Conclusion
Hopefully by now you have a good understanding of just how the Underground Railroad functioned. It is also my hope that you understand how important it is for people to stand up and take action when there is injustice in the world. The people who worked on the Underground Railroad and the Escaped Slaves themselves were all very brave people. They worked together to make sure that the institution of slavery came to an end by helping one slave at a time escape to freedom. Ultimately our country fought the Civil War because of the divide the issue of slavery caused between the Northern and the Southern States. The many people who worked to make the Underground Railroad a success fought a war of their own against the evil that was slavery. We owe them our thanks and our reverence.
Here are some additional questions you may want to think about after you have completed this WebQuest:
1. How did Michigan's location along the Underground Railroad end up affecting Michigan's population after the Emancipation Proclamation (this was the law that freed the Slaves)?
2. Were the people who worked on the Underground Railroad wrong to break the law and help escaped Slaves?
3. What did the Slaves who made it to Canada do to earn a living after they escaped to Freedom?
Here are some additional questions you may want to think about after you have completed this WebQuest:
1. How did Michigan's location along the Underground Railroad end up affecting Michigan's population after the Emancipation Proclamation (this was the law that freed the Slaves)?
2. Were the people who worked on the Underground Railroad wrong to break the law and help escaped Slaves?
3. What did the Slaves who made it to Canada do to earn a living after they escaped to Freedom?
Teacher Section
My name is Becky Baron and I created this WebQuest for a third or fourth grade class as a Social Studies WebQuest. Under the Michigan Department of Education Curriculum there is a section that addresses Michigan's role on the Underground Railroad. That standard was my inspiration for developing this particular WebQuest. It was my hope that this unit would give kids a solid base of knowledge about the Underground Railroad as a general subject and then once that base was established students would be prepared to learn how the citizens of Michigan helped escaped slaves make their way to Detroit and across the Detroit River into Canada.
Since there is obviously a lot of information in this lesson for a student to cover and understand, I designed the lesson to be taught over a six week period. It would be best covered in 30-40 minute sessions once a day over that six week time frame. I have incorporated several different teaching strategies into this lesson. The first strategy that I employed was Cooperative Learning. This lesson is meant to be utilized by students broken up into groups of three. That way there is a role for each group member while still encouraging the students to collaborate on the research and end product developement. I have also included Advance Organizer Outlines, the students know them as Activity Pages, to help the kids keep the information they gather in an easily understandable format. I have tried very hard to Scaffold the information I have presented. I began with basic information and built upon that with increasing specificity. The Quiz that occurs after the Underground Railroad Background information is meant to be an assessment tool to make sure students are on the right track. I tried my best to make this WebQuest as user-friendly for students as possible, while at the same time giving them a solid foundation in understanding the Underground Railroad.
For this WebQuest there are supplies that you will need to make it a success:
1. Paper - for drawing the map and for the coded message
2. Writing tools - for drawing the map and for the coded message
3. The Books from the book list below in the Credits
4. Printed copies of the Activity Pages and Quiz or a printer that the kids can use to print the pages themselves.
Here are the Standards I used to guide the development of this WebQuest:
Michigan Department of Education Standards
Core Democratic Values:
3 - P3.1.3 - Give examples of how conflicts over core democratic values lead people to differ on resolutions to a public policy issue in Michigan.
4 - C5.0.2 - Describe the relationship between rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
History Of Michigan
3 - H3.0.8 - Use case studies or stories to describe how the ideas or actions of individuals affected the history of Michigan.
4 - H3.0.7 - Use case studies or stories to describe the ideas and actions of individuals involved in the Underground Railroad in Michigan and the Great Lakes Region.
Human Systems
3 - G4.0.2 Describe diverse groups that have come into a region of Michigan and the reasons why they came (push/pull factors).
Persuasive Communication About a Public Issue
3 - P3.1.3 - Compose a paragraph expressing a position on a public policy issue in Michigan and justify the position with a reasoned argument.
Roles of the Citizens in American Democracy
4 - C5.0.4 - Describe ways citizens can work together to promote the values and principles of American Democracy.
Michigan Educational Technology Standards
3 - 5.RI.1 - Use digital tools to find, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information.
3 - 5..TC.1 - Use basic input and output devices (e.g., printers)
ISTE's Educational Technology Standards for Students
#3 Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
Process data and report results.
Since there is obviously a lot of information in this lesson for a student to cover and understand, I designed the lesson to be taught over a six week period. It would be best covered in 30-40 minute sessions once a day over that six week time frame. I have incorporated several different teaching strategies into this lesson. The first strategy that I employed was Cooperative Learning. This lesson is meant to be utilized by students broken up into groups of three. That way there is a role for each group member while still encouraging the students to collaborate on the research and end product developement. I have also included Advance Organizer Outlines, the students know them as Activity Pages, to help the kids keep the information they gather in an easily understandable format. I have tried very hard to Scaffold the information I have presented. I began with basic information and built upon that with increasing specificity. The Quiz that occurs after the Underground Railroad Background information is meant to be an assessment tool to make sure students are on the right track. I tried my best to make this WebQuest as user-friendly for students as possible, while at the same time giving them a solid foundation in understanding the Underground Railroad.
For this WebQuest there are supplies that you will need to make it a success:
1. Paper - for drawing the map and for the coded message
2. Writing tools - for drawing the map and for the coded message
3. The Books from the book list below in the Credits
4. Printed copies of the Activity Pages and Quiz or a printer that the kids can use to print the pages themselves.
Here are the Standards I used to guide the development of this WebQuest:
Michigan Department of Education Standards
Core Democratic Values:
3 - P3.1.3 - Give examples of how conflicts over core democratic values lead people to differ on resolutions to a public policy issue in Michigan.
4 - C5.0.2 - Describe the relationship between rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
History Of Michigan
3 - H3.0.8 - Use case studies or stories to describe how the ideas or actions of individuals affected the history of Michigan.
4 - H3.0.7 - Use case studies or stories to describe the ideas and actions of individuals involved in the Underground Railroad in Michigan and the Great Lakes Region.
Human Systems
3 - G4.0.2 Describe diverse groups that have come into a region of Michigan and the reasons why they came (push/pull factors).
Persuasive Communication About a Public Issue
3 - P3.1.3 - Compose a paragraph expressing a position on a public policy issue in Michigan and justify the position with a reasoned argument.
Roles of the Citizens in American Democracy
4 - C5.0.4 - Describe ways citizens can work together to promote the values and principles of American Democracy.
Michigan Educational Technology Standards
3 - 5.RI.1 - Use digital tools to find, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information.
3 - 5..TC.1 - Use basic input and output devices (e.g., printers)
ISTE's Educational Technology Standards for Students
#3 Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
Process data and report results.
Credits
Bibliography for the Books about the Underground Railroad:
Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad, by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Follow the Drinking Gourd, by Jeanette Winter
If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad, By Ellen Levine
Life on a Plantation, by Bobbie Kalman
Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, by Alan Schroeder
Now Let Me Fly: The Story of a Slave Family, by Dolores Johnson
Pink and Say, by Patricia Polacco
Websites used for this WebQuest:
Smithsonian Institute
http://americanhistory.si.edu/ourstory/activities/slavelife/index.html
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/ourstory/activities/slavelife/index.html
PBS
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/video/1-2_underground_railroad.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2946t.html
Along the Tracks Website
http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Alongthetracks/codes.html
Scholastic
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/index.htm
Michigan Opera Website
http://www.michiganopera.org/mg_ed/educational/UndergroundRR.html
You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgEwDnQpcd8
Albion Library
http://www.albion.edu/library/JAT/MIUGR.htm
Shelby History Website
http://shelbyhistory.tripod.com/id17.html
Michigan.gov Website
http://www.hal.state.mi.us/mhc/museum/explore/museums/hismus/prehist/civilwar/undergro.html
Ohio History
http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/ohiopix/search.cfm?searchfield=LCSubject&searchterm=Underground%20Railroad%20--%20Michigan
Northbridge Public Schools
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/underground/slvtrade.htm
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/underground/mi1.htm
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/underground/mi2.htm
Viewing States Cartography Page
http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu:9001/StyleServer/calcrgn?cat=North%20America%20and%20United%20States&item=States/Michigan/Michigan1858a.sid&wid=500&hei=400&props=item(Name,Description),cat(Name,Description)&style=simple/view-dhtml.xsl
Distance Calculator at Infoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/calculate-distance.html
National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/index.html
Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad, by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Follow the Drinking Gourd, by Jeanette Winter
If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad, By Ellen Levine
Life on a Plantation, by Bobbie Kalman
Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, by Alan Schroeder
Now Let Me Fly: The Story of a Slave Family, by Dolores Johnson
Pink and Say, by Patricia Polacco
Websites used for this WebQuest:
Smithsonian Institute
http://americanhistory.si.edu/ourstory/activities/slavelife/index.html
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/ourstory/activities/slavelife/index.html
PBS
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/video/1-2_underground_railroad.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2946t.html
Along the Tracks Website
http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Alongthetracks/codes.html
Scholastic
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/index.htm
Michigan Opera Website
http://www.michiganopera.org/mg_ed/educational/UndergroundRR.html
You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgEwDnQpcd8
Albion Library
http://www.albion.edu/library/JAT/MIUGR.htm
Shelby History Website
http://shelbyhistory.tripod.com/id17.html
Michigan.gov Website
http://www.hal.state.mi.us/mhc/museum/explore/museums/hismus/prehist/civilwar/undergro.html
Ohio History
http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/ohiopix/search.cfm?searchfield=LCSubject&searchterm=Underground%20Railroad%20--%20Michigan
Northbridge Public Schools
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/underground/slvtrade.htm
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/underground/mi1.htm
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/underground/mi2.htm
Viewing States Cartography Page
http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu:9001/StyleServer/calcrgn?cat=North%20America%20and%20United%20States&item=States/Michigan/Michigan1858a.sid&wid=500&hei=400&props=item(Name,Description),cat(Name,Description)&style=simple/view-dhtml.xsl
Distance Calculator at Infoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/calculate-distance.html
National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/index.html
Questions?
Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this WebQuest at [email protected]
I truly hope this is a rewarding and educational activity for your class:)
I truly hope this is a rewarding and educational activity for your class:)