For Teachers: Activities and Lesson Plans: Language Arts 7-12:
 Lesson 1: My Days as a Fugitive: A Creative Writing Activity

English:  Grades 11-12
Viewing and Synthesizing Media, Creative and Interpretive Writing

Context and Content Knowledge

The students will watch a segment of Safe Harbor and observe the local routes and important people that were involved in the Underground Railroad.  The documentary will expose the students to various aspects of slavery and the abolition movement, and, through their observations, the students will have a frame of reference for numerous creative writing assignments.  In addition to the content of the documentary, the students can access information about the Underground Railroad by navigating web sites listed in Online Resources.  This information, coupled with thoughtful questions and writing prompts from the instructor, can lead to classroom discussion and creative writing activities that can be later shared with small writing groups.

Rationale

            By following this framework, the instructor can choose which aspects of history

should be discussed in the classroom.  Through the documentary and the resources available online, the students will be able to, literally and metaphorically, retrace the steps of a fugitive slave.  The activities outlined below will provide the students with opportunities to engage in empathetic thinking, as well as opportunities to learn about and discuss the conflicting views regarding the abolition of slavey.  The writing activities that can accompany these instructional materials will allow the students to creatively express their opinions and improve their narrative writing skills.

Standards

Types of Writing  1.4.11.A, B, C, D
Quality of Writing  1.5.11.A, B, C, D, E, F, G
Speaking and Listening 1.6.11A, C, D, E, F
*taken from the Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening, as established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education 

Educational Goals     (what/how will students learn?)

  1. Students will view and discuss a portion of Safe Harbor.
  2. Students will access online resources on the Underground Railroad.
  3. Students will analyze and compare the attitudes of northerners during the 1800’s.
  4. Students will engage in one or more creative writing assignments.

Activities/Procedures

  • Explain the purpose of the lesson and introduce the documentary
  • Allow class time for viewing of Safe Harbor
  • Mediate a class discussion that allows students to verbally explore their own perspectives, opinions, and reactions after watching the documentary
  • Provide time for the students to examine various web sites to gain ideas about slavery and the lives of freedom seekers
  • Provide students with several options for a creative writing assignment (some suggestions below)
    • Journal entries written from the perspective of a fugitive slave en route to safety in Canada
    • Letter to family members left behind in the South from a fugitive slave’s perspective
    • Letter to a family in the north who did (or did not) provide help and safety for fugitives, written from a fugitive slave’s perspective
    • Script for a short one-act play featuring the reminiscences of former slaves
    • A poem for use in performance or choral reading

Materials/References Needed

TV/VCR/DVD player and copy of Safe Harbor documentary or DVD           
Joseph Taper letter
Computers with internet access

Online Resources

The Touring Theater Ensemble from North Carolina
Twenty true stories about slavery – View this creative documentary theater drawn from petitions to southern legislatures and county courts.

Lesson plans developed by Emily Johnson, a 10th grade language arts teacher in Dubois, Pennsylvania.