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A jaw-dropping 5th grade assignment asked kids to 'set their price for a slave'

Somehow this is still happening.

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A 5th grade class erupted in controversy after an insensitive assignment about slavery.

The slave trade is an extremely dark and horrific part of American history. It's impossible to talk about the history of our country without it, but it's also difficult to talk about with the right level of sensitivity, respect, nuance, and context. Millions of people died directly because of the Atlantic slave trade, which is to say nothing of the inhumane cruelty that the survivors of enslavement suffered.

How do you explain something so unimaginably awful to children? No one would ever say it's easy, but outdated curriculums and even insensitive teachers have been bungling it for decades. Poorly thought-out slavery lessons have been a problem in American schools for a long time now.

In an effort to help kids make sense of something so truly senseless, assignments often try to put kids in the shoes of slave owners and ask that they understand the reasons and logic behind the practice. This is the wrong lesson, and stories like this one show exactly why.

In 2019, 5th grade students at Blades Elementary School were given an assignment on the trading market of early Colonial settlers. One of the questions was completely outrageous.

According to a photo posted on Facebook by Lee Hart, the assignment read:

"You own a plantation or farm and therefore need more workers. You begin to get involved in the slave trade industry and have slaves work on your farm. Your product to trade is slaves.

"Set your price for a slave," it continued, offering a blank space for children to write in their answer. "These could be worth a lot. You may trade for any items you'd like."

The post went viral in local Facebook groups at the time, quickly attracting media attention and outrage among fellow parents.

"Unimaginable that a teacher would think this way okay," one commenter wrote.

"How stupid, insensitive, racial, unbelievable in today’s world. The teacher needs to be penalized for this," someone said.

"Any teacher, as we approach 2020, should be educated and sensitive enough to know that there are better examples that could be used to teach this lesson, which would not make anyone uncomfortable," another user added.

See the assignment here. It's hard to believe without seeing it with your own eyes.

slavery, assignment, american history, slave trade, plantation owners Lee Hart www.facebook.com

You can see immediately where the assignment went wrong. Instead of teaching about the horrors of enslaving another human being, we're building empathy for the poor slave owners who just need someone to work their land so they can get by. While the context of how the early trade-based economy worked is important for children to learn, how we talk about it is even more important.

Can you imagine an assignment that prompted children to put themselves in the Nazi's shoes during the Holocaust? Exactly.

Assignments like this one have been going home with students for years. This is just one of the latest examples and, somehow, incidents like this one are still happening.

slavery, early america, united states of america, education, schools, classroom, parents, controversy, colonial america, civil war Parents of the 5th grade students were outraged.Canva Photos

In another school, children were asked to share the pros and cons of slavery, including giving at least three "good" reasons for it. In another incident, kids were asked to write fake Tweets from the perspective of slave owners, and the Tweets were printed and posted in the school's hallway with jaw-dropping hashtags like #slaveryforlife. In yet another assignment, middle school students were asked to brainstorm punishments for slaves in ancient Mesopotamia.

Some powerful parties in America don't want schools teaching the real, ugly truth of how our country was founded, and that's undeniably making this problem worse. The 1776 Commission was launched in 2020 by then-President Donald Trump and was re-commissioned again in January of 2025. It pushes for what it calls "patriotic education." You can guess what that means.

The official report is full of hemming and hawing and explaining away of the atrocities of slavery, harping on why the practice was a necessary evil.

"Many Americans labor under the illusion that slavery was somehow a uniquely American evil," the report says.

It argues that, because other countries did slavery first, that it wasn't so bad that America partook in the cruel practice. It also bends over backwards to applaud the founding fathers for half-measures and minor compromises, like George Washington freeing his own slaves shortly before his death in 1799.

The federal government doesn't control the minutiae of state curriculums, but can withhold public school funding when it's not happy about what's being taught or how the money is being used. PBS writes that over 20 states have passed laws that "restrict how history can be taught in public schools" in the last 10 years or so.

slavery, early america, united states of america, education, schools, classroom, parents, controversy, colonial america, civil war The classroom is supposed to be a safe space for all students. Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash

For the school's part, the principal of Blades Elementary at the time apologized for the incident and the teacher was placed on administrative leave after expressing their remorse.

"Asking a student to participate in a simulated activity that puts a price on a person is not acceptable," Superintendent Chris Gaines said according to ABC News. "Racism of any kind, even inadvertently stemming from cultural bias, is wrong and is not who we aspire to be as a school district."

Being a teacher is hard, especially with immense pressure coming from the very top to speak of American history in only pre-approved, white-washed ways. But we've definitely got to do better than this.

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Someone criticized a middle school teacher's behavior. Her comeback was an A+.

When a person commented, "your a teacher act like it," Amy Allen hilariously took the advice to heart.

@_queenoftheclassroom/TikTok

A rude commenter got a lesson from Ms. Allen.

Being a teacher isn't easy. Teaching middle school students is especially not easy. Teaching middle school students who spent several of their formative years going through a global pandemic in the age of smartphones, social media and a youth mental health crisis is downright heroic.

If you haven't spent time in a middle school classroom, you may not fully grasp the intensity of it on every level, from the awkwardness to the body odor to the delightful hilarity that tweens bring to the table. When you connect with your students, it can be incredibly rewarding, and when you don't…well, we all read "Lord of the Flies," right?

Skilled teachers bring out the best in young people, and that can be done in many different ways. For Amy Allen, it's by making her middle school classroom a fun, welcoming place to learn and by bonding with her students.

"I love teaching middle schoolers because they are awkward, and I’m awkward, so we get along," Allen tells Upworthy.

She plays games with students, gets rambunctious with them and creates opportunities for them to expend some of that intense pre-and-early-teen energy in healthy ways. For instance, she shared a video of a game of "grudgeball," an active trivia game that makes reviewing for a quiz or test fun and competitive, and you can see how high-energy her classroom is:

@_queenoftheclassroom

If this looks like fun to you, pick up my grudgeball template (🔗 in bio) #qotc #grudgeball #10outof10recommend @Amy Allen ☀️ @Amy Allen ☀️ @Amy Allen ☀️

"I think for teachers, we always want to create moments for our students that are beyond the standard reading, writing, memorizing, quiz, 'traditional learning,'" Allen says. "Games are a great way to incorporate fun in the classroom."

Allen clearly enjoyed the game as much as her students—"I love the chaos!" she says— and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Fun keeps teachers sane, too. But one person took issue with her classroom behavior and commented, "your a teacher act like it." (Not my typo—that's exactly what the person wrote, only with no period.)

Allen addressed the comment in another video in the most perfect way possible—by acting exactly like a teacher.

Watch:

@_queenoftheclassroom

Replying to @كل الكلبات تريد مني Come see me if you have any further questions. #qotc #iteachmiddleschool #weDEFINITELYdonthavefuninhere @Amy Allen ☀️ @Amy Allen ☀️ @Amy Allen ☀️ #Inverted

There are two solid ways to handle a rude comment without making things worse—you can ignore it or you can craft a response that makes the person look like a fool without being cruel or rude yourself. Allen's grammar lesson response was A+ work, right down to the "Come see me if you have any further questions" caption.

In fact, the person apparently went back and deleted their comment after the comeback video went viral, which makes it all the more hilarious. The video currently has more than 4 million views on TikTok and over 18 million views on YouTube.

"What’s funny is I left my correction on the board accidentally, and the next day, students asked me what that was all about," Allen says. "When I explained it, they thought it was cool because 'why would anyone go after Ms. Allen'? At that point, the video had maybe 10,000 views. I never imagined the video would go viral."

Two days later, as the video was creeping toward a million views, she upped the stakes. "Some of my students are my ultimate hype people, and they were tracking it harder than I was," she says. "I made a 'deal' with my fifth period if it reached 1 million during their class, they could sit wherever they wanted the entire week. During lunch, I checked, and it reached 1 million. So when they came back from recess, I announced it, and it was like I was a rockstar. They screamed and cheered for me. It was an incredible moment for me."

The irony, of course, is that Allen was acting like a teacher in her grudgeball video—an engaged teacher with engaged students who are actively participating in the learning process. Just because it doesn't look like serious study doesn't mean it's not learning, and for some kids, this kind of activity might be far more effective at helping them remember things they've learned (in this case, vocabulary words) than less energetic ways of reviewing.

Allen has her thumb on the pulse of her students and goes out of her way to meet them where they are. Last year, for instance, she created a "mental health day" for her students. "I could tell they were getting burnt out from all the state tests, regular homework, and personal life extracurricular activities that many of my students participate in," she says. "We went to my school library for 'fireside reading,' solved a murder mystery, built blanket forts, watched the World Cup, colored, and completed sudokus. Is it part of the curriculum? No. Is it worth spending one class period doing something mentally rewarding for students? Absolutely."

Teaching middle school requires a lot of different skills, but perhaps the most important one is to connect with students, partly because it's far easier to teach someone actually wants to be in your classroom and partly because effective teaching is about so much more than just academics. A teacher might be the most caring, stable, trustworthy adult in some students' lives. What looks like silly fun and games in a classroom can actually help students feel safe and welcomed and valued, knowing that a teacher cares enough to try to make learning as enjoyable as possible. Plus, shared laughter in a classroom helps build a community of engaged learners, which is exactly what a classroom should be.

Keep up the awesome work, Ms. Allen, both in the classroom and in the comment section.

You can follow Amy Allen on TikTok and YouTube.


This article originally appeared last year.

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Instead of rules, this high school teacher created 4 classroom R's that are more effective

A brilliant re-framing of "rules" that empowers students and strengthens character.

Photo by Jeswin Thomas/Pexels

There are many ways to manage a classroom, and not all include "rules."

Anyone who has tried to wrangle a classroom of kids knows that it's a formidable feat at any age. Having a group of learners who are engaged, attentive and reasonably courteous is the goal, but managing diverse personalities from various backgrounds and home environments and who have different standards and expectations of behavior can be tricky.

Some teachers take the old-school "law and order" approach, laying out a list of classroom rules everyone is supposed to follow. Those who don't fall in line face consequences of some sort. But high school Language Arts teacher Monte Syrie takes a different tack—one that sees students as valued citizens of a community instead of young people to be controlled.

Syrie, who has been teaching for more than two decades, says he's always striving to make the school year better than the last one. That means regularly reflecting and reevaluating how he communicates with his students, which is how he went from standard classroom rules to reframing them as "Policies and Procedures" to tossing out the concept of "rules" altogether.

Now he offers 4 R's—Roles, Routines, Rights and Responsibilities—as a framework for classroom management.

"I think teachers are framers. We frame the room. We frame the work. We frame the day. We frame the year. We frame the entire experience–whether we want to or not," Syrie shares. "The kids look to us for the frame. What we do–or don’t do–decides the day. And, man oh man, is there pressure in that. But, there’s also possibility–powerful possibility."

Syrie explains in his book about teaching that kids respond differently when teachers frame things differently, and being greeted with classroom rules on day one evokes a specific response in kids.

"We seem to believe if we don’t get rules in front of the kids immediately, we will never get the kids where we want them," he writes. "I don’t believe in this anymore. I did, I suppose, at one point, but at this point, I believed there was a better way to 'get kids.'"

Syrie decided to reframe his classroom policies as as Roles that let kids see themselves through various lenses, Routines that tell them what to expect, Rights that give them individual autonomy and Responsibilities that help them contribute to a shared community.

So what does that look like?

Roles in Syrie's classroom include the roles of Yourself (the most important role, he says), Valued Community Member, Reader, Writer, Mistake Maker, and Reflector. He explains to the students what each of these roles entails and why it's important for kids to take them on.

Routines include daily and weekly activities such as starting class with a community check-in called Smiles and Frowns and ending class with Journey Journaling. Each day of the week also has a specific focus, such as writing, reading or grammar.

Rights include things like, "I have the right to feel safe," "I have the right to learn," and "I have the right to ask as many questions as l want." Syrie also gives students the right to eat and drink in class and the right to make mistakes without fear of penalty.


teacher talking to students in a classroomMonte Syrie talks to a student in one of his classes. Photo credit: Monte Syrie

As for Responsibilities, students have a responsibility to get to class on time, know and honor the class routines, self-regulate use of electronic devices in the classroom, be a great listener, self-regulate leaving the room, take ownership of their learning, and be sensitive and respectful of others' viewpoints, among other things. Students are expected to do their best to fulfill these responsibilities and to handle any breaches (such as being late to class) with courtesy and minimal disruption to the rest of the class. If they are struggling with any of these responsibilities, interventions include reminder(s), conversation(s), parent contact, and as a last and unlikely resort, office referral.

The beauty of Syrie's four R's is that they demonstrate a sense of trust in students right off the bat, helping them see themselves both as responsible individuals and as valued parts of a communal whole. When people feel trusted and valued and are empowered by a clear balance of rights and responsibilities, most tend to rise to the occasion—even when they're in high school. That's not to say that this framing eliminates all classroom management issues, but it's a framework that encourages character development from within the students rather than exerting control from the top down. They'll be able to take this framing through their whole educational career and beyond.

A fellow educator wrote on X, "Love this in so many ways! In these times, this answers 'how can we help learners understand the principles of a democracy?'" Imagine if we all reflected more on our roles, routines, rights and responsibilities as citizens rather than just memorizing the laws we are obliged to follow. Perhaps Mr. Syrie's rethinking and reframing of the educational experience can help us all consider a new framing for our own lives as individuals and community members as well.

You can follow Monte Syrie on X and find his book, "better: A Teacher's Journey: Project 180 Book One," here.


This article originally appeared last year.

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Teacher shares the fabulous call-and-response ways he gets students' attention

How do these kids know the lyrics of a Weezer song from 1994?!

@primrosetheband/TikTok

A music teacher has a unique way to get students' attention.

If you've ever taught a classroom full of children, you know that getting them to settle down and pay attention all at the same time is a bit like trying to herd cats. (Seriously, teachers should make six figures. Every single one of them.)

Believe it or not, shouting, "OK, everyone! Time to settle down and get started!" is generally an ineffective way to get kids to settle down and get started. Threatening punishment sometimes works, but that's not very conducive to a healthy learning environment. So teachers often come up with creative ways to grab everyone's attention. There's the ever-popular clap-a-rhythm method, which works well for the youngest kiddos. There's the ear-piercing two-finger whistle for teachers who are talented enough to pull it off. There's the bell or the bullhorn, both of which are as annoying to the teacher as they are to the students.

And then there's the unique call-and-response, which one teacher shared on TikTok to the delight of millions.

The video from the account @primrosetheband, which has been viewed over 7 million times, begins with a music teacher facing the class in front of a whiteboard. We can hear the hustle and bustle of the kids in the background when suddenly, the teacher yells out "Hear ye! Hear ye!" and the kids immediately respond, "All hail the king!"

Cute, but it gets better.

The teacher has several call-and-response attention grabbers that are song lyrics, and not necessarily ones we'd expect kids to know. Either this teacher has taught them to the kids directly, or these kids have quite the rock music repertoire under their young belts.

Watch the teacher yell out, "Flip on the tele!" and see the kids respond, "Wrestle with Jimmy!"—a lyric from Weezer's 1994 song, "Say It Ain't So."

@primrosetheband

Gotta find creative ways to get them to listen! #teacher #musicschool #teacher #primrose

He also had them do AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" and Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A."

People in the comments were tickled at hearing the kids respond, as well as hearing the teacher's "Thank you!" every single time.

"THE WEEZER ONE 🙏🙏🙏 I NEED YOU TO BE MU TEACHER ACTUALLY," wrote 𖤐 little sunshine 𖤐.

"I spit out my water when they said 'wrestle with Jimmy,'" shared Stoning

"One year at camp mine was 'y’all gone make me lose my mind!' And they’d respond 'up in here, up in here,'" shared Sam.

"Why can't we continue this in college," inquired CatTastrophe27. "I swear my lower division classes need this."

Seriously, learning is a lot more enjoyable when everyone's paying attention, and getting everyone's attention is a lot more with a creative call-and-response than with yelling and threats. Give teachers like this all the kudos and all the money. They definitely deserve it.

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