#2798. The Underground Railroad

Social Studies, level: Elementary
Posted Sat Feb 1 10:59:49 PST 2003 by Joan Maywalt (pmaywalt@twcny.rr.com).
Charles E. Riley School, Oswego, Ny 13126
Materials Required: children, sense of humor, yellow star taped on a ruler, red dots
Activity Time: whenever you are walking a line in the hall
Concepts Taught: relating history to real life

We have read two versions of the life of Harriet Tubman. When the class lines up the leader is the "conductor". We pretend we are slaves, trying to escape on the underground railroad. It is the dead of night and it needs to be QUIET. If any slaves talk they are captured. I place a red dot on their hand and that means lost freedom. The conductor carries the yellow star which is the North Star the slaves followed to Penn.to freedom.