Lesson Plan #: CC-0029

Kindergarten Lesson 2:
Who Was Harriet Tubman?


Objectives: The student will be able to:

1. recognize the issue of slavery and its dehumanizing effect on African Americans.

2. recognize Harriet Tubman and understand how she helped many slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad.

Description of lesson/activity:

Activity 1

1. Review with the children the fact that Abraham Lincoln and many other people of his time did not believe that people should have slaves. Ask the children "What is slavery?" Discuss what the children know about slavery and then add more information to help them understand the practice of slavery at that time. Explain that up until the time of Abraham Lincoln many white people owned slaves who were African Americans. Discuss how Africans were taken against their will to America and then sold. Show the children pictures of slaves and slave ships during this discussion. Discuss how slaves were treated by their owners and the work they had to do for no pay.

2. Read the book Young Harriet Tubman: Freedom Fighter , by Anne Benjamin. Follow the story with a discussion about Harriet Tubman and her life. Be sure to include questions such as:

  • Where did Harriet Tubman live?
  • What kinds of jobs did Harriet do as a child?
  • What kinds of feelings did Harriet Tubman have about being a slave?
  • Where did Harriet get the idea to escape from being a slave?
  • What was the Underground Railroad?
  • How did Harriet Tubman help other slaves?
  • How would you describe Harriet Tubman?

Enrichment and Extensions:

1. Play and sing some spirituals that were sung by slaves, such as:

"Down by the Riverside"
"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore"
"Follow the Drinking Gourd"
Gonna Sing My Head Off! American Folk Songs for Children , by Kathleen Krull, is an excellent source of songs and music.

Resources:

Benjamin, Anne. Young Harriet Tubman: Freedom Fighter . (Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1992) (ISBN 0816725381).

de Regniers, Beatric Schenk, Eva White Moore, Mary Michaels, and Jan Carr. Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems . (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1988) (ISBN 0590406450) p. 92.

Fisher, Aileen. My First Presidents' Day Book . (Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1987) (ISBN 051602910X).

Krull, Kathleen. Gonna Sing My Head Off! American Folk Songs For Children . (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992) (ISBN 0394819918).

Low, Alice. The Family Read Aloud Holiday Treasury . (Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1991) (ISBN 0316533688).

Waber, Bernard. Just Like Abraham Lincoln . (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1964) (ISBN 0590433555).

Walmsley, Bonnie Brown, Anne Marie Camp, and Sean Walmsley. Teaching Kindergarten: A Theme-Centered Curriculum . (New Hampshire: Educational Books Inc., 1992) (ISBN 0435087193) p. 313.

Woods, Andrew. Young Abraham Lincoln: Log-Cabin President . (Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1992) (ISBN 0816725322).