Procedures

• SET UP

  This lesson offers several options for you to use with your students whether you are teaching in class, using a hybrid model, or engaging through distance learning. It can be completed in steps as a class or students can move at their own pace and complete the activities independently.

  You can post links to the videos in the lesson along with the related handout and engage in discussion to share responses on a discussion board or learning management system.

  You can also save and share the following Google resource for students to use with this lesson.

  Handout: Graphic Organizer (Google Doc).

  In Google, choose "File" then "Make a Copy" to get your own copy. You can make any needed adjustments in the instructions such as which activities students need to complete, when it is due, etc. and then make it available to them via Google.

• WARM UP

  Pose the following brainstorming questions to your students, directing them to record their responses in their graphic organizer, share with a partner, and then with the class if they choose.

  • How do authors influence the readers of their texts? Explain.
  • In what ways did people try to limit or end the practice of slavery in America?

• INTRODUCTION

  Play the following introductory video clip of author Lydia Moland providing an introduction to her lecture on the life of abolitionist Lydia Maria Child, best known for her poem Over the River and Through the Wood. Direct your students to answer the related question on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

  Clip #1: A Very Full Life (2:43).

  • According to Lydia Moland, what will this lesson cover?
  • What might we “risk happening” when discussing the life of Lydia Maria Child?
  • What “big questions” and ideas does Moland consider while examining Child’s life?
  • Which cause shaped Child’s life “the most?”

• VOCABULARY

  Direct your students to their graphic organizers to view and define the vocabulary terms that will appear in the lesson in the chart in their graphic organizer handout. The vocabulary words are also listed to the right on this webpage.

  We recommend having your students complete the activity in a jigsaw format to save time. Or, depending on time and resources, you may consider having your students engage in a Frayer's Model activity, where each student is responsible for completing one or two items. Students can then post their models around the room for reference throughout the lesson.

  Note: this is not an all-encompassing list of terms included in each video. We recommend you preview the video clips to determine any necessary additions/subtractions to this list for your specific students.

• EARLY LIFE

  Direct students to the Early Life section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following three video clips that provide background information about Lydia Maria Child’s early life, impressions of slavery, and educational experiences. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #2: Early Life of Child (2:47).

  • Based on the clip, when was Lydia Maria Child born and who comprised the family?
  • According to Lydia Moland, who was Child’s closest sibling?
  • Why was Child’s father “famous,” and where did the family live?
  • With whom was Child’s father “generous?” Explain.
  • What memory did Child turn “into verse?”

• Clip #3: Impression of Slavery (5:18).

  • How did Lydia Maria Child’s father view slavery, according to Lydia Moland? Why?
  • Who was Isaac Royall Jr., and what “is known” about the people he enslaved?
  • Detail the other story regarding slavery in Medford that Child “must’ve known as well.” Why did this event “enrage” Southern politicians?
  • Which “childhood memory” regarding slavery did Child record in writing?
  • Summarize the “complex, but limited” impression of slavery that Child developed in her youth.

• Clip #4: Education (2:48).

  • What “advantage” did Lydia Maria Child have over other children?
  • Based on the clip, what memories did Child have of her brother?
  • Describe the “secret society” that was born.
  • According to Lydia Moland, what did Child credit her brother with?

• ABOLITIONISM

  Direct students to the Abolitionism section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following three video clips that detail Lydia Maria Child’s move to Boston and conversion to abolitionism. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #5: Boston and Marriage (3:55).

  • According to Lydia Moland, why was Lydia Maria Child sent to live with her sister? Who did Child next live with?
  • Child was 22 years old when she published a “very successful novel.” What was the book about, and what impact did it have?
  • Based on the clip, what was the Juvenile Miscellany and what was Child’s role with it?
  • What did Child “publish” in 1829? Summarize the contents of the text and what it suggests about Child.
  • Who did Child marry, and why was he a “financial disaster?”

• Clip #6: William Lloyd Garrison and Abolitionism (8:15).

  • Based on the clip, who was William Lloyd Garrison and why did he move to Boston?
  • What did it mean to “be an abolitionist” at this point in time? Explain.
  • Did abolitionists believe in “racial equality?”
  • According to Lydia Moland, what did Garrison know about Lydia Maria Child? Describe the impact of their meeting.
  • What “question” was Child left with, and how did she answer it?
  • How did Child’s “reputation” aid in her efforts?

• Clip #7: “An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans” (8:00).

  • What was An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans a “firehose” of?
  • According to Lydia Moland, what did Lydia Maria Child risk by publishing the text?
  • Summarize the varied forms of “backlash” that Child received.
  • What became “dire,” and how did things become worse, and how did Child’s brother react to the text?
  • Based on the clip, what were some other effects of Child’s publication?

• CIVIL WAR AND BEYOND

  Direct students to the Civil War and Beyond section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following four video clips that summarize Lydia Maria Child’s life and efforts shortly before, during, and after the Civil War. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #8: Intervening Years (2:09).

  • Summarize Lydia Maria Child’s “agricultural activism” against slavery.
  • According to Lydia Moland, how was Child involved in the mobs of the time?
  • How and why did Child go “viral” after John Brown’s Raid?

• Clip #9: Editing in New York (3:20).

  • Based on the clip, why did Lydia Maria Child move to New York?
  • What was Child “the first woman” to do?
  • According to Lydia Moland, did Child work for William Lloyd Garrison? Explain.
  • Summarize the “painful episode” from this time.

• Clip #10: Civil War and “The Freedmen’s Book” (13:43).

  • Based on the clip, when did Lydia Maria Child begin raising money for the Union Army during the Civil War?
  • What happened when the Emancipation Proclamation “went into effect,” and how did Child try to fix the issue?
  • How did The Freedmen’s Book differ from other “primers?” Why?
  • According to Lydia Moland, what stories were included in the text and with whom did Child collaborate to produce it?
  • What did Child’s anthology “make clear,” how was it progressive and rare, and why was it “problematic?”
  • How was the book’s effort to “convey moral instruction” crushing?
  • What did Child try to “inspire her readers” to do, and why was this also problematic?
  • Summarize what can be learned from the “episode” between Child and Frederick Douglass.
  • What does Moland say she is ‘glad’ about? Explain her argument.

• Clip #11: Women’s Suffrage Movement (3:45).

  • What “schism” occurred in the abolitionist movement in the 1830s?
  • Based on the clip, what view did the clergy take regarding the issue?
  • What “deal” did the clergy and conservative members of the movement make?
  • According to Lydia Moland, what view did Lydia Maria Child have regarding the issue?
  • Summarize the second schism discussed in the clip, and how Child responded.

• REFLECTION

  After your students finish sharing their findings from the last section, direct them to the reflection section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following final video clip in which author Lydia Moland closes her lecture on the life of Lydia Maria Child by discussing her death and legacy. Direct your students to answer the related questions and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

  Clip #12: Death and Inspiration (7:24).

  • Based on the clip, what topics did Lydia Maria Child write about toward the end of her life?
  • Summarize the “brutally, spartan instructions” Child gave for her funeral.
  • According to Lydia Moland, what did Child’s contemporaries say about her during her funeral?
  • How did Child “imagine” death?

• CLOSURE

  After your students are finished with the lesson, direct them to complete the final culminating writing prompt and have students share their responses, comparing their perspectives with their classmates' perspectives: Having now learned about the life and work of Lydia Maria Child, assess the importance of her contributions. Be sure to include evidence from the video clips in the lesson to support your argument.