Take a Ride on the Road to Freedom Staci, Andrea, Alecia, & Chrissy

What do you think of when you hear the term African American? Slavery? Oppression? Torture? Riots? Segregation? Inequality? Injustice?

What About … Strength? Courage? Bravery? Determination? Empowerment? Peaceful defiance?

Follow the drinking gourd The riverbank makes a very good road, The dead trees will show you the way. Left foot, peg foot, traveling on, Follow the Drinking Gourd. The river ends between two hills, Follow the Drinking Gourd. There’s another river on the other side, Follow the Drinking Gourd. When the great big river meets the little river, Follow the Drinking Gourd. For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom, Follow the Drinking Gourd.

Spirituals Wade in the Water Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Free at Last Go Down Moses Follow the Drinking Gourd Many Thousand Gone No Trouble at the River Hold on Just a Little While Longer Soon I Will be Done

Extensions Draw a map and locate the rivers along the slave escape route. Have the class discuss how quilts were used to guide slaves to freedom. Divide the class into small groups. Have them discuss the pros and cons of helping slaves. Travel the road of an escape slave at

Primary Lesson Minty: The Life of a Young Harriet Tubman –By: Alan Schroeder & Jerry Pinkney »Students learn the childhood life of Harriet Tubman. »Compare & Contrast their lives to her. »Language Arts & Social Studies

Primary Lesson Escape North –By: Monica Culling »Students learn about the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman. »Students learn songs and code words slaves used to communicate with each other. »Language Arts, Music, Social Studies

Intermediate Lesson Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson »Students learn about the importance of quilts in the success of the Underground Railroad. »Students construct their own quilt squares using cardinal directions to make a class quilt. »Language Arts & Geography

Intermediate Lesson Follow the Drinking Gourd by Bernadine Connelly »Children learn the importance of spirtuals and other oral traditions. »Language Arts & Social Studies

Middle School Lesson Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Ann Petry »Students will search internet and other book sources. »Based on the information, students internalize the meaning of being a slave on the Underground Railroad and write a narrative. »Language Arts, Social Studies

Middle School Lesson Civil War Almanac by Justin Segal ; Civil War A-Z by Norman Bolotin ; The Civil War by Rebecca Stefoff »Students will use research texts and internet sources to create a Civil War Timeline focusing on the abolition of slavery. »Language Arts, Social Studies

Books Picture Books –Dinner at Aunt Connie’s House by Faith Ringgold –A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman by David Adler & Samual Byrd Multicultural Books –Freedom Crossin’ by Margret Goff Clark –If You Traveled the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine & Richard Willams Poetry –Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson & James E. Ransome –Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter Traditional Fantasy –Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter –Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson Fantasy –Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold Contemporary Realistic Fiction –Stealing Freedom by Elisa Carbone –Who Comes with Cannons by Patricia Beatty –Bright Freedom Song by Gloria Houston Historical Fiction –Numbering All the Bones by Ann Rinaldi –Runaway to Freedom Barbara Smucker Informational –Civil War A-Z by Norman Bolotin –Life on the Underground Railroad by Stuart A. Kallen. –The Civil War by Rebecca Setoff –Get on the Board by Jim Haskins –Many Thousand Gone by Virginia Hamilton –The Drinking Gourd by Ann Monjo –If You Lived in the Time of Civil War by Kay Moore & Anni Matsick –The River Jordan by Henry Burke & Dick Croy –Great Black Heroes: Five Brave Explorers by Wade Hudson Biography –Harriet Tubman by Kathie smith –Walking the Road to Freedom by Jeri Ferris –Bound for the North Star by Dennis Brindell Fradin –Lincoln and the Abolition of Slavery by Russell Roberts –Let it Shine by Stephen Alcorn –Sojourner Truth by Patricia C. McKissack & Frerik McKissack –Wanted Dead or Alive: The True Story of Harriet Tubman by Ann McGovern