Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

Product Information

Product– Students will add a card to the Freedom Wall with a comment or word of their choice. This activity is meant to collect thoughts into one place, and get students to reflect on various aspects of social justice

FOR/AS Learning– this lesson is designed as the beginning of a deeper unit on social justice and literacy. Students will learn about social justice issues while instilling reading, listening and speaking strategies. Self-Regulation – students can monitor, assess and control their own behaviours to suit the needs of the class and activitiesStudents will reflect on the fact that this is a true story with real life significance and consequences

demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by adapting active listening strategies to suit a range of situations, including work in groups I may have a second set of volunteers come up and pretend to be Henry’s children or wife if time allows Strand(s): Oral Communication & Reading, Creating and Presenting & Reflecting, Responding, and Analyzing, & Understanding Context

IF YOU LOVE THIS BOOK, THEN TRY:

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Illus. by Kadir Nelson. Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, 2006. ISBN-13: 9780786851751 iPad slide show with pictures of ways people tried to obtain freedom for visual reference (pews, boxes, etc.) Anecdotal notes will be taken to indicate who is a respectful listener, and on the depth of student comments, questions and peer discussions. I will use this form of assessment to get an idea of what students think and how they see the world, and so that that I can start to lay the foundation of what this unit needs to touch on

identify a range of purposes for listening in a variety of situations, formal and informal, and set goals related to specific listening tasks McCully, Emily Arnold. The Escape of Oney Judge: Martha Washington’s Slave Finds Freedom. Farrar, 2007. ISBN-13: 9780374322250 Finish by having the students look at the Freedom Wall in a gallery walk and reflect alone or in a Think, Pair, ShareJohnson, Dolores. Now Let Me Fly: The Story of a Slave Family. Macmillan, 1993. ISBN-13: 9780027476996

Student A – will sit next to peer models and be given copies of the text to help guide him. He will highlight text evidence that exhibits Henry’s bravery in his pursuit of freedom to help guide him compose a question A BIG box – minds on – to encourage students to think about the ways people were willing to go to obtain freedom B2.1 express personal responses and make connections to characters, themes, and issues presented in their own and others’ drama works I will providing prompting questions throughout the read aloud to encourage students to think about freedom, racism, prejudice and social justice, and slavery deeply

CRITICS HAVE SAID

B1.1 engage actively in drama exploration and role play, with a focus on examining issues and themes in fiction and non-fiction sources from diverse communities, times, and places view and compare their ideas and add to their perspectives through a gallery walk of a Freedom Wall