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• Date: TBDGrade: 8thTeacher Name: Subject: Civil War1. Topic- The Underground Railroad- Signs and Signals2. Content- The Underground Railroad was imperative in the escape of slaves to the free North.This lesson is to help peak student interest in the Underground Railroad.3. Goals and Objectives: Aims/Outcomes- 1. Students will understand how complex the Underground Railroad was.2. Students will learn how symbols and signs aided in the Underground Railroad.3. Students will gain an understanding of communication within the Underground Railroad.4. Materials and Aids- Multicolored Chips or tokensPictures of quilts, constellations, slaves, and free slavesChildrens stories of the Underground Railroad or slave stories5. Procedures/Methods- Introduction-Students should already have an understanding of the Underground Railroad, what it is and what its significance was.As students enter the classroom, hand out the following tokens.One student receives a green token, representing an Underground Railroad conductor.Two students receive Blue tokens representing free slaves assisting the railroad.Three students should receive red tokens to represent slave catchers.Not all students will receive tokens as they represent slaves.B. Development-Explain to the students that they will be playing a game representing the Underground Railroad.The goal is for the slaves to find their way to the free North (a designated spot in the classroom).They have to find the conductor in order to do this.If the slaves encounter the slave catchers, they are taken back to the South, or their seat in the classroom.The free blacks are to help the slaves find their way to the conductor.C. Practice-After the students have played the game, allow all students to take their seats and begin the class discussion.Ask the students how they determined who the conductor was.You can also stir up lively discussion in asking students how they felt when they were caught by the slave catchers or made it to the free North.After the discussion, break up the class into small groups.Assign them to read the childrens story of the Underground Railroad.Ask students to keep in mind the ways slaves communicated.After the students have read their stories, ask the students what forms of communication were used.Bring the class together by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the communication methods.Show students different forms of the communication via a projector, passing around photos, etc.D. Independent Practice-There are many options you can take depending on how much time you have available on an extension activity.You may chose to have the students create their own quilt pattern on an 8x8 piece of paper, or you can createan activity or have students do research on how the Big Dipper and the North Star has been a navigational tool throughout the ages.E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-Students have multiple ways to express their creativity in this activity.The use of discussion, examples projected on the board, creative outlet of drawing, and independent reasearch etc. allows for multiple learners to find success in this activity.F. Checking for understanding-Once students have completed the activity, have them pass in their artwork.Take a moment to look at and share some examples with the class if students are willing to share.6. Evaluation- The class may receive participation credits for the game or you can have the students write a journal reflection based on the discussion of how the game made them feel in their respective roles.The quilt pattern or research on the North Star and navigation can be assessed in many ways including a written reflection, quick oral recap presentation, or can be utilized as a short answer option within a test or quiz.7. Teacher Reflection- To be determined.