Sailing to Freedom NEH Workshop 2011 - Lesson Plan
Nancy Logghe
Captioned, "A slave-hunt,"(link) this is an artist's imagined scene showing an enslaved male being chased by white men on horseback; accompanies a discussion of slavery in the 1840s.
Source - Edmund Ollier, Cassell's History of the United States (London, 1874-77), Vol.3, p. 91.
Introduction
The facts about slavery in the United States can be almost overwhelming to elementary school students. This series of lessons uses a student inquiry approach to introduce the topic and lead students to a level of understanding that is appropriate for them.
Guiding Question
Why were slaves willing to take risks to gain the opportunities of freedom?
Learning Objectives
Students will know:
· the definitions of the following words: abolition, freedom, fugitive, North Star, opportunity, risk, slave, slavery, Underground Railroad.
Students will be able to:
· identify risks that slaves took when they tried to escape from slavery.
· record information on various graphic organizers.
· participate in a class discussion about the guiding question.
· use interactive Websites.
Students will understand:
· why slaves were willing to risk their lives to escape slavery.
Preparing to Teach This Lesson
The following menu of activities offers an array of learning opportunities for students. Included are whole group instruction, small group work, and independent activities. Teachers may choose those appropriate for their students’ abilities, their background knowledge in the topic, and the time allotted to this unit of study.
Suggested Activities
Whole Group Instruction
· Depending on students’ abilities and experience, introduce vocabulary and include additional instruction on the definitions.
· Read aloud Henry’s Freedom Box, a picture book about Henry “Box” Brown’s amazing escape by Ellen Levine. Find out more about Brown from the Virginia Historical Society (link). Introduce a T-chart graphic organizer (link) for listing the risks for slaves running away to the North and the opportunities they may have if they succeed and use as a basis for discussing the book.
· Read aloud a biography of Harriet Tubman. A good picture book biography is Harriet Tubman: Hero of the Underground Railroad by Lori Mortensen. Again use the Risk/Opportunity T-chart graphic organizer as you discuss the book with your students.
· Model for your students how they should complete the graphic organizers independently. The Risk/Opportunity T-chart can be used to record information that students gather as they complete the Small Group Work and the Independent Activities listed below. Another T-chart graphic organizer, My Opinion/My Reasons List, should be completed by each student prior to the final discussion.
· Conduct a Fishbowl Discussion (link) as the culminating activity and assessment for the lesson.
Small Group Work
· Create a Word Splash (link) using vocabulary words.
· Harriet Tubman Reader’s Theater (link) This multiple-role reader's theater script from Scholastic will help students learn more about Harriet Tubman and her role in the Underground Railroad.
· Ellen and William Craft (link) Two slaves, Ellen and William Craft, used deception and intrigue to flee their masters. This article, from the Smithsonian, describes their plan for them to pass as a white man traveling with his servant.
· Routes to Freedom Map (link) This map from National Geographic shows routes that were used by escaping slaves. Encourage students to evaluate routes by comparing ways that various geographic features may have helped or hindered travel.
· Signal Songs and Travel - The following include some ideas from Scholastic.
After students are familiar with the Routes to Freedom Map and understand that slaves often had to find their own way to the North, ask students how they think the escaping slaves would have known how to get to the North if they had never been off their plantations or slave homes. What signs would they look for? What would your students do if they wanted to start walking north? Since slaves didn’t have compasses, they needed another method of finding their way north.
Ask students if they’ve ever seen the Big Dipper, (link) which points to the North Star. Point out that the two outer stars that form the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris, the North Star, which is always in the north.
Some say that slaves used songs to share information about escaping. Ask students to read the lyrics to “Follow the Drinking Gourd” (link).They also can listen to American Troubadour, Bill Schustik, sing "Follow the Drinking Gourd” (link) and tell the history of this song that may have led the slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Ask students if they have figured out what the drinking gourd is. How did it help slaves find their way north?
Ask students to pretend that they’re living back in the time of slavery and want to help slaves reach the North. Divide the class into five groups and assign each group one verse of “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” Then have each group illustrate the lyrics to its verse on a piece of construction paper. How would they draw the pictures to make it even easier for the slaves to understand where they needed to go? After they’ve finished drawing, have each group come to the front of the class and show its poster while the class recites the lyrics to that verse.
Independent activities
· National Geographic Interactive Site (link) This site allows students to navigate through the risks and benefits of running away from slavery. Students are given choices of what to do on each screen.
· Scholastic Interactive Site (link) On this site, students will travel back to the year 1860 and follow a young slave as he flees a Kentucky plantation for Canada along the Underground Railroad. Along the way, they can read or listen to the runaway slave describe his terrifying journey from slavery to freedom. They'll discover what life was like as a slave, encounter the dangers of the Underground Railroad, meet brave abolitionists who took great risks to help runaways, and compare life in the North and South.
· Each student will complete a T-chart graphic organizer, My Opinion/My Reasons List, to prepare for final Fishbowl Discussion.
Formative Assessment
· Collect and evaluate graphic organizers
· Monitor student’s participation.
Summative Assessment
· Collect and evaluate the T-chart graphic organizer, My Opinions/My Reasons List.
· Fishbowl discussion – Record students’ contributions to discussion. You may want to create a rubric with your students before the discussion.
Web Resources
· Page 1
The artist's imagined scene showing an enslaved male being chased by white men on horseback can be found at the following site:
http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/details.php?categorynum=16&categoryName=Physical Punishment, Rebellion, Running Away&theRecord=9&recordCount=87
Find out more about Henry “Box” Brown by going to the following site:
http://www.vahistorical.org/boxbrown.htm
· Page 2
Familiarize yourself with T chart graphic organizers by going to the following site:
http://www.vrml.k12.la.us/graphorgan/
· Page 3
Familiarize yourself with the Fishbowl Discussion by going to the following site. http://www.learner.org/workshops/tml/workshop3/teaching2.html
Harriet Tubman Reader’s Theater can be found at the following site:
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751241
Article about Ellen and William Craft can be found at the following site:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Great-Escape-From-Slavery-of-Ellen-and-William-Craft.html?c=y&page=1
Familiarize yourself with the Word Splash by going to the following site:
http://megan-sheakoski.suite101.com/word-splash-vocabulary-strategy-for-primary-kids-a61718
Your students can see the Big Dipper at the following site: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070108.html.
Your students can read the lyrics to “Follow the Drinking Gourd” at the following site: http://www.followthedrinkinggourd.org/
Your students can listen to "Follow The Drinking Gourd", and hear the history of this song at the following site:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn4DtlZ8FSc
· Page 4
The National Geographic Interactive can be found at the following site:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/
The Scholastic Interactive can be found at the following site:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/
Standards Alignment
American Association of School Librarians Standards for the 21st Century Learner
1. Learners use skills, resources, and tools to inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.
1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.
1.1.5 Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, and appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context.
1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning.
1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding.
2. Learners use skills, resources, and tools to draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.
2.1.2 Organize knowledge so that it is useful.
2.1.3 Use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas, real- world situations, and further investigations.
2.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information.
2.1.5 Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems.
2.1.6 Use the writing process, media and visual literacy, and technology skills to create products that express new understandings.
2.4.3 Recognize new knowledge and understanding.
3. Learners use skills, resources, and tools to share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.
3.1.3 Use writing and speaking skills to communicate new understandings effectively.
Nancy Logghe, Sailing to Freedom, July 2011 page 1