http:www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dIb9x6_urm8//

Enjoy the following musical introduction to Alex Haley Compliments of www. youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2nEDJm-IiY&feature=related

ALEX HALEY

Born: August 11, 1921Place: Ithaca, NYParents: Bertha and Simon Haley Second

GradePresentation

Alex as a BoyAlex Haley came to live with his grandparents in Henning,Tennessee when he was six weeks old. He spent a lot of time at the lumber mill with his grandfather. When he was little his grandmother told him lots of stories about all of his family. He had two brothers and one sister and lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles. He used to work at the family’s lumber business but he really loved to read.

He graduated from High School when he was only 15 years old!

When he was 17 he joined the United States Coast Guard during the time of World War II. He spent a lot of time reading all the books on the ship. He begin writing his own adventure stories and tried to have them published. He liked to write about life on the sea.

Alex as a Teenager

When he left the Coast Guard he wrote biographies. Biographies tell stories about people’s lives. He was famous for writing the autobiography of an African American named Malcom X. This became a special book because only two weeks later Malcom X died. The book preserved or saved the memory of Malcom X’s life.

Malcom X

Alex went to London after Malcom X died. While he was there he went to the famous British Museum. He was impressed with the Rosetta Stone. The special stone told about an important family in Egypt. When he was a little boy his grandmother would tell him stories and legends about his family. Alex thought it would be a good idea to write about his own family.

Alex’s Great Idea

The Rosetta Stone

This stone has ancient Egyptian writing on it. It tells about 5000 years of human history-before paper and pencils were invented. It is at the British Museum in London, England. The writing is called hieroglyphics.Alex Haley visited the museum when he was 42 years old.

Alex’s family came from Africa. It took a lot of time for Alex to find the roots or the beginning of his family’s history. Alex began with the words Kintay, Ko and Kamby Bolongo, words he remembered hearing during family gatherings. He traveled to three continents, 50 libraries, and spent 12 years to find out where his family came from. It was very important to him. He found out that the words wereNames of people in his family or his ancestors.

Can you find Africa on the big map? Is it near Tennessee or far away?

Africa

NORTH AMERICA

Atl

It was a sad story. He found out that his one of his ancestors had been kidnapped and taken to America to be used as a slave. Many African Americans were brought to America to be uses as slaves. Alex traced his family tree. It is a chart or graph to show who your grandparents and great grandparents are.

Alex decided to write a book about his family called “Roots: The Saga of an American Family.” The book was based on Alex’s genealogy and discoveries about his family. It also told about the hard time the slaves had when they came to America. Some of it is fact, or true, and some of it is fiction, made to explain the ideas better. The book became the number one national best seller! Millions of copies were sold in the 1970s. Alex Haley became a famous author and Tennessean. Later the book was made into a movie.

Roots

The book explained how terrible many slaves were treated. When slavery was no longer allowed in America, Alex’s family became free citizens. It is a great lesson for Americans never to treat another person differently than how they would want to be treated.

Runaway Slave Ad

Alex returned to live in Norris, Tennessee in 1987. He said that, “He hoped ‘Roots’ would help bring people of all races together in America and take away the stigma associated with slavery in the nation’s past.” He felt no one should ever be ashamed of where they came from or what color their skin was. After Alex Haley died, in 1992, his home in Henning, Tennessee became the Alex Haley State House Museum. It is a great place to learn about the history of African Americans.

Henning, Tennessee

The Alex Haley House Museum

You can visit the Alex Haley Museum to learn more about Alex’s Roots.

Haley Heritage Square stands as a permanent tribute to our cultural diversity, integrity, and good-will for all humanity.

Knoxville, Tennessee

Cultural diversity means different ways of living for different kinds of people.

•Can you tell me why Alex wrote the book “Roots?”

•Do we have slaves today? Why or why not?

•How much of your family tree can you draw?

•Do you know where your great grandparents were first born?

•Could you find Africa on the map?

•Could you find Tennessee on the map?

•How could you travel from Africa to Tennessee?

•Where could we go to find out about Alex Haley?

Questions for discussion

Words to Rememberancestorbiographycitizensfamily tree factfictiongenealogyRosetta Stone

Alex Haley

Social Studies - Curriculum Standards- Second Grade

Culture Content Standard: 1.0

Culture encompasses similarities and differences among people, including their beliefs, knowledge, changes, values, and traditions. Students will explore these elements of society to develop an appreciation and respect for the variety of human cultures.

Learning Expectations:1.03 Recognize the contributions of individuals and people of various ethnic, racial, religious, and socioeconomic groups to the development of civilizations.

Accomplishments2.1.03 Recognition the contributions of individuals and people of various ethnic, racial, religious, socioeconomic groups to the development of civilizations.a. Identify and explain the significance of selected stories, poems, statues, paintings, and other examples of local and state cultural heritage.

Geography Content Standard: 3.0

Geography enables the students to see, understand and appreciate the web of relationships between people, places, and environments. Students will use the knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts within the six essential elements of geography: world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and the uses of geography.

Learning Expectations:• 3.03 Demonstrate how to identify and locate major physical and political features on globes and maps.

Accomplishments2.3.03 Demonstrate how to identify and locate major physical and political features on globes and maps.a. Show how landmasses and bodies of water are represented on maps and globes.b. Locate the state of Tennessee and its major cities on a map.

History Content Standard: 5.0

History involves people, events, and issues. Students will evaluate evidence to develop comparative and casual analyses, and to interpret primary sources. They will construct sound historical arguments and perspectives on which informed decisions in contemporary life can be based.

Learning Expectations:5.01 Identify major events, people, and patterns in Tennessee, United States, and world history.

Accomplishments2.5.01 Identify major events, people, and patterns in Tennessee, United States, and world history.

References

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009. The African American Almanac, 10th Ed.,

Gale. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Gale. Retrieved September 17,

2011, from http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/haley_a.htm

Hooper, Ed. "Alex Haley." Tennessee History Classroom. Retrieved September 17, 2011, from

http://www.tennesseehistory.com/class/Ahaley. htm

Images, Maps, Video ClipSpecial CreditsAlex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz). [Online image] Available

http:// www.alex-haley.com/alex_haley_malcolm_x.htm, Sept. 16, 2011

Alex Haley Museum. Henning, Tennessee. [Online image] Available http:// www.alex-haley.com, Sept.16, 2011.

Peaches911. A tribute to the late great Alex Haley. Youtube. [Online video clip] Available h

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dlb9x6_urm8, Sept. 19, 2011.

Boyhood Home Sign. [Online image] Available http://www.tennesseebeautiful.com, Sept 16, 2011.

Coast Guard and Sailor. [Online image] Available http://www.bing.com/images/search?

q=Alex+Haley+Coast+Guard, Sept 16, 2011.

Family Tree. [Online image] Available Alex Haley Bing Images, Sept 17, 2011.

Grandparents. [Online image] Available http://media-files.gather.com/images , Sept 16, 2011.

Knoxville Heritage Square Home. [Online image] Available http:// www.alex-haley.com , Sept. 16, 2011.

Map of Africa. [Online image] Available http:// www.map-of-africa.us/africa-relief-map.jpg, Sept 17, 2011.

Roots the Book. [Online image] Available Alex Haley Bing Images, Sept 16, 2011.

Rosetta Stone.[Online image] Available http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/rosetta.htm

Sept 17, 2011.

Runaway Slave Ad. [Online image] Available http://www.oglefamilyofmarylandandalliedfamilies, Sept 16, 2011.

Small Tennessee Area Map. [Online image] Available http://www.alex-haley.com/images/tennessee_treasures.pdf,

Sept 17, 2011.

World Map. [Online image] Available http://www.factmonster.com, Sept. 16, 2011.