The Underground Railroad

A Social Studies Unit created for Second grade

By: Amanda ApkarianSienna SchenkLindsey Smith

Table of Contents

1. History2. People in Societies3. Geography4. Economics5. Government6. Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities7. Social Studies Skills and Methods

Standard: History• Activities1. Students will create a timeline of Harriet Tubman’s life using research from the

internet and books they will read about her life. 2. Students will create a game called “Who said this?” Each student will write

something to identify a person from the era of slavery and Harriet Tubman, and draw a picture of that person or a scene. Students will try to guess the person they are describing.

- Ex. Of people: Abe Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, abolitionists, Ben Tubman, conductors, Harriet’s brother, John Tubman, masters, Old Rit (Harriet’s Mother), overseers, runaway slaves, slave catchers, station masters, Miss Susan, Thomas Garrett

3. Students will summarize chapters and draw illustrations using the book “Wanted Dead or Alive” The True Story of Harriet Tubman. Students will work as partners and be assigned to a chapter in the book.

4. Children will write to the governor of New York, where Harriet Tubman moved, lived, and died, to convince him and the New York legislators to pass a legislation for Harriet Tubman Day. They will use facts that they have learned about Harriet Tubman, her life, and what she did for people, to persuade them.

5. Students will make a “Vocabulary Quilt” using words that are important to know about the Underground RR and Harriet Tubman.

Standard: History• Websites:

1. www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/hfame.html 2. www.nationalgeographic.com/features/railroad3. http://dep.disney.go.com/educational/lessons?id=1694. http://www.afgen.com/underground_railroad.html5. http://www.cr.nps.gov/aahistory/ugrr/ugrr.htm

Standard: People in Societies

• Activities:1. I will explain to students that they will compare the life of

slavery with the life of freedom before and after the Civil War.a. I will print out slave’s accounts of their life of slavery for students to read.b. Children will write accounts on their own of what that slave’s life might have been like after the Emancipation Proclamation. c. We will talk about the Emancipation Proclamation and what it means. d. Students will print out resources using the internet to research life immediately after the civil war, and find the state or region where their assigned slave lived.

Standard: People in Societies

• Activities:

2. Ask students to list qualities of a hero, and who there heroes are. a. What makes them special? What qualities would a worker of the Underground Railroad need or possess? List the students’ responses on the board.b. Go to the website at www.nationalgeographic.com/features/railroad to give them an idea of what it was like for a slave, and list the names of the people they encountered. Explain that these people all helped slaves on their journey over the Underground Railroad.c. Have the students write what they would have done to help slaves. How would they have made themselves heroes for the slaves?

Standard: People in Societies

• Activities:3. Students will research and write a report about Harriet

Tubman’s life, and the impact she had on slavery and the Underground Railroad.

4. Students will research and write about Fredrick Douglas and his impact on slavery and the Underground Railroad. The student will then compare Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas and their views/beliefs.

5. Students will put on a play of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad for the rest of the school.

Standard: People in Societies

• Websites:1. www.aakulturezone.com/kidz/abc/harriet.html2. http://memory.loc.gov/anmem/snhtml/snhome.html3. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/hfame.html4. www.nationalgeographic.com/features/railroad5. www.educationworld.com/a-lesson/02/lp252-03.shtml

Standard: Geography• Activities:

1. Students will work in groups of two – three students and map out the route the slaves took during their escape on the Underground Railroad.

2. Students will examine the route in which slaves took in the State of Ohio.

3. Students will research the various climates and environments the slaves were exposed to from the South to the North. They will present their findings to the class.

4. Students will write several journal letters to their loved ones as if they were traveling on the Underground Railroad. They will note what they see and experience as they take this journey.

5. Students will replicate the route the slaves took on the Underground Railroad by making a mini model. Students will also include the states and important bodies of water that are located near or around the route, the slaves took.

Standard: Geography• Websites:

1. http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/1364/Constellations.html

2. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/map.html3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad 4. http://www.dot.state.oh.us/dist6/pdfs/UGRR/RTLFTmap.pdf5. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05036/451287.stm

Standard: Economics• Activities:

1. Students will make a chart comparing how production, distribution, and consumption was during the 1850’s and present day. How do they differ? How did people get goods from one place to another?

2. Students will make food from scratch. This is what the slaves did on a daily basis.

3. Students will research a latest invention of the 1850’s and present their findings to the class.

4. Students will draw all means of transportation available during the 1860’s.

5. Students will sing songs related to the 1850’s that the slaves sang. This is what was used as entertainment during this era. Students will then create their own songs.

Standard: Government• Activities:

1. Field trip to Springboro Historical Society to observe artifacts and tour the sites.

2. Students will each decorate a square piece of fabric. Their piece of fabric will serve as a symbol of the Underground Railroad. The teacher can sew together the fabric pieces to make a quilt.

3. The Compromise of 1850 gave slave owners the right to organize a team to capture runaway slaves. Ask the students if they agree with this law. Each student will create their own law, giving rights to slave owners or runaway slaves.

4. Take a field trip to, or have a representative come from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

5. Have student’s research who the President was during the time of the Underground Railroad. Did the President have slaves? Did he support the Underground Railroad? What role did he play?

Standard: Government• Websites:

1. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/hfame.html 2. http://education.ucdavis.edu/NEW/STC/lesson/socstud/railroa

d/SlaveLaw.htm

3. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html4. http://www.freedomcenter.org/5. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/

Standard: Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

• Activities:

1. After researching about the Underground Railroad, students will decide whether or not they would have helped people, like Harriet Tubman. The students must have three solid reasons supporting their decision.

2. Students will role-play the Underground Railroad. Students may make props and dress up. Role-playing will recreate the Underground Railroad and allow students to act out the different opinions from the people during this era.

3. After researching about the Underground Railroad, students will decide whether or not they would have opened their houses to the runaway slaves. Would they provide money, food and clothing? The students must have three solid reasons supporting their decision.

4. The Underground Railroad required trust and cooperation. Ask students questions about the supporters of the Underground Railroad. How did everyone work together? How did they communicate? Did the supporters have code words? How did the slaves leave their plantations? How did the slaves know where to go? Students may work together in pairs to answer these questions. Students may have to search books and the Internet for these answers. When students are finished researching, have a discussion.

5. Many people who were involved with the Underground Railroad were caught. Ask students to research how the people who were caught were punished.

Standard: Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

• Websites:1. http://www.history.rochester.edu/class/ugrr/home.html2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad3. http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/undergroundrail

road.htm4. http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/undergroundrailroad/a/un

dergroundrr.htm5. http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/tubman/tubman.html

Standard: Social Studies Skills and Methods

• Activities:1. Using multiple resources (books, internet, videos), students

will pair up and find some interesting facts about the Underground Railroad. Students must find at least three facts. Students will write these facts on sentence strips. Staple the student’s sentence strips onto a bulletin board titled “Fun Facts about the Underground Railroad.”

2. Students will pretend they are slaves traveling the Underground Railroad. Each student will create a journal of his/her travels. Students should be creative and descriptive! Students will be able to predict their own outcome based off their knowledge of the Underground Railroad.

3. Have students map out the trails of the Underground Railroad. What problems did the slaves face? What were some things that helped the slaves?

Standard: Social Studies Skills and Methods

4. Have a “research party.” During this party, students will be researching and reading about the Underground Railroad. Have a variety of books and resources for students to look at. Students may want to bring some of their own resources in.

5. Play “What do you do?” Spilt the class into four groups. Each group will be presented with a problem. Students will need to work together to solve their problem. Each group of students will present their problem and solution to the class. This will create some wonderful classroom discussions and debates!-Problem 1: You are a slave owner and discovered all of your slaves ran away. What do you do?-Problem 2: You are a runaway slave. You are traveling the Underground Railroad when you discover that your owner is following you and is not far behind. What do you do?-Problem 3: You are a supporter of the Underground Railroad. You open your house to the runaway slaves. The police come to your door to search your house. You have three runaway slaves in your house. What do you do?-Problem 4: You do not support the Underground Railroad. Some runaway slaves show up at your house and beg you for food and a place to stay. What do you do?

Standard: Social Studies Skills and Methods

• Websites:1. http://www.nps.gov/undergroundrr/ugsum.htm2. http://messenger.yahooligans.com/reference/encyclopedia/e

ntry/48499

3. http://www.whitepinepictures.com/seeds/i/5/sidebar.html4. http://

library.bhbl.neric.org/webquest/underground/stations.htm5. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/explore/magazine/sprsum9

6/UNDERGRR.htm

The End