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

Observation– I will observe my students and take Anecdotal notes to indicate who is a respectful listener, and is thoughtfully able to compose a question, as per the language curriculum. I may have a second set of volunteers come up and pretend to be Henry’s children or wife if time allowsview and compare their ideas and add to their perspectives through a gallery walk of a Freedom Wall LEARNING SKILLS AND WORK HABITS: Responsibility, Independent Work, Collaboration, Initiative, Self-Regulation Very small introduction to Underground Railroad – a system of paths, safe houses, secret codes, etc. to obtaining freedom across north America and beyond

Ringgold, Faith. Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky. Crown, 1992. ISBN-13: 9780517885437 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 B2.1 express personal responses and make connections to characters, themes, and issues presented in their own and others’ drama works 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 questionSelf-Regulation – students can monitor, assess and control their own behaviours to suit the needs of the class and activities Prior to this lesson students will have a base knowledge understanding of equity, freedom and slavery. This lesson will introduce the idea of escape and the underground railroad in North America for subsequent lessons to build upon demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by adapting active listening strategies to suit a range of situations, including work in groups

We will share some written thoughts and ideas aloud on the carpet, and once shared aloud (and approved), we will have a discussion about its value to the Wall, and add the card to the Freedom Wall identify a range of purposes for listening in a variety of situations, formal and informal, and set goals related to specific listening tasks Strand(s): Oral Communication & Reading, Creating and Presenting & Reflecting, Responding, and Analyzing, & Understanding ContextDiagnostic– Getting an idea of what students think and how they see the world is incredibly important so that teachers can start to lay the foundation of a topic. The freedom wall will help inform me of various mindsets in my classroom. A BIG box – minds on – to encourage students to think about the ways people were willing to go to obtain freedom Conversation– I will assess the mindfulness of the questions asked, and the depth of the conversations between students’ groups. I will add details to my anecdotal notes.