The Underground Railroad Presented by: Katie, Alison, Dawn, Kelly, & Amber

Importance of Teaching the Underground Railroad in your Classroom Significant event in American history Important to teach about multicultural subject matter Can easily be broken down for various age groups Important for children to learn this aspect of history to make sure that it does not repeat itself Children should recognize what their ancestors went through so they can be proud of where they are today!

Harriet Tubman: A Hero of the Underground Railroad Primary Lesson: Grade Level 2 Objectives –Students should be able to complete a worksheet about heroes. –Students will recognize Harriet Tubman’s importance with the Underground Railroad.

Slavery and the Underground Railroad Intermediate Lesson: Grade Level 5 Objectives –Students will be able to explain the significance of the Fugitive Slave Law as it relates to the Underground Railroad. –Students will be able to identify and explain the need for secret signs along the Underground Railroad. –Students will create their own secret signs and routes throughout the school as needed to transport groups of students along the “Underground Railroad.” Closed Cupboard Open Cupboard

The Underground Railroad in Illinois Middle School Lesson: Grade Level 7-8 Objectives –Students will investigate the purpose and importance of the Underground Railroad in our history. –Students will learn to use technology and books to investigate a topic. –Students will learn to use their talents and creativity to present the history of the Underground Railroad, by focusing on a specific topic.

Explanation of Worksheets Silence Activity –Make index cards that state specific areas of your classroom –Explain to students that for the Underground Railroad to work, people involved needed to communicate in silence –Divide students into groups of three –Give one student an index card and tell them that they are not aloud to show anyone else what it says –This student is responsible for getting the others to that specific destination in the room without talking or using their hands After this activity, allow students to state how hard it was to do and have them share their feelings about how slaves had to get around.

Annotated Bibliography Armstrong, Jennifer (1992). Steal away. New York, NY: Orchard Books. –This is the true story of two 13 year-old girls in the spring of Bethlehem, a black slave, was given to Susannah, a white orphan, as a present from her aunt. Susannah did not believe in slavery and grew very close with Bethlehem because they both could not remember their parents. The story is told by the two girls forty-one years later, of their trek to be free of the South. (Biography/Multicultural) Hopkinson, Deborah and James E. Ransome. (2002). Under the quilt of night. New York: Simon & Schuster. –Under the quilt of night a young slave girl leads her loved ones away from the slave master who worked them: "hoeing and picking, / mending and sewing, / till my hands got raw." In this striking companion to Deborah Hopkinson and James Ransome's Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, Hopkinson uses the rhythm of verse to echo the drumming of the slaves' feet as they travel along the Underground Railroad in pre-Civil War times. Ransome's oil painting illustrations are rich with the purple hues of night, and fraught with the tense emotions of the men, women, and children trying to escape--and those helping them. Over the course of the story, the deep purple gradually lightens, as the sun begins to rise and the slaves approach freedom. The final illustration is a veritable sunburst of brilliant orange and yellow. (Historical Fiction)

Annotated Bibliography Cont. Lester, Julius. (2000). To be a slave. New York: Puffin Books. –What was it like to be a slave? Listen to the words and learn about the lives of countless slaves and ex-slaves, telling about their enforced journey from Africa to the United States, their work in the fields and houses of their owners, and their passion for freedom. You will never look at life in the same way again. (Biography) Riggio, Anita. (1997). Secret signs along the underground railroad. Pennsylvania: Boyds Mills Press, Inc. –Luke and his mother are making sugar eggs to sell at the general store—when a man burst into their home and accuses them of hiding slaves. Luke’s mother denies such a charge, but the man still refuses to let her leave the house. Luke, who is deaf, must go to the store and find a girl in an indigo shawl who is waiting for information from them. She is their contact on the Underground Railroad. Luke’s courage and quick thinking enable him to pass along the description of the next “safe haven” in a way no one would ever suspect. (Picture Book)

Ringgold, Faith. (1994). Aunt Harriet’s underground railroad in the sky. New York: First Scholastic Printing. –Cassie Louise has lost her little brother, Be Be. He has gone back to the time when there were slaves. Now, it’s up to Cassie Louise to find Be Be before the bounty hunters find her. (Modern Fantasy) Turner, Glennette. (2001). The underground railroad in Illinois. IL: Newman Educational Publishing Company. –This well-researched study presents a great deal of information...through its user-friendly, question-and- answer format. With its specific coverage of the Underground Railroad in the Midwest, this book will be a welcome addition to library collections in the region and an invaluable resource for students researching the Underground Railroad in Illinois. (Informational) Annotated Bibliography Cont.

Winter, Jeanette. (1992). Follow the drinking gourd. New York: Random House, Inc. –This book relates the story of an old white sailor called "Peg Leg Joe" who went from plantation to plantation in the pre-Civil War south, teaching enslaved blacks a folksong that he wrote, the lyrics of which held directions for following the Underground Railroad to freedom. This particular story focuses on the journey of one group of runaways who travel according to the directions of the song to reach the Ohio River, where Peg Leg Joe himself is waiting with a boat. (Poetry)

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