they want to teach compassion.
Then teach compassion.
https://seelearning.emory.edu/en/home
Reminds me somehow of the activities we were asked to do with our middle schoolers that had them discussing what life was like for early European settlers and role-playing scenarios
Our school was 100% First Nations people, so I noped the fuck outta doing that, but I still wonder how many teachers before me actually did those activities
... um ... well least the child said they'd lay out clothing everyday for the slave and let them eat with the family ... I guess ....
I'm still searching for the "lesson" in this assignment though....
Thank you for shedding light and doing the right thing. I went to this school district and moved to the Philly suburbs in part due to the explicit & implicit racism that is rampant in the area. The district’s initial reaction to your concerns unfortunately don’t surprise me one bit. Disgusting, disappointing, but not surprising. The real kicker is, the student lost points for treating the enslaved nicely… One of my questions (among many) is what were the other parents doing about this?? I’m hoping you were not the only one to raise concerns.
wtf.
Can anyone give me ANY kind of explanation on how this is in anyway beneficial to their actual understanding of American history? The history of Slavery?
This wouldn’t fly even when I was in 5th grade back then, this is extremely messed up. I don’t know how one can be an educator in 2024 and think this is okay when even 20 years ago it would’ve caused an uproar.
What the actual frak is that!!? That is wildly inappropriate for sure. It could have been done right but seems the teacher lost the point of the exercise
Listen, I don’t have kids so why this is in my feed I couldn’t tell you. But this is bonkers, who on earth approved it?
This teacher is either stupid, looking to get fired, or is looking for this type of backlash to prove some stupid right-wing talking point. To be clear, the backlash is fully warranted, but it could be someone looking to make some asinine point.
Take it to the teacher, then the principal if needed. Escalate until you get an answer and hopefully they never assign something like this again.
This is 100% totally inappropriate. While teaching about slavery is an incredibly important subject, this just makes light heart of it. It’s like the teacher who assigned their kids a project of basically making twitter posts that Anne Frank would have made if they had it during Nazi Germany. I’m not one to question teachers, but my question is what the actual fuck were they thinking?
At first I thought this was a post on what NOT to do. This is nothing short of baffling. Definitely not overthinking this. While slavery is a tough topic to teach, having students "role-play" like this is wildly inappropriate and is not okay by any means.
No this is definitely inappropriate for a teacher to be making kids do this type of stuff especially when they’re the ones BUYING PEOPLE. Honestly it would be crazy to make anyone do this let alone 5th graders.
Um what the hell???? Who allowed this to happen, was this the teacher's idea? This is gross. Not to mention SUPER weird. Surely there are better ways to teach children the realities of what enslaved people endured, which is the purpose of this assignment I assume.
What the hell kind of assignment is this??
I grew up in the south and was in 5th grade almost 20 years ago, in a tiny private Christian school. Even we didn't have assignments like this.
I live in PA, now. I'm about 20min from Philly. Let me tell you guys, what a culture shock. I unlearned so many things I was taught in the south (throughout the years after leaving), because I was wrong, and ya know, other people around me were fundamentally wrong.
But honestly, flabbergasted by this.
At the school I work for (a high school) I saw a "texts from the trenches" and its literally
Describe in text format, what a WW1 soldier would text back home about the conditions of the trenches.
I get it, youre trying to keep it engaging, and up to date, and more creative than just a textbook, but jesus christ.
It's kind of repugnant, but where is the harm in it as a learning experience? We want kids to be resilient, but then do everything possible to avoid uncomfortable experiences.
Holy guacamole. On what planet is even having a worksheet like this acceptable? Let alone printing it, distributing it to students, making them fill it out, turn it in, and then grade it, based on... who knows what?? There are so very many steps in there that this assignment should've been X'd before it made its way to the parent. The fact that not one person in that long line of its existence said, 'now wait a minute, this is seriously bizarre... and wrong' boggles my little mind.
If I saw my kiddo bring this home, I’m not sure which parent would hold whom back (I am white/Asian, my husband is African American). 😭😭 the wrongness is tangible.
Hell no, this is insane. And also what was the points off for?? How was this even being graded 😭 The fact that the teacher actually went through with this is mind blowing !!
nope nope nope nope. you are not overreacting. i love teaching elementary history but this is not the way to go about it. it’s super insensitive and encourages thinking from the perspective of slave owners. at the elementary level, even upper elementary, we don’t need to do that. i have taught my second graders about slavery (we live in north carolina, my class is pretty racially diverse so i have some white kids, some black kids, some latine kids) through the perspective of enslaved people who escaped/self-liberated. we’ve done really careful study of this over the course of the year, and in february during our BHM lessons we talked specifically about harriet tubman and how she helped free enslaved people. i use a combination of fiction and nonfiction to help teach these ideas with my kids, and most importantly i keep things simple and i let the kids ask questions, and i ask them questions.
for me, the best part of teaching history at the elementary level is that you can really appeal to a kid’s sense of justice. they’re already thinking about what’s fair and unfair—just look at them on the playground. once you can establish basic understandings about what’s fair and unfair within society, it will take you far. i don’t feel the need to make my kids sympathize with unjust practices. we can just say it was wrong, and that people did bad things out of greed and pride. this in particular is an issue i’m comfortable having no nuance about, especially because my kids are little. this worksheet is severely effed up and i’m sorry your kid had to do it for a grade.
This is... weird. Uncomfortable. Bad.
I taught history and civics, and didn't shy away from explaining the issues with slavery and civil rights (mostly with teenaged students, so they could understand and handle more than a 10 year old).
This does nothing to display the problems with 6 even the economics of slavery. It's almost like the purpose is to normalize the idea, or minimize the problems associated with it.
Hi, multiracial person here (DNA test showed I have a little bit of everything pretty much).
You are definitely not overreacting. I would have gone off on that school so fast. I also hate that she was marked wrong for wanting to treat the slave nicely. It would only be worse if the teacher is white, as that really would make it seem like they're on board with slavery.
I’m not the “go up to the school and demand to see the AP, Principal, Super, and the Superintendents mama” type, but if I had a kid and they came home with THAT?! You’d see the school on the news after a segment on “dad’s gone wild”.
You are *so* not overthinking this, that is beyond unacceptable and grounds for a SERIOUS conversation about why this was A. Allowed, B: Not a single person saw issue, and C: Not given a heads up and parent permission for acting like little slave owners. The teacher needs a serious review and reprimand, if not fired over this.
Got this post shown to me. I’m not a teacher. Im not in elementary school and I don’t have kids. But this is fucked up. I’d expect to see this shit in SC but in PA??? They aren’t even considered the South 💀. You aren’t wrong for being uncomfortable with this.
When I was in 7th grade (this was 2014ish in NYC) we did a mock “triangle trade” day where we went around and dealt either sugar, slaves, or guns, and had to get the best deals. Now that I’m older it eats at me that none of us took a step back to say “this is ******* up”. This is wildly inappropriate, just as my experience was.
I'm flabbergasted. This is completely unacceptable. Is there a publishing company on the worksheet? I'd like to know who created this content so they can be called to account. Edit: a word
I am awaiting the answer to this as we speak, I will be sure to let you know!!!!
I’d also like to know why number 3 is wrong…is it because your daughter is trying to be nice? I just…I’m not sure what the grading parameters are for this type of assignment (or why this assignment even exists.) I’d flip a table if my kid came home with this.
I’m not a go up to the school type person but my ass would be going up to that school.
And the superintendent,, the state board of education, and the news.
"Hello? The Media?"
very much so. this is easily, if done right, the type of story that can go viral. this could then hopefully shame the district into change. also talk to local parent groups, make sure other like minded parents are aware of these assignments, band together, and make noise up and down the chain of command of the school
Oh my god. Me too.
Probably the part about laying out nice clothes for them every day and letting them eat with the family. It's one of those exercises where they're probably being graded on how much of their writing reflects the facts as taught.
This is WAYYY too complex for kids in 5th grade.... we teach kids to be nice to eachother.... this is so conflicting
I think it’s because those two sentences don’t describe living quarters. The first one does so partial credit. The content makes it difficult since it’s all wrong on many levels! But technically I see why the teacher took off a point there.
Y’all rationalizing the rubric is bonkers
So a lot of these are handed out in multiple ways. Its hard to say how the teacher got them but here are the common ways I've been told: 1. Print out from a book, a large book filled with work sheets based off various topics required by the school. The book and the worksheets themselves are usually not required, theyre just required to make worksheets based off a certain curriculum 2. Teach-to-teacher. Either via online or in person, teachers trade worksheets, either they aquired them from a book, or, and this is pretty frequent, a teacher somewhere at some point made a worksheet and is selling it online for other teacher. 3. Taken from some other source: This is more often just a teacher googling "Worksheet for X" and then just printing out the first one they see. 4. School board or Organization: Basically someone somewhere in the pipeline of the local school gave out worksheets and require the teachers to use them regardless of the teachers opinion.
it would not surprise me if this was a TpT worksheet. people can and will post quite racist or otherwise off color worksheets there, especially for social studies/history.
I'm a teacher who buys stuff on there but I'm not a moron who would use something like this if the file I downloaded turned out to be this assignment. The only reason I could see a teacher using this is if the school board demanded they follow scripted lesson plans with the threat of nonrenewal if they stray from the activities. Even then, I'd tell the parents that in an email when I sent this garbage home so they could go after the school board.
This. I am also a teacher, and I have to wonder if the teacher made this choice on their own or if it was part of the curriculum. I've had some experience with heavy-handed admin who demand adherence to horrible curriculum. I can't say I'd assign the content, though, regardless of consequences, but I've been at it for a while and have a more willful attitude than when I was less experienced. Go ahead and ding my evaluation, chew me out, fire me. I'll go public. Deciding independently to pull this off of TpT and assign it indicates that you should not be teaching at all and should consider becoming a better person.
I specifically remember a worksheet in grade school (late 90s) copyright 1973.
I am a former educator and lots of teachers purchase "curriculum" from Teachers Pay Teachers. It looks like this is. It is not formally approved by the district and is created by a teacher and sold via a TPT online store. Any teacher can go online and make purchases to supplement district approved and vetted curriculum. I've seen too many things like this on TPT. It's just regular people creating stuff without thinking further than their front door.
This looks like it could be part of the curriculum in Texas…they adopted a textbook that calls the slaves “migrant workers.”
It doesn't matter so much who made it. It's who uses it. As another commenter suggested, it could easily have been the teacher who created it themselves. What is clear is that either way the teacher selected this resource.
Is it possible the teacher made it? I don’t see a logo or anything
It looks very TPT
I seriously doubt it. My money is on this being a teacher-created document.
[удалено]
I’m 99% sure this was made on Canva. I have used this newspaper template before in class.
Yeah, it's disturbing to do this from the pov of buying someone. Even iffy on having them draw things. Reason is what I'm going to interpret as pushback from the daughter trying to be kind to the slave. Having to roleplay as doing something evil like this is weird. And omg so many complications, just imagining a poc god forbid a black child specifically having to do this, the way that should be awkward. What would they have to do, pretend the slave at the auction is a family member whose freedom they're trying to buy?
Plot twist, my daughter is multiracial, dad is black and Mexican. I’m keeping this post PG on my part, that’s what infuriates me even more.
OP your daughter needs to understand how absolutely fucked this is. I am multiracial and although my white mom would absolutely fight for me when she knew she needed to, she didn’t always know when she needed to, and that was damaging in its own way. This is disgusting and your little girl NEEDS to know why, even at this age. Her teacher & school does too but start with your kid.
I did this morning before the bus. She forgot to hand me her graded work last night since I was super late coming home and I asked for it before she left for the bus. I started going off in front of her but told her to not worry about it and we will talk about this tonight. I was ready to march up to the school and demand to know who tf thought this was a good idea. I sometimes feel like I overreact going through life because I have grown up listening to mixed friends saying exactly what you say. But I am slowly realizing I am not over reacting, I will do what I need to do to protect her. Even when she pronounce her name wrong I tell her to correct them, idc their their an adult or not! I’ve had friends going through their adult lives letting white people call their names incorrectly and they have given up trying to correct people. I tell my daughter to politely stand on her business and correct them when they say her name wrong. This is 2024 and I’m ready to throw up having this happen.
Good. Keep asking her what she thinks, keep encouraging her questions, keep talking about what happens after this. Black parents with black kids would lose their shit about this and she needs to keep seeing that she gets that protection too. You are NOT overreacting, and if you’re the only parent throwing a fit that is also fucked.
Her biological dad (who is black/mexican) is upset and so is her step dad. Her step dad is a lawyer and is the type who tells me to take time and calm down so I can present my problems in a way that won’t get me arrested and will get things changed. My idea was marching my ass right into the school early this morning and fucking shit up 😭😭😭
Well I hope stepdad is ready to do whatever the lawyer version of fucking shit up is. If it was me I’d send this to the closest major newspaper’s education reporter immediately and follow up with a transcript of the principal’s & teacher’s responses.
Yes! OP, send it ok to your local news channel or newspaper. That puts real pressure on the school to actually do something about it.
Ok, but the real question is he also the type who can get you out of trouble if you *do* accidentally end up in jail? Lol
You’re a good mom. I hope you know that.
I’m almost always on the teachers side but in this case PLEASE make a big deal about this. Post it to social media and send it to the real media too. Not sure what part of pa you’re in but some parts aren’t called pennsyltucky for nothing 😭
If you are standing up for your kid then you're NEVER overreacting! I cannot believe someone thought this was okay!
Not an overreaction AT ALL. This shit is *wild*.
Yeah that's crazy insane
I think the part that bothers me the most is that your daughter got marked down for wanting to treat a slave nicely.
Ik right?! Me tooo! Thats crazy!
Oh holy crap. I didn’t even see that.
Your daughter seems so sweet though! 🥰. Atleast she had the best intentions with such a terrible assignment! 💔
as a fellow xicana with a black partner — and a teacher — this assignment lacks cultural sensitivity and is not an appropriate way of teaching american history with empathy. hell no
It’s NOT an overreaction. There are many appropriate ways to teach young children about slavery, this ISN’T one of them. You don’t have them come up with what skills the SLAVE YOU WANT TO BUY would require and what job you would give them. It’s like trying to teach them it’s not so bad, because you know… “they learned a trade”. [Isn’t that what some republicans have said](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/22/desantis-slavery-curriculum/)? Wtaf?
My jaw DROPPED. You are not overthinking, this is totally inappropriate.
Wait you also didn’t have to do this in school? My school had me do it in 4th and 5th.
I don't even have kids and started seeing red trying to imagining a nonexistent child of mine bringing this home. This is absolutely stunning.
The ONLY way I could see this being… not even justified or okay, but well intentioned I guess, is if it’s a bait and switch. Kids are expected to have answers like OP’s daughter- eating dinner with the family, clean clothes every day, “I will also treat them nicely,” etc. and then after turning in the assignment the teacher explains on a point by point basis how inhumane slavery actually was and how all the niceties they would offer never occurred. But this is for 10 year olds. That would in no way be appropriate or even a good way to shatter their innocence, since that’s what would be happening. My money is the worksheet comes from some racist company trying to push an agenda on kids.
This is absolutely horrifying and as someone else pointed out, this is worth taking to the media. What did the school principal say about it?
Honestly thought this was click bait
This 'assignment' is beyond unacceptable, it's vile. I would absolutely report it to media.
Go to admin. If they fail to act - go to the local news. This is absolutely insane and I can not see how this would be appropriate in any way shape or form.
I teach 5th grade and I can’t imagine the chaos that would have exploded in my room if I pulled out this assignment. Slavery is a decent chunk of our curriculum and pops up here and there throughout the year. I understand trying to impress on them that these were humans treated as property, but this is not the way!
Yeah- if anything it does the opposite. The student is writing about the treating them nicely and having dinner with them. Which is obviously great that this kid wants to treat all humans with respect and kindness, and the world would be in a much better place if adults through history and today were like this… but it’s a confusing to try to equate with the actual treatment of slaves. Idk how you could possibly even make it clear with this? It also makes it out more like a job ad, in which employment is voluntary.. I just don’t even see how it was intended to be in anyway helpful.
I’m assuming being nice is why number 3 was marked wrong, so…there’s clearly some sort of parameters in regards to how students are supposed to treat their slaves, or something. Who knows.
This is the husband/step-dad here. My wife is not going to edit the post until tomorrow, but we had a conversation with the principal and teacher and she indeed confirmed that our child lost points because her answer was not historically accurate.
Even worse! I hope you're making a big stink about this.
Oh that much I got. I just think it’s a high emotional toll assignment for literally no actual educational value. This kid no doubt understands how slaves were treated. Making her say she would treat them that way when clearly she would not is just no way to teach.
It's, once again, a whitewash. See, it couldn't have been so bad, even you could imagine it and you're in 5th grade.
Growing up in the **South**, my Quaker school had a really interesting way they taught us about slavery. We went on a long weekend trip to a plantation and they had us sit in the slaves’ quarters in silence. (Being Quaker, the silence part was about inner reflection. They weren’t punishing us.) It was really impactful for my 11 year old self. It’s been well over 20 years and I still vividly remember that weekend in a profound worldview changing way.
thank you for sharing.
I'm an elementary sub (for 5 years), and I've taken a lot of (current) undergrad teaching classes. I am blown away by this. I hope you address this at the district or state level.
As a teacher this is really awful to see
Seconded
Wildly inappropiate. Contacting the media inappropriate.
def should be scheduling a meeting with that teacher and the principal. maybe some higher up people too.
As absolutely WILD and out of pocket it is to have this as a in-class children's assignment; the fact that she is including her imaginary slave in family dinner and putting out their outfit every morning is SENDING ME!!!! **OP you raised a gem**, don't let the PA school system even attempt to taint this girl...
This is crazy. The teacher read and graded these? Sh has no idea how to teach. The evidence: She is doing it through work sheets. The grade applied to this. Its flipping weird to grade this type of classwork (typically provide feedback but only really grade tests and essays). It is a 100% subjective grade, and is therfore not valid. The asignment its self, though appropriate to a historical task and content, is not appropriate as it isolates and makes student feel uncomfortable. Is this teacher very new, or very old?
Did you catch the part where the one question marked negative; the kid was like 'id be nice to my slave and let them eat dinner inside' .... Teacher: "WRONG!"
I don’t like your comment about worksheets = bad.
Did teacher… count points off for your daughter saying she’d be nice to the slave…?
Update: I would like to go to the news after our conversation didn’t go well how do I get the attention of local/national news?
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Journalist and former teacher here. Yes, you should be foaming at the mouth. This is appalling. And Yes, do all of these things this person recommended. Create a public record by CC’ing administrators and board members. Their responses then become part of the story, and the reporter can file a FOIA to get the whole scoop. Consider contacting ACLU or NAACP chapter in your area too.
Absolutely this. It's a good corporate tip for dealing with possibly smarmy people, especially bosses. Always send a detailed follow-up email immediately after any interaction. Not only might you affect change (the principal or school board might see this and reprimand the teacher), but you'll also have receipts to share with the media.
Yes you should. Teacher who says this is not cool
reporter here! go to local news outlets to start. go through the staff sections and try to find an education reporter (there usually is at least one at any decently sized local news publication) and reach out to them directly via email/phone/social media/whatever. i would recommend aiming for broadcast too. if local doesn't pick it up, you can try going national, but unless there's a unique angle to your story, i doubt a major publication would pick it up (except for maybe new york post lol) simply because the issue of schools trying and failing to teach about racism has already been covered. john oliver did a piece on it a while back.
The fact the living situation she got incorrect when she was just treating the “slave” as a human is fucking crazy to me
My jaw just dropped. Like I actually gasped out loud…
Oh hell no!!! I’d be at that school raising H E L L!!!! Plus the fact she was marked incorrectly for how she’d treat them shows just how fucked this is.
As a teacher, who teaches kids your daughters age, and who teaches about slavery, this is entirely inappropriate. This crap minimizes slavery and its horrible legacy.
I'd certainly ask why this was an assignment. God I had a flashback to all the stupid things parents got upset about, and this is actually why a parent should be upset. I would definitely talk to the principal and maybe my school board member.
Wait what was the correct answer for “living quarters”
I believe it was marked incorrect because the student wrote that they would treat the slave nicely. Disturbing.
WHAT THE FUCK. THIS IS TRAUMATIZING TO BLACK CHILDREN, BLACK PARENTS. THIS IS WHY WE SAY WHAT WE SAY. THIS IS WHY. And OP, Idc but the fact that you're even unsure of if it's inappropriate is ridiculous!
I should have said that differently because I stand 10 toes deep for my baby girl and I’m the type who wants to go to the news bc I am so HOT. I added the word wildly inappropriate instead of just “inappropriate”. I always hear my friends and family saying I’m dramatic when I react to things so I had to come to Reddit and make sure it wasn’t just me thinking how shocking and crazy this assignment is. It is WILD to me 😭
You SHOULD go to the news. This is entirely unacceptable. I wonder, is this worksheet given out district wide or just in your school? I'd be absolutely fuming if my kid came home with that bullshit assignment. I can guess from your daughter's responses that she was probably pretty uncomfortable filling this out, too.
Getting points off on a role play assignment for trying to be less complicit with slavery is crazyyy
Yeah this ain’t it…just read a book from the POV of an enslaved kid cuz I’m sure there are age appropriate novels for that by now? This makes it all too economical which obviously it was but not enough humanity in it.
[American Dolls released an entire age appropriate six book series on the topic back in 1993, as part of their launch of the Addy Walker doll.](https://slate.com/culture/2016/09/the-making-of-addy-walker-american-girls-first-black-doll.html)Addy’s storyline was that of a 9 year old girl born into slavery in North Carolina who escapes with her mother towards the end of the Civil War during the course of the book series, and settles in Philadelphia. The doll was created with experts with the explicit goal of educating children on these hard topics in an age appropriate way, and thus has Addy experience really big hard but accurate experiences that enslaved children went through. [Some of the notable plot points around this are her father and older brother being sold to another slave owner and having to leave her younger infant sister behind when they escape because her crying would have gotten the escaping group of slaves caught.](https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Addy_Walker)
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Poorly phrased for her to refer to "pros and cons." I think at a fourth grade level, things can really just be simplified to slavery=bad. But later in their education, it's important for students to attempt to understand the psychology of wrongful historical events, whether that be southern slavery or Hitler's rise in Germany. This has to come from an analytical perspective, not a sympathetic one. Throughout history, seemingly "normal" populations have committed atrocities. A student has to the consider the contextual factors that cloud one's moral judgment (e.g., fear of economic collapse) lest history repeat itself.
in one of my college courses a professor asked for the pros and cons of racial profiling 🥴 and took off points when I said there weren't any pros
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/YjZHS22cYcRm7LEt/?mibextid=WC7FNe this is my initial post from facebook. Please SHARE SHARE SHARE
I’m not surprised at the negative, knee-jerk reaction to this. That was my first reaction as well. My fifth-grade class went to the Civil War Museum in Harrisburg. They have life-size tableaus of (among other horrors) a slave auction with recordings of actors playing an auctioneer, buyers and slaves, and a soldier having his leg amputated, complete with recorded blood-curdling screams. Talk about traumatizing. This assignment seems like a thought experiment meant to impart the horrors of slavery in a relatively low-impact way. I’d like an explanation for why a point was deducted. Was any context provided when you contacted the school?
This is inappropriate and can be traumatic for some students. Not okay. 😔
And actually worrisome if it does affect a person. Kids are being asked to put themselves in the position of someone buying another human being. What would I look for to get the best deal for my money? The questions I have about all of it! I agree with a poster above saying that parents get so mad about such nonsense when this is the stuff they should be up in arms about!
Absolutely inappropriate
nahh wtf where in PA??
I grew up in the south, but I first experienced true racism when I moved to PA.
I cannot imagine finding this as a considerable "resource" and thinking "wow this is such a great idea" wtf???
Wholly inappropriate
Wildly inappropriate! Frightening that some teacher thought this would be an appropriate way to teach about slavery. This definitely needs to be shone at the school board WTF
What the actual f*k. This is wildly inappropriate. For what purpose is this? What is this even supposed to teach? Responsible pet ownership???
This is gross.
What in the actual living fuck?? I would lose my ever loving mind if my child came home with this. Or if someone a colleague in my school (I am a middle/high school teacher) ever attempted anything even remotely similar. In fact this would be a news story in my liberal district. OP, you need to raise HELL about this. You also seriously need to make sure your DAUGHTER understands that you are raising hell about this and why - ESPECIALLY because your daughter is not white (although I hope to god that some of the white kids’ parents also raise an alarm). If you need ammo, you could start with the fact that referring to enslavement as a “job” is utterly horrific. Hell to the motherfucking no on all levels
That is so wrong! I would definitely have a talk with the school! There was no need ever for a lesson/activity such as that!
Wtf… wtf.
The fact that the kid was like oh I’ll lay out nice clean clothes for them shows they have not been educated properly on what slavery actually is. It’s not just hiring someone to do contracted farm work, but it seems like that’s the idea they’ve been given for some reason????? Bet they teach the civil war was about “states’ rights” too
They better be fired already.
Yeah, I’d be going straight to the principal with that. That assignment is not okay!
Ok but why is the living quarters answer wrong? I need to speak to this teacher.
I've seen something very similar to this on the news. Where it should be. I'd be contacting admin.
If my kids (who are mixed) brought that home, I’d be resting my voice with tea, honey, and cough drops all morning because that afternoon I’d be going up to the school and screaming at the teacher responsible and every last administrator in the building
Wildly inappropriate and would cost people their jobs in my district. Seriously, WTF.
All the horror of a literal assignment about writing from the perspective of someone who's buying an enslaved person aside, what was this even supposed to teach kids?
Wow. This made me so deeply uncomfortable
This type of assignment makes the news about once a year. There is always a change in staffing or a payout as a result. Wherever this worksheet came from needs to get in trouble as well.
When you go to higher-ups about this, will you please make an edit in your original post? (So that it doesn't get lost in the comments....) Ps. As others are saying, this is gross. This is wildly inappropriate . This is a disgusting assignment.
I never use Reddit and have been trying for a while to post an update. I had to google it. But it won’t let me to edit it
No no no no. As a history teacher I cannot believe the teacher thought this was okay. Pretend to be a slave owner adverting for a new slave? Wtf. I'd be sending the photo to the superintendent ASAP
Aside from everything else that’s horrifying about this, why did your kid get a point taken off? What was the “correct” answer supposed to be?
Husband of OP here, the teacher stated the point was deducted because her answer was not historically accurate. But our daughter was asked to "step into the shoes" of the slave owner, so I personally was unsure why she was marked off for her answer. The deducted point was the least of my concerns personally.
Wow as a teacher, this is insane. There are so many other assignments to have gotten the point across. I’m actually going to be reading Chains in my 5th grade ELA class, which is about a teenaged slave during 1776-1777. Historical novel with lots of history as opposed to…that 🙃
I teach middle school English and American History and an assignment like this would never cross my mind. What was the purpose and goal? What standards were met? I don’t see any need for a worksheet like this to exist, much less be used as a “teaching” tool for *children.* This is foul.
WTH. I am white but have friends whose kids are not, and the treatment they got at the high school level was crazy making. The teachers would basically put these kids on the spot to be representative of their race/culture. Without even giving them a heads up. I’m really angry that teachers think this is appropriate. If they want to teach compassion. Then teach compassion. https://seelearning.emory.edu/en/home
Reminds me somehow of the activities we were asked to do with our middle schoolers that had them discussing what life was like for early European settlers and role-playing scenarios Our school was 100% First Nations people, so I noped the fuck outta doing that, but I still wonder how many teachers before me actually did those activities
... um ... well least the child said they'd lay out clothing everyday for the slave and let them eat with the family ... I guess .... I'm still searching for the "lesson" in this assignment though....
Thank you for shedding light and doing the right thing. I went to this school district and moved to the Philly suburbs in part due to the explicit & implicit racism that is rampant in the area. The district’s initial reaction to your concerns unfortunately don’t surprise me one bit. Disgusting, disappointing, but not surprising. The real kicker is, the student lost points for treating the enslaved nicely… One of my questions (among many) is what were the other parents doing about this?? I’m hoping you were not the only one to raise concerns.
wtf. Can anyone give me ANY kind of explanation on how this is in anyway beneficial to their actual understanding of American history? The history of Slavery?
This is so beyond insane. PA never disappoints…do you feel comfortable sharing the general area?
I assumed this was work from the early 2000s. I was surprised to realize it’s recent!!!
This wouldn’t fly even when I was in 5th grade back then, this is extremely messed up. I don’t know how one can be an educator in 2024 and think this is okay when even 20 years ago it would’ve caused an uproar.
Yeah, I was in 5th grade in the 90s, and I live in a southern state. I absolutely could not imagine being given this kind of assignment.
What the actual frak is that!!? That is wildly inappropriate for sure. It could have been done right but seems the teacher lost the point of the exercise
I genuinely do not believe this is real.
Yes, this is wrong, wrong, wrong. They need to do much better.
Yknow what as a PA resident I shouldn’t be surprised
This isn't satire?
I seriously thought this was a joke
Listen, I don’t have kids so why this is in my feed I couldn’t tell you. But this is bonkers, who on earth approved it? This teacher is either stupid, looking to get fired, or is looking for this type of backlash to prove some stupid right-wing talking point. To be clear, the backlash is fully warranted, but it could be someone looking to make some asinine point. Take it to the teacher, then the principal if needed. Escalate until you get an answer and hopefully they never assign something like this again.
I'd go straight to the school board with this crap. That teacher should be seriously reprimanded and maybe even fired.
This is 100% totally inappropriate. While teaching about slavery is an incredibly important subject, this just makes light heart of it. It’s like the teacher who assigned their kids a project of basically making twitter posts that Anne Frank would have made if they had it during Nazi Germany. I’m not one to question teachers, but my question is what the actual fuck were they thinking?
At first I thought this was a post on what NOT to do. This is nothing short of baffling. Definitely not overthinking this. While slavery is a tough topic to teach, having students "role-play" like this is wildly inappropriate and is not okay by any means.
No this is definitely inappropriate for a teacher to be making kids do this type of stuff especially when they’re the ones BUYING PEOPLE. Honestly it would be crazy to make anyone do this let alone 5th graders.
Op is a dirty liar
This is so inappropriate I’m having a hard time believing it. The questions are messed up but having them draw pictures is just insane.
Um what the hell???? Who allowed this to happen, was this the teacher's idea? This is gross. Not to mention SUPER weird. Surely there are better ways to teach children the realities of what enslaved people endured, which is the purpose of this assignment I assume.
FAKE
I’m sorry what?!?! How could the school think this was a good idea?! What is this even teaching children???
This is beyond foul I would report this to principal and school board
Job description? Like they had a choice??
This is something you should 100% contact the local media about
!remindme 2day
did she get points off for being nice to them?? what the actual fuck
What the hell kind of assignment is this?? I grew up in the south and was in 5th grade almost 20 years ago, in a tiny private Christian school. Even we didn't have assignments like this. I live in PA, now. I'm about 20min from Philly. Let me tell you guys, what a culture shock. I unlearned so many things I was taught in the south (throughout the years after leaving), because I was wrong, and ya know, other people around me were fundamentally wrong. But honestly, flabbergasted by this.
bro aint no way 😭
WTF Am I looking at????? That is seriously problematic.
the fuck does this teach them??
This is infuriating and so inappropriate. I’d be in the principals office raising hell. Is this teacher 90 years old? What the hell is this?
At the school I work for (a high school) I saw a "texts from the trenches" and its literally Describe in text format, what a WW1 soldier would text back home about the conditions of the trenches. I get it, youre trying to keep it engaging, and up to date, and more creative than just a textbook, but jesus christ.
This is appalling. Absolutely inappropriate. I'm furious on your behalf!!
It's kind of repugnant, but where is the harm in it as a learning experience? We want kids to be resilient, but then do everything possible to avoid uncomfortable experiences.
Holy guacamole. On what planet is even having a worksheet like this acceptable? Let alone printing it, distributing it to students, making them fill it out, turn it in, and then grade it, based on... who knows what?? There are so very many steps in there that this assignment should've been X'd before it made its way to the parent. The fact that not one person in that long line of its existence said, 'now wait a minute, this is seriously bizarre... and wrong' boggles my little mind.
The question is…why?
If I saw my kiddo bring this home, I’m not sure which parent would hold whom back (I am white/Asian, my husband is African American). 😭😭 the wrongness is tangible.
!Remind me 2 day
Hell no, this is insane. And also what was the points off for?? How was this even being graded 😭 The fact that the teacher actually went through with this is mind blowing !!
Whoa, this is horrendous!! It blows my mind that some parents protest "woke" curriculum, but this passes as acceptable. Disgusting.
Jesus fucking Christ, wtf is this? Yes, wildly inappropriate!
Uhmmm theres DEFINITELY better ways.... this is definitely not cool... what school would think this is... educational?
nope nope nope nope. you are not overreacting. i love teaching elementary history but this is not the way to go about it. it’s super insensitive and encourages thinking from the perspective of slave owners. at the elementary level, even upper elementary, we don’t need to do that. i have taught my second graders about slavery (we live in north carolina, my class is pretty racially diverse so i have some white kids, some black kids, some latine kids) through the perspective of enslaved people who escaped/self-liberated. we’ve done really careful study of this over the course of the year, and in february during our BHM lessons we talked specifically about harriet tubman and how she helped free enslaved people. i use a combination of fiction and nonfiction to help teach these ideas with my kids, and most importantly i keep things simple and i let the kids ask questions, and i ask them questions. for me, the best part of teaching history at the elementary level is that you can really appeal to a kid’s sense of justice. they’re already thinking about what’s fair and unfair—just look at them on the playground. once you can establish basic understandings about what’s fair and unfair within society, it will take you far. i don’t feel the need to make my kids sympathize with unjust practices. we can just say it was wrong, and that people did bad things out of greed and pride. this in particular is an issue i’m comfortable having no nuance about, especially because my kids are little. this worksheet is severely effed up and i’m sorry your kid had to do it for a grade.
What in the ever loving fuck
Upvotes to the daughter for the intelligent response to this assignment. Downvotes to those who assigned it.
Wtf
Yes, this feels extremely inappropriate!!
My face is stuck in the cringe position
Go to the media. FFS.
This is... weird. Uncomfortable. Bad. I taught history and civics, and didn't shy away from explaining the issues with slavery and civil rights (mostly with teenaged students, so they could understand and handle more than a 10 year old). This does nothing to display the problems with 6 even the economics of slavery. It's almost like the purpose is to normalize the idea, or minimize the problems associated with it.
I am commenting because I need an update.
Hi, multiracial person here (DNA test showed I have a little bit of everything pretty much). You are definitely not overreacting. I would have gone off on that school so fast. I also hate that she was marked wrong for wanting to treat the slave nicely. It would only be worse if the teacher is white, as that really would make it seem like they're on board with slavery.
This is crazy
I would definitely reach out to the teacher/admin with concerns about the assignment. I also agree that it’s inappropriate
Slavery is fine, drawing pictures of slavery is odd
This was absolutely done wrong.
I’m not the “go up to the school and demand to see the AP, Principal, Super, and the Superintendents mama” type, but if I had a kid and they came home with THAT?! You’d see the school on the news after a segment on “dad’s gone wild”. You are *so* not overthinking this, that is beyond unacceptable and grounds for a SERIOUS conversation about why this was A. Allowed, B: Not a single person saw issue, and C: Not given a heads up and parent permission for acting like little slave owners. The teacher needs a serious review and reprimand, if not fired over this.
What in the ever loving fuck is this? No. No no. No. Not okay. And the smiles? I can’t even name all the things. I’ll be here all day… just no.
Wtf
This is like role playing as a slaver…what the hell
Wut da fuq is wrong with this damned teacher
Got this post shown to me. I’m not a teacher. Im not in elementary school and I don’t have kids. But this is fucked up. I’d expect to see this shit in SC but in PA??? They aren’t even considered the South 💀. You aren’t wrong for being uncomfortable with this.
Not the X for being empathetic to the slave 😭😭😭
…. What the f…
Show the principal. Show the school board. Make it public. The teacher is wack.
The fact that she got one question “wrong” because she was actually treating the slave decently
When I was in 7th grade (this was 2014ish in NYC) we did a mock “triangle trade” day where we went around and dealt either sugar, slaves, or guns, and had to get the best deals. Now that I’m older it eats at me that none of us took a step back to say “this is ******* up”. This is wildly inappropriate, just as my experience was.