Lesson on Underground Railroad
Writing Activity to Reinforce Lesson About Harriet Tubman
Jan 23, 2009
During Black History Month, take the time to teach your students about Harriet Tubman and her work with the Underground Railroad. After teaching students the basic information, use this writing activity as an assessment or a summative activity.
Writing Assignment for Underground Railroad
Students are to pretend that they were escaped slaves on the underground railroad. Their escape happened many years ago, before they knew how to read and write. Now that they have learned how to read and write, they need to write down the experience to share with others. Students should write three to four paragraphs about their escape.
Pre-Writing Activity for Underground Railroad Assignment
Before students start their essays, they may want to write down a list of people who helped them along the way. They can also list the events that happened, in order. This provides a framework for them to write their essay from. Allow students to spend time with this and draft their essay. You may decide to allow students to work in pairs or groups to discuss the information they want to include in their essay.
Revising Essay on Underground Railroad
As students finish their draft and begin to edit and revise it, encourage them to think through several questions. Consider having an Authors' chair for students to share their work with the rest of the class to receive more feedback as well. Questions students should consider include:
- Does the reader see the picture of what it was like for you to escape from start to finish?
- Did you use descriptive language?
- Are there any other details that you can add that would improve the essay?
Finishing the Underground Railroad Project
Gather the essays and put together an Underground Railroad Book of Memories. Have students each illustrate their individual story to add to the book. Allow students to each submit a cover page for the class to vote on. Students can either work in groups or individually to come up with a cover design and the entire class should vote on the best one for the book. Once the book is complete, make a copy for each student to keep.
There are many lessons students can learn through the Underground Railroad. Have students talk about whether they would have been brave enough to help slaves escape. Discuss situations they come across today that require them to help others. It is important to have students apply something that they learned to their lives today, so that they understand why it is important to learn about history.
Learn more tips on writing an essay, and other ideas for teaching history, including lesson ideas for black history month.
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