So I'm a Jr High US History teacher and for our next unit I'm looking for a great three or so paragraphs from a slave narrative, preferably from the early-mid 1800's. I've gone through a bunch, but am not finding quite what I'm looking for, which is something that details the hardships and struggles of day-to-day life. If there is an emphasis on religion, cotton, extended family, all the better.
The colloquial phrasing is great in many of them but if it is so disjointed as to make it distracting, it may distract my students. Anyone have any specific suggestions or links?
The Library of Congress site is moving slowly right now, but you might want to check out their slave narratives page or their related resources page. The photo page might also be good for class. And the Lomax brothers' recordings of slave narratives is truly incredible. Most of these accounts were collected during the Great Depression, so they're late memories of late US slavery, but they're absolutely invaluable.
The related resources page points to a few online archives that might be of further interest: American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology and "Been Here So Long": Selections from the Works Progress Administration American Slave Narratives. These sites are built mostly on LOC materials, but they move much faster. Wikipedia also maintains a fairly thorough page on slave narratives. You should be able to find any of these published accounts at the Internet Archive.
The Life of Equiano ("ek-WEE-ah-no") is a popular narrative I'm familiar with, but it's a late 1700s account of the British slave trade and Caribbean slavery, not US cotton plantations. And if you're just looking for a good read about the Atlantic slave trade, I always recommend The Diligent. I think The Diligent could easily be turned into a junior high teaching module about the slave trade, which could be a creative and rewarding enterprise. But I know this is moving a bit beyond your question.
From a teaching standpoint, I often deal with narratives that don't quite do what I need them to do, or that come in outdated Victorian translations. I think it's entirely appropriate to stitch together a few quotes and update the spelling and (if necessary) grammar. If you prepare it as a handout, I'd even recommend omitting ellipses, which often just distract. That way your students will catch at least an echo of the past, rather than missing it entirely. And if it's enough to pique their interest, you can point them to the real thing.
And thanks for all the hard work you do! AskHistorians would be a pretty dull place if it weren't for all the inspiring primary and secondary school teachers that gave us the tools and the enthusiasm to learn more.