Title |
Silent Signals |
Name |
Eve Ensley |
Date |
7/24/01 |
School |
Ball State University (Student) |
City/state |
Muncie, Indiana |
Topic (Overall theme) |
Signs of the Underground Railroad |
Classroom sessions or estimated time |
3-40 minute periods |
Grade Level(s) |
Third |
Purpose |
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Places and Regions: #4; #6 Human Systems: #10; #12; #13; Environment and Society: #15 The Uses of Geography: #17 |
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3.1.4 3.1.5 3.1.7 3.5.1 |
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Objectives |
Students will be able to:
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*Teacher Background Materials |
Children’s Books
Children 2000.
Adult Books
Web Sites (current as 7-26-01)
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*Purpose of Materials |
Children’s Book
Green, Red, Yellow Stars Facsimiles- quilts, lanterns, constellation pictures, pictures of free Blacks, spirituals
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Procedures |
(This lesson should be implemented only after an introductory/overview lesson on the Underground Railroad.) Engagement:1. Begin by playing an Underground Railroad game. 2. Give one student a green star and have he/she place it in his/her palm. (This student represents a conductor on the Underground Railroad.) 3. Give two students yellow stars and have them place them in their palm. (These students represent the free Blacks who helped the slaves on the Underground Railroad. 4. Give three students red stars and have them place them in their palm. (These students represent the slave catchers.) 5. The rest of the students represent the slaves and do not receive any stars. 6. The objective of the game is for the slaves to get to the North (designated spot in the classroom) by trying to find out who the conductor is. If the slaves find the slave catchers, they are taken back to the South (the student’s seat). The free Blacks help the slave locate the conductors. (If a student finds a free Black, he/she can stay in the game and continue looking for the conductor.) 7. After the students have played the game, encourage the students to take part in a discussion. Use the following questions as prompts:
Exploration: 1. Split the class into groups of four or five. 2. Have each group choose a book about the signs of the Underground Railroad. The following is a list a books that could be used:
3. Have each group read the story. 4. As students read their stories, have them pay attention to the ways slaves and others communicated along the Underground Railroad. 5. After reading the story, have the students answer the following questions:
6. Show students facsimiles of some of the signs on Underground Railroad. 7. As a group, have students pick one of the extension activities to culminate the lesson. |
*Teaching Strategies |
Whole group; small group; interdisciplinary instruction in literature, history, and geography |
*Assessments (key questions to simulate critical thinking) |
Were students able to:
This should be assessed through small group and Individual observation. Students should also be evaluated on their quality of participation in both the discussion and the culminating activity. |
Adaptations and/or Extensions |
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