Reconstruction

In February nine of the oldest students started a Reconstruction unit. First we went back to the Declaration of Independence and the students were asked to rewrite one section in their own words:
We hold these Truths
to be self-evident,
that all Men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are
Life,
Liberty
and the Pursuit of Happiness

This is what the students wrote:
We consider this to be true (Sam)
And to as obvious as the sky is blue (Zerbie)
That everyone has equal rights (Savannah)
They were gifted by God (Martin)
With certain irrevocable rights (Andy)
Within these are (Emmy)
Living (Nick)
Freedom (Bobby)
Be happy is the most important thing to do because people cannot live if they do not enjoy their lives. I think that happiness is the goal of everybody in the society because it is the reason of life of people. I know that if I was not happy in my life I do not want to have a life. I am happy when I know that people are happy too. I think that to be happy we need to listen and to understand others. (Quin)

Then we reviewed when and why the document was written. After we started discussing the word “freedom” children were asked to think about what freedoms they feel are important. They each had to complete the following: Freedom to do…. Freedom to be…. Freedom to have… Freedom from…… This led to a discussion on what can a person own.

The History of US video series prompted great discussions and the children were asked to take notes on nine important events during Reconstruction: 14th Amendment, Emancipation Proclamation, 13th Amendment, Freedmen’s Bureau, Ku Klux Klan, 15th Amendment, Black Codes, Impeachment of Andrew Johnson and Jim Crow.

Finally each students was assigned a different historical character to research. At the end of the unit students took on the role of their character – presenting a brief biography and their opinions on the nine events they had previously researched.