Choosing to Go, Choosing to Stay
QUESTIONS
Essential Question: How do oppressed people empower themselves to achieve freedom?
Guiding Question: Why do some people seek change while others do not?
STANDARDS
NCSS strand: Individual Development and Identity
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
MMSD standard: Behavioral Science
Performance Standard 4: Give examples of the importance of multiple viewpoints for understanding people, events, and issues
MATERIALS
Read Aloud – The Secret to Freedom
Observe students' ability to take the perspective of an enslaved person to reflect on the reasons why some people chose to participate in the Underground Railroad while others did not. In the post-read aloud discussion, listen to how students integrate information from the story to support their answers.
RESOURCES
Vaughan, M. (2001). The secret to freedom. New York: Lee and Low Books, Inc.
Essential Question: How do oppressed people empower themselves to achieve freedom?
Guiding Question: Why do some people seek change while others do not?
STANDARDS
NCSS strand: Individual Development and Identity
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
MMSD standard: Behavioral Science
Performance Standard 4: Give examples of the importance of multiple viewpoints for understanding people, events, and issues
MATERIALS
- The Secret to Freedom
- writing journals, one per student
Read Aloud – The Secret to Freedom
- Summary: Great Aunt Lucy tells a story of her days as a slave, when she and her brother, Albert, learned the quilt code to help direct other slaves and, eventually Albert himself, to freedom in Canada.
- Invite students to the carpet for a read aloud.
- Explain that this book tells the story of two enslaved people – one who chose to travel the Underground Railroad and one who chose to stay on the plantation
- While they are listening, ask students to consider: Why do some people seek change while others do not?
- Explain that this book tells the story of two enslaved people – one who chose to travel the Underground Railroad and one who chose to stay on the plantation
- As a whole class, compare and contrast the characters of Lucy and Albert, guiding the discussion with the questions below
- For what reasons did Lucy choose to stay?
- She knew she was a slow runner
- She thought the overseers would catch them
- She knew war was coming and was hopeful that slavery would end
- She knew she was a slow runner
- For what reasons did Albert leave?
- He was angry his parents were sold off
- He no longer wanted to be bought, sold, and beaten
- He knew how to interpret the quilt code
- He was angry his parents were sold off
- What are the consequences of Lucy's choice?
- She would be left alone, without family
- The war might never come and she would still be enslaved
- She might regret her choice
- She would be left alone, without family
- What are the consequences of Albert's choice?
- Since he already tried to escape, if he was caught again he might be killed
- He might be caught along the trail and enslaved by another
- He left his sister, the only family he has left
- Since he already tried to escape, if he was caught again he might be killed
- Are both Lucy and Albert brave in their own way?
- For what reasons did Lucy choose to stay?
- Record student answers in chart form on a large poster board or overhead projector.
- Invite students to reflect on the question: What would you have done?
- Instruct students to pick a character – Lucy or Albert – and write a diary entry from the perspective of that characterize
- Explain that their chosen character has just received news of their sibling's choice
- Write about that character's reaction to the news and describe why they made the choice they did, despite it being different from their sibling
- Explain that their chosen character has just received news of their sibling's choice
- Instruct students to find a classmate who wrote from the opposite perspective and then take turns sharing their diary entries with their partner
- As a whole class, reflect on the process of taking perspective of Lucy and Albert and hearing the perspective of their opposite sibling
Observe students' ability to take the perspective of an enslaved person to reflect on the reasons why some people chose to participate in the Underground Railroad while others did not. In the post-read aloud discussion, listen to how students integrate information from the story to support their answers.
RESOURCES
Vaughan, M. (2001). The secret to freedom. New York: Lee and Low Books, Inc.