The Underground Railroad

This is a website on the Underground Railroad that I would use in a Grade 7 classroom to supplement a novel study on "Underground to Canada". This fits into the Grade 7 English Language Arts Curriculum Unit: Finding the Courage.

I would use this website to introduce slavery and the underground railroad, before actually beginning the novel. Students would first write a "quick-write" about what they already know about slavery and the underground railroad. Students would then have a chance to use the website to participate in a simulation of the underground railroad - they would have the opportunity to imagine themselves as a slave trying to escape to freedom. Through this simulation, students would be faced with difficult choices that slaves had to make, such as whether to risk their lives for freedom. While obviously it is artificial, I still think students would benefit. After students had finished the simulation activity, I would have students write a brief journal entry about how the activity made them feel. Following this journal entry, students would break off into small groups and discuss whether they feel they would have helped people to escape from slavery. By doing this, students will have to "put themselves in someone else's shoes" and realize what the people of the underground railroad risked to help others. Students will then share times when they found the courage to help others, even when it was not easy.

Students would then begin reading the novel. Following the completion of the novel, students would come back and repeat the same simulation activity and see if their thoughts/feelings changed since they would now know more about the underground railroad.

Students will benefit from this website because the simulation activity allows them to get a glimpse into what life might have been like for a runaway slave. It is a great supplement to the novel "Underground to Canada" and allows students to view some very powerful images, as well as to read about the influential people involved in the underground railroad. It is written at an appropriate age level for middle years students and provides an interesting introduction to a very important and interesting topic. I definitely think it will get students talking and thinking about freedom, equality, courage, and history.