Leslie Barrett

Course/grade level: 8th Grade Social Studies

Topic: The Road to the Civil War
Objectives: 8th Grade Social Studies TEKS
HISTORY
8.8 The student understands individuals, issues, and events of the Civil
War.
GEOGRAPHY
8.10 The student understands the location and characteristics of places
and regions of the United States, past and present.
CULTURE
8.23 The student understands the relationships between and among
people from various groups, including racial, ethnic, and religious
groups, during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Materials:
Alvermann, D., Gillis, V., & Phelps, S. (2013). Content area reading and
literacy: Succeeding in todays diverse classrooms. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson.
Scholastic. (n.d.). The Underground Railroad: Escape from slavery. Retrieved
from
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad
/index.htm
Engagement: Direct students to the Scholastic website The Underground
Railroad: Escape from Slavery at the following URL:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/index.
htm
For convenience the following short URL may be used: ow.ly/PO49P
Students will have 5-10 minutes to click on Begin the Journey and explore
the information they find there with a partner or in small groups. Students
may explore any items of interest to them from the site. Encourage students
to talk to their partner/group about the things they are finding.
This website has a lot of interactive links and other features. By allowing
students to have some free explore time first they are able to satisfy some of
their curiosity about the site features, and they will be more able to
effectively navigate the site during the remainder of the lesson.

Procedure

Pre-Reading (20 minutes):

Use a Knowledge Rating activity (Alvermann, Gillis, & Phelps, 2013, p.
265) to list potentially unfamiliar words and have students self-identify
their level of experience of the words (example below). Have a class
discussion of the words the class collectively knows, and spend time
finding definitions for any words the class is still unsure about.
Vocabulary Term

I know that!

Maybe?

No idea.

subtle
isolated
rural
fled
fugitives
stowed away
procession
abolitionist
prohibited
pursue

During Reading (40 minutes):

Create student groups with 4 students in each group. Assign each
student in the groups the role of Student A, Student B, Student C, and
Student D.
Distribute one copy of the below Underground Railroad Interactive
Reading Guide (Alvermann, et al., 2013, p. 225) to each student.
Direct students to the slideshow at the following URL:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad
/slideshows/escape_slides.htm
(For convenience you can also use this short URL: ow.ly/PNUwW)

Students will follow the directions on the Interactive Reading Guide to

read and discuss the text presented the slide show based on the
propmts and guiding questions on the Interactive Reading Guide. Each
student will record his/her own answers on the Interactive Reading
Guide.

Post Reading (30 minutes):

Engage in a class discussion about the reading and the groups
answers to the Interactive Reading Guide questions.
Follow up activity: Students will create an underground railroad secret

letter using the common terms and prhases resources from the Write a
Secret Letter section of the website
(http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroa
d/secret_letter.htm).

SI Modification:
The lesson incorporates several modifications for ELLs and struggling
readers. The website has an audio text feature on each page, so students
who struggle with reading have the option of listening to the text read aloud
while they follow along. The activities are all collaborative activities which
give struggling learners the support of their peers during the discussion
phase of each activity. In the creation of the student groups the teacher can
be intentional in making sure each group has a mix of ability levels so all
group members can experience success. To modify the writing part of the
assignment the teacher could provide sentence stems for ELLs or allow
students to orally record their responses using an audio recording feature on
students smart phones or other electronic devices.
(Underground Railroad Interactive Reading Guide student handout follows
below.)

Reading Lesson Plan Report:

I have been out of the classroom for three years now, and when I was in the
classroom it was at the elementary level, so I found it fun digging back into
designing instruction for kids and particularly for kids with a higher level of
academic ability and sophistication than what I was used to. There were so
many great strategies presented in this course it was difficult to narrow it
down to just a few! While I love anticipation guides, I felt like creating an

interactive reading guide was a better activity for this web-based text to help
keep students focused during reading on the driving questions to support the
content understanding. I also enjoyed focusing on social studies as a content
area because it is a subject I admittedly did not teach well as a classroom
teacher. Now, as a provider of professional development for teachers and
librarians, I like to look for ways to help teachers make social studies more
engaging and interactive. I am interested in social justice topics, and diving
into an examination of the impact of slavery is a good starting point to set
the context for important conversations.
As a result of the peer review I added some specificity to my lesson timeline.
I had not included details about the knowledge rating activity in my initial
draft because the assignment directions indicated only one strategy needed
to be explained in detail. When Dr. Delaney suggested I include a knowledge
rating chart I added that detail. In reviewing the lesson plans of my peers
and making activity suggestions I realized that I was able to check my own
understanding of the course content. Overall, however, I find that group
projects (like peer review) in online courses are never as rich as the
experience can be in face-to-face classes.
_____________________________________________________________

Underground Railroad
Interactive Reading Guide
Follow the directions listed below for each set of slides from the Escape!
section of our Underground Railroad site (ow.ly/PNUwW).

Slides 1 & 2
Student A: Read Slide 1 aloud to the group.
Student B: Read Slide 2 aloud to the group.
Group Discussion:
What are 3 ways mentioned that slaves fought against slavery?
Why might a slave choose a subtle way of fighting against slavery?
Write your answer to one of these two discussion questions in complete
sentences in the space below.

Slides 3 & 4
Student C: Read Slide 3 aloud to the group.
Student D: Read Slide 4 aloud to the group.
Group Discussion:
The Underground Railroad was active in what region of the US?
Did all runaway slaves encounter the same geographic obstacles along
the Underground Railroad?
Write your answer to the second discussion question in complete sentences
in the space below.

Slides 5 & 6
Student D: Read Slide 5 aloud to the group.
Student A: Read Slide 6 aloud to the group.
Group Discussion:
Brainstorm some other clever ways slaves might have been able to
escape to freedom unsuspected.
Why do you think very few slaves in the Deep South tried to escape
the plantation?
Write your answer to the second discussion question in complete sentences
in the space below.

Slides 7, 8, & 9
Student A, B, C, D: Read these slides silently to yourselves.
Group Discussion:
True or False: When a runaway slave reached a free state he or she
was safe.
If you agreed to help on the Underground Railroad, which role would
you choose and why?
Write your answer to the first discussion question in complete sentences in
the space below. Justify your answer.

Slides 10 & 11
Student B: Read Slide 10 aloud to the group.
Student C: Read Slide 11 aloud to the group.
Group Discussion:
Why would a person have chosen to risk punishment to help slaves
escape on the Underground Railroad?
Does a citizen of a nation have the responsibility to always abide by
the laws of the nation?
Write your answer to these two questions in complete sentences in the space
below. Provide the reasons behind your thinking.

Slides 12 & 13
Student A: Read Slide 1 aloud to the group.
Student B: Read Slide 2 aloud to the group.
Group Discussion:
What impact did the Underground Railroad have on US history?
Did the abolishment of slavery in 1865 end the struggles of African
Americans in the United States?
Write your answer to one or both discussion questions in complete sentences
in the space below.