This unit introduces students to the Underground Railroad. There are many powerful messages to be learned from the study of the Underground Railroad. For example, the Underground Railroad demonstrates how regardless of the risks involved, people were willing to risk their lives in order to save others. Students will learn about the dangers that escaping slaves faced and the things the methods used (e.g. songs and quilts) to help them find their way.
developed by Jackie Gerstein
The use of technology to explore and report on this topic:
The use of technology "with its virtually instantaneous response to student input, its extensive capacity to store and manipulate information, and its unmatched ability to serve many students simultaneously - has a wide application in instruction (Newby et al., 2006, p. 129).
The use of technology to study the Underground Railroad will permit a more vivid, real, and exciting connection to the material. Students will be asked to hear and read the stories of the slaves in their own words. They will participate in simulations as if they were slaves traveling through the Underground Railroad.
Newby, T. J., Stepich, D. A., Lehman, J. D., & Russell, J. D. (2006). Educational technology for teaching and learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.