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All Aboard the Underground Railroad!


Carlene Jennings


Overview of The Abolitionist & Suffrage Movements


Students willl discuss Harriet Tubman's role in the abolitionist movement and will analyze information as they look for her positive character traits.  Students will view a video program from United Streaming which shows how Harriet Tubman's courage helped her escape from slavery and become a modern-day Moses, bravely helping lead others to freedom. (An optional instructional activity, accompanied by suggested websites which are listed in Materials, may be used by teachers who do not have access to United Streaming.)


NEST.  "Animated Hero Classics:  Harriet Tubman."  unitedstreaming:  http://www.unitedstreaming.com/

(This video is available on DVD and is also available from Georgia Public Broadcasting through United Streaming videostreaming.  If you are a Troup County teacher, you have free access and may ask your media specialist for assistance.)

This video is composed of 6 segments:

Handouts: Character Profile and Quotes from Harriet Tubman (See attached file)

White board/dry erase markers or chart paper

 Optional:

Printouts of a coloring page, a brief biography, a timeline with a quiz available for printing from the website www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/aframer/tubman/

Portrait of Harriet Tubman and  1847 reward poster (both may be enlarged) available from the website:  www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/tubman

Interactive web-based activities about Harriet Tubman for primary age children are available from the website:  www.pocanticohills.org/tubman/tubman.html

Fiction books related to Harriet Tubman such as:

Ringgold, Faith.  Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky.  (New York:  Scholastic, Inc., 1994.

Non-fiction books: 

Sweeney, Jacqueline.  Incredible Quotations.  (New York:  Scholastic, Inc., 1997.), p. 24.

Levine, Ellen.  ...If You Traveled on The Underground Railroad.  (New York:  Scholastic, Inc., 1988.)

White, Deborah Gray.  Let My People Go-African Americans, 1804-1860.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 1996, 62.

Carson, Mary Kay.  The Underground Railroad For Kids:  From Slavery to Freedom.  Chicago:  Chicago Review Press, 2005, 155.

 

 


60 min.


2Y3


 

What were the realities of slave life during the Pre-Civil War era?

What positive impact did the tragedy of slavery have on Harriet Tubman?

What contributions did Harriet Tubman make to the abolitionist movement?(SS4H7)

What were some of Harriet Tubman's positive character traits? (SS4CG5)


 

Write this on the white board or chart paper:

  Unscramble the name of a former slave who returned to the South to help other slaves escape.        

                                                     RATRIEH BUANMT

 

Ask students, "Did you figure out the scrambled name?  It was HARRIET TUBMAN."

 


Explain to students that Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery, and then she went on to rescue over 300 slaves as a  "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, which was a secret network of places that a runaway slave could safely spend the night.  Many slaves who escaped had little, if any, help, but Harriet Tubman was one of the hundreds of men and women who offered assistance, safe harbor, and guidance to runaways seeking freedom from slavery. 

 Ask students;  "Can you think of any other times in history when an underground railroad could have been useful?  Would you ever help someone escape a terrible situation even if you knew it was illegal to do so?  What kind of people would risk their own freedom to help others escape to freedom?"

 

 


Provide students with a copy of the "Character Profile" handout and a copy of the "Quotes from Harriet Tubman" handout. (See Linked Files)  (The teacher may also wish to provide students with printouts from EnchantedLearning.com.  There is a coloring page, a brief biography, and a timeline with a quiz available at:  www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/aframer/tubman/)

Tell students that they are to analyze the information about Harriet Tubman in the video that they are about to see and the quotations that they are about to read. They will be rating her positive character traits on a scale of one to five, with one meaning 'not evident' and five meaning 'very evident.'  

Have students view the United Streaming video "Animated Hero Classics:  Harriet Tubman" (27:44)

(Troup County School System has access to United Streaming Videos through Georgia Public Broadcasting.  You may contact your school media specialist for your group number and password.  Using the website, http://www.gpb.org/, click on Education and then VideoStreaming. 

After viewing the video, read and discuss the quotes by Harriet Tubman.  She said, '...there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death.  If I could not have one I would have the other...I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted.' (Sweeney,p.24)  "What would you be willing to do to keep your freedom?"

Optional activity:

Have students research Harriet Tubman using encyclopedias or the internet.  Suggested websites are listed under Materials.  And/or they may read ...If You Traveled On The Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine in order to complete the character profile.  Students may create a poster or booklet about Harriet Tubman and her role in the abolitionist movement to extend their learning.


Discuss the students" responses on their "Character Profiles" handout.

 Ask, "How would you describe Harriet Tubman's character?...Did Harriet Tubman show courage? ...In what way(s)?(SS4CG5)... How did she contribute to the abolitionist movement?"(SS4H7)


The quotes from Harriet Tubman may be used for handwriting practice or to practice reading aloud with expression.  Students may wish to role-play Harriet Tubman making the statements. (See Linked Files for quotes.)


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Quotes from Harriet Tubman_2Y3 Jennings
Character Profile_2Y3 Jennings

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