Elizabeth Hummel
Education 333
Professor Marra
November 26, 2010
The Story of Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the Underground Railroad
Grade: 5
Synopsis:
The Story of Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan is a novel that
depicts the life of Harriet Tubman. This biographical book begins with Tubman’s birth in 1821 and
encompasses Harriet’s journey to freedom and her life as a conductor in the Underground Railroad.
Harriet was born into a society where black people were property owned by rich white people. Slavery
and other forms of racial discrimination were rampant. However, Tubman desired freedom from slavery
and ran from her master. With the help of Quakers and those involved with the Underground Railroad,
Tubman made it to freedom. She made it her life ambition to free her family and other slaves from
slavery in the South. Despite laws such as the Fugitive Slave Law, Tubman pressed on to help slaves
know the freedom that she had. Harriet Tubman made a total of nineteen trips to Maryland to lead
slaves to freedom; her family was among these slaves. Throughout the book, Tubman’s faith in God
shone in each circumstance as she put her trust firmly in God and believed that God would work
miracles in every situation. This is a compelling book for upper elementary students (grades 4-5) as it
illustrates one person’s struggle with racism and her fight for something better. (RL: 4.7)
Thematic Statement:
When God created the world, He made it perfect. All things lived in harmony with each other. However,
sin entered the world and changed how God intended the world to be. Harmony between living things
was replaced with hatred. Sin now plagues what God had created as good. The Story of Harriet Tubman,
Conductor of the Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan deals with the over-arching themes of racism,
freedom, and love. Harriet Tubman, a sinful person herself, lived in a sinful world that thrived on racial
discrimination. Black people were sold as slaves and were considered the property of white people.
Slaves were poorly treated; whipped, overworked, and under fed. Tubman knew that there was
something better than life as a slave; there was freedom. By believing and finding her strength in God,
Harriet escapes to freedom. Through Christ’s redemptive work, we have been called as His servants to
carry out God’s purpose in this world. Just as Tubman led over 300 slaves to freedom from slavery, it is
our calling to lead as many people as possible to freedom in Christ. As we look at racial discrimination,
we will become aware of the sin around us in our own communities. Although slavery does not exist
today, negative attitudes towards other races still does. We need to look at our personal lives and
reflect on how we treat those around us. Do we show love to our neighbors no matter what their skin
color is? (Galatians 5:14) Do we firmly fix our eyes on God to work miracles in our lives? Through
studying this novel on Harriet Tubman, we will see a Godly woman who lived her life for Christ while
standing up for what she believed in.
Objectives:
1. Students will apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and
appreciate texts. (NCTE, IRA: 3)
2. The student will be able to explain the themes of the novel. (NCTE, IRA: 4)
3. The student will be able to express a biblical perspective on the issues of racial discrimination
and freedom. (NCTE, IRA: 1)
4. The students will increase their vocabulary, especially as it relates to the time period, and main
themes of the novel. (NCTE, IRA: 9)
5. The students will gain reading fluency by reading passages to their classmates. (NCTE, IRA: 4)
6. Students will use technological resources to gather and synthesize information. (NCTE, IRA: 8)
7. Students will use spoken, written and visual language to explain their thoughts and accomplish
their own purposes. (NCTE, IRA: 12)
Pre-reading Activities:
1. Have students create a Know-Want to know-Learn Chart. K-W-L charts are useful because
having students write what they already know will activate their prior knowledge. Getting
students to express what they want to know will motivate them towards learning and allowing
space for students to explain what they have learned fosters excitement throughout the
learning process.
a. Topics that the chart can focus on could be slavery, the Civil War, escaping, etc.
2. Students will be given time to go to the library and listen to the librarian give book talks about
books that are written about the Civil War or civil rights. Students will then have time to look at
books to gain a better understanding of the time period.
3. Hand out the vocabulary sheet for students to complete. Students may work on this in pairs.
Have a class discussion on the vocabulary words.
Reading:
1. A variety of methods will be used during the reading of Harriet Tubman.
a. Each student must have a copy of The Story of Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the
Underground Railroad written by Kate McMullan.
b. We will probably read 2 chapters a day. There are 14 chapters in this book meaning that
the main novel will be read within a week.
2. To build more excitement within the students, the teacher will read allowed the first two
chapters of the novel. Students are strongly advised to follow along using their copies.
3. The following days should use a variety of approaches:
a. The teacher may read one chapter to the class and then the next chapter will be read by
students who volunteer to read or time will be given for silent reading.
b. The teacher will provide the chance for students to read silently, in pairs, or in small
groups with the teacher or classroom aid assisting in reading. The teacher needs to
monitor if students are choosing the best strategy for their learning needs.
i. There may be more than 1 small group depending on the amount of students
who prefer this strategy. Try to have an adult at each small group (teacher aid or
parent).
4. To incorporate differentiation within the classroom, large print copies of the book will be
available. There will also be access to an audio recording for students who learn best by listening
along.
5. The teacher should be sure to read a chapter in the middle of the book as well as the last two
chapters of the book to the whole class. This is a good way to wrap up the novel.
Responding:
1. Character Tracking:
a. There are numerous characters in this novel who are important to the story of Harriet
Tubman. To keep characters straight and easy to identify, have students track these
characters.
b. Assign students a character to track. On a bulletin board in the classroom there will be
pictures of these characters. Students will post information that they find/read about
these characters onto the bulletin board.
c. Information posted should include: a physical description, character’s position in the
novel, character’s relation to Harriet, protagonist or antagonist, actions of the character.
d. These characters could include: Mr. Brodas, Mrs. Cook, Mr. Cook, Rit, Ben, Miss Susan,
Miss Emily, Dr. Anthony Thompson, John Stewart, John Tubman, Mary, Ezekiel and Eliza
Hunn, Mr. Trent, Mr. Garrett, William Still, John Bowley, Harriet’s brothers, Charles
Nalle, Abraham Lincoln, Colonel James Montgomery, General Stevens, Amelia Bloomer,
Frederick Douglass, Sarah Bradford, Queen Victoria.
2. While reading the novel, students will fill out graphic organizers with information from the
novel.
a. Topics will focus on plantations, slaves and slavery, and Harriet Tubman
3. During reading, the class will work together to fill out a timeline of the life of Harriet Tubman.
Important dates and events should be included on the timeline.
a. Have students write down the events and the coinciding dates if possible
b. When the novel is completed, have students make a timeline. Provide a long sheet of
paper for each student.
4. Chapter Questions: Students will be given the chapter questions and asked to fill them out. The
teacher reserves the right to take the chapter questions in. The purpose of doing chapter
questions is for the students to know and understand each chapter better. The questions may
be taken in for grades if the teacher desires. The teacher may also decide if the questions will be
discussed in class. The following are possible chapter questions for Chapter 5: Go Free or Die!
a. Vocabulary:
i. Bloodhound
ii. Liberty
iii. Quaker
iv. Mason-Dixon Line
v. Delaware
b. Setting:
i. Briefly describe the setting that Harriet is in.
ii. Where is Harriet working?
iii. What time period does the story take place in?
iv. In what city and state was the Hunn’s house?
c. Character:
i. Who was the woman who talked to Harriet by the road and what did she say?
ii. When Harriet first escapes, who does she take with her?
iii. Why couldn’t Harriet tell Rit of her escape plans?
d. Plot:
i. Why does Harriet need to find another way than papers and contracts to be
free?
ii. What are the two things that Harriet has a right to?
iii. Why did Harriet milk the cow for her mother?
iv. When Harriet goes to see Mary, she ends up singing a song. What did she have
to tell Mary, why did she sing, and what was the song about?
v. What is the significance of Harriet giving the Quaker woman her quilt?
Exploring:
1. Theme:
a. As a class, brainstorm what the possible themes are of the The Story of Harriet Tubman,
Conductor of the Underground Railroad written. Make a web on the board for students
to see.
i. Possibilities are: racism, friendships, loyalty, injustice, courage, freedom, love,
equality, good vs. evil.
b. Have students individually analyze a theme from the book. Students should use specific
examples of how the theme is displayed in the book.
i. There should be a minimum of 3 examples
ii. The analysis should be about a half page long.
2. Vocabulary:
a. There are words in this novel that students will not know. Vocab words will be
introduced at the beginning of the unit, however, to make sure students are learning
the words, create flashcards for each student. Encourage students to practice the vocab
words at home. Allow time during class to work with flashcards too.
b. Later on in the unit, have students pair up and hand out vocab memory cards. Have
students play vocab memory
i. A match of cards will include the vocab word and then the definition
ii. Memory words that will be included will be the words on the main vocabulary
sheet and the vocab words from each chapter
3. Mini-Lesson – Structural Analysis:
a. Students will look closer at the relationships in the novel. Looking at the book as a
whole, the class will provide 2 examples from the book that support the following
relationships. This will be teacher directed:
i. Person against self: (internal conflict)
ii. Person against another person: (protagonist vs. antagonist)
iii. Person against society: (protagonist battles society)
iv. Person against nature: (protagonist threatened by nature)
b. There will be a handout for students to write their answers on
4. Fluency: Poetry
a. Students will choose a poem from the book A Wreath For Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson
b. They will practice the poem and then recite it in front of class.
c. Students may use a copy of the poem for cues but are strongly encouraged to not read
directly from the page. Marks will be taken off for direct reading.
5. It Says – I Say – And So:
a. Because we started the unit with the K-W-L chart, it would be neat to use the It Says – I
Say – And So chart to conclude the novel. This chart allows students the time to
organize their thoughts and pull ideas together; in the It Say column students will write
themes and topics covered in the book, in the I Say column students will write what they
think about topics and themes, and in the And So column students will combine what
they have read with what they think.
6.
7.
8.
9.
b. Topics to cover could be the Civil War, slavery, treatment of slaves, escaping slaves, etc.
c. There will be a handout for students to write their answers on
Underground Railroad Website:
a. Students will follow the link to a website that looks at the Underground Railroad in
depth. Students will spend a day looking at the interactive material on the website.
b. http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/ is the link
c. The next class period, students will participate in a fishbowl discussion. In this discussion
students may talk about the website itself. Students must also compare what they
learned on the website to the novel The Story of Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the
Underground Railroad by Kate McMullan.
d. The class will form a circle in the classroom. In the middle of the circle there will be five
students talking about the website and the book, while the students not in the circle
quietly listen. Once a student in the middle has said something about the book or
website, a student from the outer circle may switch places by tapping the student on
the shoulder. Students may enter the fishbowl as many times as they would like.
i. Every student must participate in the discussion. Each student will be given a
toothpick and once they talk, they may place their toothpick in the bowl which
will be in the middle of the fishbowl circle.
Poster Option:
a. Have students create a propaganda poster that supports one of the following:
i. Freedom for slaves
ii. Slavery
iii. Plantation life
iv. The Underground Railroad
b. The poster should have a motto that will win people’s opinion
c. Students should color their posters and make them ready to be put on display
Newspaper Option:
a. Students will imagine that they are reporting for a newspaper around the years of the
Civil War. Students will have to ‘interview’ someone (e.g. a plantation owner) about a
topic (e.g. a runaway slave). The student must answer who, what, where, when, why,
how and then format their writing to look like a newspaper.
Debate:
a. To make class more interactive, students will hold a debate. Students will be split into
groups and given a position to defend. Each group will have 20 minutes to prepare an
argument. Groups should also be ready to defend their opinions as well as ready to ask
the opposing groups compelling questions.
b. Groups will be:
i. Plantation owners
ii. Slaves
iii. Freed slaves
iv. Conductors
v. White people against slavery
c. Topics to discuss can be but are not limited to:
i. Is slavery good or bad?
ii. What are the advantages/disadvantages of slavery?
iii. Should all people have equal rights?
iv. Are slaves treated unfairly?
d. Have students refer back to the novel.
e. The debate will take the remainder of the class period.
10. Make a Decision:
a. Imagine that you are a white person living during the time of the Civil War. You live
close to a ‘border’ state in a nice house with plenty of wealth. One night, a runaway
slave comes knocking at your door needing help. The slave has not eaten in days and
needs a place to stay for the day. What would you do? … Before you make a decision,
list your potions and the consequences for each. Consider what will happen to the slave
if he is caught. However, also think about yourself and your family and what will to you
if someone finds out that you hid a runaway slave.
b. Students need to write a paragraph containing their options, the consequences and the
results for the slave and their families.
11. Literature Circles:
a. To show that racial discrimination continued on after the Civil War and the 13th
Amendment, have students participate in literature circles. Students will be divided into
circles based on their preference of book. The books they can choose from are:
i. Rosa by Nikki Giovanni: A short biography of Rosa Parks, the black woman who
refused to give up her bus seat for a white person.
ii. The Story Of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles: A short biography of Ruby Bridges,
the first black child to attend a white school.
iii. My Brother Martin by Christine King Farris: A short biography of Martin Luther
King Jr., a man who dreamed a dream of the end of racial discrimination.
b. These books each focus on the life of an African American and how they faced
discrimination in a free country. The purpose of this lit study is to show students that
racism and hatred of ethnic people still exists.
c. Because these books are smaller picture books, each lit circle will read their book the
first day. The will then all do the lit circle packet separately. This will be done during
class.
d. If students do not finish the lit circle packet, they must finish it for homework.
e. The next class period, each lit circle will get together and go over their packets together.
They will discuss each other’s summaries and the vocab words. Then, each member will
read his/her questions to the group and they will answer them. Students may then
share their illustrations with each other.
f. If time permits, each lit circle group will share with the class what their book was about.
12. Christian Perspective:
a. Have a class discussion on the Christian perspective of discrimination.
i. Talk about what the Bible says (include Bible passages)
ii. Talk about what students have been taught growing up
iii. Talk about what students think is what God desires for them and society
b. Prompt students with ideas or questions to carry on discussion
Applying:
1. Fluency- Poetry: Students will memorize a poem from the book A Wreath for Emmett Till by
Marilyn Nelson. They will be given at least a week to do this. The students will then recite the
poem in front of class. Students may take the poem with them to the front; however, they
should have the poem memorized and only use the paper if necessary.
2. Debate: Students will have time to combine ideas and concepts from the different books and
websites that they have read. They will then participate in a class debate; each student will have
a position to defend.
3. Literature Circles: Students will have the option to read one of three books. They will discuss in
lit circles the content found in each book. They will also have the opportunity as a group to tell
the class about the book they read.
Assessment:
Informal:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
K-W-L Chart (Objective: 1, 2, 7)
Graphic Organizers (Objective 7)
Mini-Lesson - Structural Analysis (Objective 1, 7)
Fluency – Poetry (Objective 5)
It Says – I Say – And So (Objective 1, 2, 7)
Website (Objective 6)
Debate (Objective 1, 3, 7)
Formal: These will be assessed through a rubric, except for the unit test.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Theme Write-up (Objective 2)
Poster Option (Objective 7)
Newspaper Option (Objective 7)
Make a Decision (Objective 1)
Literature Circles (Objective 1, 2, 4, 5, 7)
Unit Test (Objective 1, 7)
Classroom Management Plan:
Management of Record Keeping and Assessment: Each student will be given a copy of the assignment
checklist so that each student can check off each assignment when they have handed it in. The teacher
will meet with each student at least twice during this unit. In each meeting, the teacher will ask the
student how they are doing with reading the book. The teacher will also ask an appropriate question
based on the content of the book. Students who are struggling with the book should meet more with
the teacher (determined by the teacher). After reading each chapter, there will be chapter questions for
the students to complete. These questions will help the students with the content of the chapters. Using
the student’s answers, the teacher will see if they comprehend the content. If not, have the students
read the portions they did not understand and go over the information. Students will also participate in
multiple exploring activities that were created to touch on the different learning needs. Some of these
activities will be informally assessed and other will be formally assessed. There will be rubrics for the
formally assessed activities. At the end of the unit, students will take a unit test which will cover all of
the material discussed and read during the unit. Students who struggle with test taking can have the test
orally read to them or they may have a scribe to write their answers. It may also be necessary to change
the length of the test for some students.
Meeting the need of EL students: Auditory tapes can be provided for students to listen to if they are
having trouble reading the book. The teacher should also take extra time to go over the chapters with EL
students. There may be words that these students do not recognize so it is important for the teacher to
explain the meanings of these words. Extra guided instruction may be necessary.
Meeting the Needs of students who read below grade level: To help students who are struggling with
the reading, there will also be auditory tapes available to them. However, it is important that these
students do not become dependent on the tapes. The teacher could use guided reading and provide
mini-lessons or small reading groups for these students. In these groups, the teacher should work on the
students reading as well as comprehension. The teacher could have all the students read aloud in a
whisper and then monitor each student. The teacher could also have students read chorally or as
individuals in a group. Students could pair up with another student and they could work together.
Students struggling with reading should also read enrichment books that are not at their frustration
level. This may need to be monitored by the teacher.
Keeping Order: Students will have many activities to keep them busy during the period. They will be
required to read the assigned chapters and then answer the chapter questions. If students finish early,
they may have the choice of four things:




They may journal about the book so far and how they feel about the issues discussed.
They may look at and read the enrichment books provided or other books from the school
library related to the unit.
They may find a partner and play memory with the vocabulary words
They may work on the unit crossword provided by the teacher
These activities will not be graded but used to promote critical thought for the students.
Bibliography:
Enrichment Books:
Anderson, L. (2008). Chains (pp. 1-316). New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (R: 5.2)
Clemens, A. (2002). The jacket. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. (R:4.1)
Fox, P. (1973). The slave dancer. Bradbury. (R:6.0)
Myers, W. (2004). I've seen the promised land. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. (R: 5.8)
Shange, N. (2009). Coretta Scott. New York: Katherine Tegen Books. (4.9)
Weatherford, C. (2010). The beatitudes : from slavery to civil rights. Boston: Eerdmans Books for Young
Readers. (R: 6.7)
Teacher Resources:
Coles, R. (1995). The story of Ruby Bridges (pp. 1-28). New York: Scholastic Incorporated.
Giovanni, N. (2005). Rosa (pp. 1-30). New York: Henry Holt and Company.
King Farris, C. (2003). My brother Martin (pp. 1-39). New York: Simon and Schuster Book for Young
Readers.
McMullan, K. (1991). The story of Harriet Tubman, conductor of the underground railroad (pp. 1-108).
New York: Dell Publishing.
Nelson, M. (2005). A wreath for Emmett Till (pp. 1-30). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/
Integration of Technology:
The students will have the opportunity to look at a website that directly talks about the Underground
Railroad. This website is fabulous for students because it is made up of different activities. The website
starts off wanting to take its viewers on a journey. As students follow the links, they can click on
different parts of the picture to learn more. The activities are mostly listening and reading. Students will
definitely benefit from viewing this website for a class period because the information is impeccable.
Also on the page there are other resources dealing with the topic of slavery. There is a lot of information
on Harriet Tubman as well as a reader’s theater. Depending on how the planned activities go, if more
materials are needed, this website would be an excellent resource. The website link is
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/ .