level u/50 escape to freedom: the underground railroad · slaves wanted to escape to freedom....

B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y

TEACHER’S GUIDESkills & Strategies

Anchor Comprehension Strategies • Analyze Character • Draw Conclusions

Comprehension••• Retell

••• Use•text•features•to•locate•information

Vocabulary/Word Study Strategy••• Antonyms•used•to•determine•word•

meaning

Social Studies Big Idea••• The•Underground•Railroad•was•one•of•

many•attempts•to•abolish•slavery•and•realize•the•ideals•of•the•Declaration•of•Independence.

Theme: The Civil War• Battles of the Civil War: Antietam• Technology and the Civil War• Voices from the Civil War

Escape to Freedom: The Underground RailroadLevel U/50

Social Studies

Synthesize Information • Administer Ongoing Comprehension Assessment

• Complete KWHL Chart

D a y

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2

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A c t i v i t i e s

Using Navigators Chapter Books

Explicit Strategy InstructionUse the complete guide to model, guide, and support students as they apply comprehension and word-study strategies. Use portions of the guide to scaffold reading instruction for students who do not need modeled instruction.

Small-Group DiscussionsIntroduce the book and model strategies. Have the group set a purpose for reading based on the introduction. Students read the book, or parts of the book, independently. Then have them use the Small-Group Discussion Guide as they discuss the book together.

Independent ReadingHave students select titles at their independent reading levels. After reading, have students respond to the text in reader response journals or notebooks.

Core Lesson Planning Guide

© 2012 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-4108-6309-62

Pages 4–6: Model Strategies: Introduction–Chapter 1• Monitor-Reading Strategy: Retell

• Comprehension Strategy: Analyze Character

• Use Antonyms to Determine Word Meaning

Page 3: Prepare to Read• Build Content Background

• Introduce the Book

Pages 7–8: Guide Strategies: Chapters 2–3• Monitor-Reading Strategy: Retell


• Use Antonyms to Determine Word Meaning

Pages 9–10: Apply Strategies: Chapter 4–Conclusion• Monitor-Reading Strategy: Retell


• Use Text Features to Locate Information: Primary Source Documents

This five-day lesson plan shows one way to use the chapter book for explicit strategy instruction.

Build Content Background • Tell students that they are going to read about the

Underground Railroad, a group of people who helped slaves escape to freedom. Use the paintings on pages 2, 3, and 4 to provide visual references to slavery.

• Display a KWHL chart as shown.

• Ask: What do you know about the Underground Railroad?

Brainstorm with students and write their ideas in the first column of the chart.

• Ask: What do you want to know about the Underground Railroad? How are you going to find out what you want to know?

Write students’ ideas in the second and third columns of the chart.

• Explain that some of the information in the book may be a review. Other information will help students find out what they want to know.

• Save the chart for students to complete after they read the book.

Introduce the Book

• Give students a copy of the book. Have them read the title and look at the cover.

• Have students turn to the table of contents.

Ask: Which chapter has the title “The Underground Railroad”? (Chapter 1)

• Have students turn to Chapter 1 and skim the chapter, looking for boldfaced words. Ask them to read aloud examples of the boldfaced words in the chapter. Use the text and glossary to define the boldfaced words.

• To introduce key words and text/graphic features found in this book, use the inside front cover of the book.

© 2012 Benchmark Education Company, LLC The Underground Railroad 3

Students may think that the Underground Railroad was an actual train. Help them understand that this book is not about a real railroad, but about a group of people who helped slaves.

As students skim their books, have them focus on the historical paintings. Discuss the concept of slavery with them. Who were slaves in the United States in the 1700s and 1800s? Where did they come from? What were their lives like?

Discuss the concept of heroism. Encourage students to identify heroes and to tell what they believe makes someone a hero.

This five-day lesson plan shows one way to use the chapter book for explicit strategy instruction.

Prepare to Readnglish anguage earnersE L L

K W H L

What I know about the Underground Railroad

What I want to know about the Underground Railroad

How I will learn about the Underground Railroad

What I learned about the Underground Railroad

Meeting Individual Needs

For students who struggle with skimming for boldfaced words, model by skimming the Introduction with them. Point out that there are two boldfaced words in the Introduction, and have students find them with you.

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Informal Assessment Tips

1. Assess students’ ability to skim for boldfaced words and to define these words using the text and the glossary.

2. Document your observations in a folder or notebook.

3. Keep the folder or notebook at the small-group reading table for handy reference.

Before ReadingMonitor-Reading Strategy: Retell

• Use a real-life example of retelling.

Say: Sometimes when I read a book, I want to be sure I remember the most important ideas in the book. So I write notes about the main points and important details I want to remember. Sometimes I write my notes on paper. Sometimes I write my notes on self-stick notes and use them to mark the important words and ideas I should include when I retell. I can also make notes about words or facts that I need to find out more about.

• Read pages 2–5 aloud while students follow along. Stop when you come to important ideas or words that might be challenging to students. Share your thought process aloud with them. Have students state the main ideas on the pages. Write these ideas on self-stick notes and place them in the book as students observe. Some ideas that students might discover are:

The first Africans to arrive in the American colonies were not slaves. Later, the colonies passed laws making Africans slaves. Many slaves worked on large Southern plantations. Slaves wanted to escape to freedom.

• Use the self-stick notes to retell information from pages 2–5. Demonstrate that retelling means using one’s own words, not the author’s.

During Reading Set a Purpose for Reading

• Ask students to read pages 6–11 silently to find out about the Underground Railroad and how it worked. Have them make notes in their journal or on self-stick notes about the main ideas and vocabulary they find and any questions they have. Students can use the notes they take to explain in their own words how the Underground Railroad worked.

4 The Underground Railroad © 2012 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

ABOUT THE STRATEGY Retell

What? Good readers take notes about the main ideas in their reading and any questions they have about them. These notes help readers retell what they have read.

Why? Retelling helps good readers reflect on what they’ve read. Taking notes helps readers understand and remember the main ideas so they can retell the ideas afterward.

When? Good readers take notes before reading to help set a purpose. They take notes during reading to help them understand and remember main ideas so they can retell them later. They retell the main ideas after reading to help them synthesize what they have read. This strategy may also be used when returning to reading after several days have passed.

How? Good readers look for main ideas as they read. They also stop when they have questions about a word or an idea. They note ideas so they can retell them and questions so they can answer them during and after reading.

Model Strategies: Introduction–Chapter 1

After Reading Discuss the Reading

• Say: I found that Chapter 1 tells about how the Underground Railroad worked, including the names of its parts. What were the conductors? (people who took escaped slaves from one safe house to another)

• Call on students to retell what they learned about the agents, packages, and stations of the UGRR. Suggest that they use the notes they wrote while reading the chapter. Then have them ask any questions from their notes about words or ideas they did not understand. Have other students answer the questions. If no one knows the answer, help the class find a reference book with the information.

• Repeat the process. Let students retell facts about the stationmasters and routes of the UGRR. Then have them ask questions from their notes. Offer the following questions for students to consider:

How was a UGRR stationmaster different from an agent or a conductor? Why was it dangerous to be a UGRR agent? Why did many slaves go to Canada?

• For text-dependent comprehension practice, ask the questions for the Introduction and Chapter 1 found on the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Card for this chapter book.

Comprehension Strategy: Analyze Character

• Say: When I read about interesting people in history, I always imagine what it would be like to talk with them. I try to learn about their personalities, or characters, from my reading. I look at what they say and do, and I think about what the author or other characters say about them. Then I analyze, or draw conclusions about, the kinds of people they are.

• Distribute the graphic organizer “Analyze Character” (blackline master, page 14 of this guide). You may want to make a chart-sized copy of the graphic organizer or use as a transparency.

• Explain that as students read, they will complete the first two rows together. They will complete the last row in pairs or independently.



For students who struggle with this activity, model the strategy again and point out the text features that can help them, such as the boldfaced words. Remind students that these ideas will be important when they retell.

Rapid readers can share notes with partners to see what important ideas either partner may have overlooked.

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1. Monitor students as they write notes and then use them to retell the text.

2. In a folder or notebook, jot down what you see each student doing.

3. Students should be taking notes as they read. Document students who are and are not using this monitor-reading strategy.

Introduction–Chapter 1 (continued)


Comprehension Strategy: Analyze Character (continued)

• Have students turn to page 9 and follow along as you model how to analyze character. Read aloud the first part of the sidebar.

Say: It says that William Still was an active abolitionist, a person who wanted to free slaves. Still’s Vigilance Committee gave runaway slaves shelter, money, and legal help. I will write these clues to Still’s character in the Clues column of the chart. Now I will look for other clues in the text.

Use information from the graphic organizer on this page to continue the think-aloud.

• Say: Now that I have recorded clues about Still, I can analyze, or draw conclusions about, his character. I will write my ideas in the Analysis column.

Read aloud the ideas to students. Then ask them how they would use these ideas to write an analysis of Still’s character.

Use Antonyms to Determine Word Meaning

• Remind students that two words that have opposite meanings are called antonyms. Have them turn to page 2 and read the caption under the painting. Point out that two of the words in the caption are antonyms. Ask students to find the antonyms. Point out that bought and sold are antonyms because they have opposite meanings.

• Have students turn to page 4 and read the first paragraph.

Ask: Which word in this paragraph is an antonym for enslaved? (free)

Discuss how students used the clues in the paragraph (enslaved Africans did work that free people would not do) to find the antonym.

•Have students find the antonyms in the feature box on page 6 (right/wrong) and in the first paragraph on page 8 (attics/cellars).

Reader Response William Still probably had to

take risks to help runaway slaves. What would you be willing to risk to help other people? Write a response in your journal and share your thoughts with a group member.

wanted to free slaves; gave slaves money, legal help, and shelter; admired strong slaves who were running away

caring; willing to take risks; thoughtful

Person Clues Analysis

William Still

Before ReadingMonitor-Reading Strategy: Retell

• Remind students that they took notes on main ideas and vocabulary and on questions they had as they read Chapter 1. Point out to them that writing about and retelling what they have read can help them understand and remember the facts.

• Turn to page 12 and read aloud the first two paragraphs.

Say: I read in the Introduction that slaves dreamed of freedom. This text says that many slaves did more than dream about freedom, even before the UGRR existed. I am going to write a note that says, “Many slaves ran away before the UGRR.”

Place the self-stick note on the page.

• Explain that as students continue to read, they should use self-stick notes to write main ideas and details about abolitionists and the UGRR. Students will be asked to retell the facts they find at the end of the chapters.

During Reading Set a Purpose for Reading • Have students finish reading Chapters 2–3. Encourage them to

find out about what it was like to escape on one of the UGRR’s routes. Tell them to write main ideas and questions on self-stick notes or in their journals as they read.

After Reading Discuss the Reading • Ask students to retell the chapters by sharing some of the main

ideas and details they wrote about those who supported and resisted slavery and what it was like to escape on the UGRR.

• Have students share questions they noted as they read. Invite others to answer the questions by recalling the text or looking up information in a reference book.

• Have students read the checkpoint on page 10. Explain that talking about what we read is one way to help us get more out of the information. Have students discuss the prompt with a partner.

• For text-dependent comprehension practice, ask the questions for Chapters 2–3 found on the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Card for this chapter book.


Observe ELL students as they read the text. If they are not making notes of main ideas and questions, they may not be understanding the text. Ask them to share some of their notes so you can check their comprehension.


For students who struggle with this strategy, model again by retelling part of the text based on self-stick notes. Then have students read one page and note the main ideas they find on it. Have them share the main ideas they noted and explain how they identified them.

Rapid readers can make notes on different strategies that escaping slaves used to avoid being detected. Encourage students to retell events using a time line, beginning with when slaves would be most likely to leave. What difficulties would they encounter at different times on their journey?

Guide Strategies: Chapters 2–3

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Chapters 2–3 (continued)

Reader Response

Do you think that books such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin can be powerful enough to change the way people think? Why or why not? Write a response in your journal and share your thoughts with a group member.



• Remind students that they can analyze, or draw conclusions about, a person’s character based on what the person says or does or what the author or other characters tell them about the person’s actions, beliefs, or motivations.

• Have a volunteer read aloud the sidebar about Harriet Beecher Stowe on page 14.

Ask: What clues in this text tell you about Harriet Beecher Stowe’s character? (She was from an abolitionist family, and she listened carefully to the stories of many different people.)

• Have students skim pages 14–15 for additional clues. Write the clues on the chart. Then help students use them to write an analysis of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s character.


• Remind students that antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. Have them turn to page 12, read the second paragraph, and identify the antonyms in the paragraph (tried/failed). Point out that in this case the word and is a clue word to the antonyms.

• Have students look for antonyms in the second paragraph on page 13 (supporters/opponents) and in the first paragraph on page 15 (heroes/villain).

• For additional practice, have students complete the blackline master on page 16 of this guide.

1. slavery, freedom 2. despised, admired 3. injured, healthy 4. safe, risky 5. left, returned 6. rich, poor 7. live, dead; The word but indicates opposites. Antonyms are opposites. 8. rest, work; The word instead indicates opposites. Antonyms are

opposites.

from a family that wanted to abolish slavery; listened to other people’s stories; wrote book that had huge impact on people everywhere; knew story was true

caring; good listener; careful; patient; able to connect with others on emotional level; honest

Harriet Beecher Stowe



Apply Strategies: Chapter 4–Conclusion

Before ReadingMonitor-Reading Strategy: Retell• Remind students that they have been writing notes about main

ideas in Escape to Freedom: The Underground Railroad so they can retell them. They may also have written notes about questions they had about the text. Point out that these notes can help them understand and remember the important ideas. Then they can retell the important ideas they have learned.

• Read pages 24–25 aloud while students follow along.

Say: According to the first paragraph, the main idea of this chapter is that UGRR workers had to be courageous. One courageous worker was Harriet Tubman, who was born a slave, escaped, and then returned many times to help other slaves escape. I will make a note about the main idea and read on to find other supporting details about this idea. Remember, I will use my notes to retell what I have read.

During ReadingSet a Purpose for Reading• Have students read the rest of the book silently. Remind them

to make notes about main ideas and their own questions as they read. Have them write their questions on self-stick notes or in their journals.

• Have students look for details that explain why these people worked for the UGRR.

After Reading• Call on students to retell the facts in Chapter 4 by checking the

main ideas they wrote in their notes.

Ask: What was unusual about Harriet Tubman and her work with the UGRR? (She was one of the few conductors who went into the South to rescue people.)

• Have students turn to page 25 and locate the checkpoint. Remind them that reading more about people is another way to better understand their ideas, feelings, and actions. Have students work independently to complete the prompt.

Ask: How did Levi and Catharine Coffin help escaping slaves? (Their house was one of the biggest stations on the UGRR. They helped at least 2,000 escaping slaves by giving them food and shelter.)

• For text-dependent comprehension practice, ask the questions for Chapter 4 found on the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Card for this chapter book.

Teaching Tips

After discussing the reading, have students remove self-stick notes from their books and place them in their journals on a page titled “Retell.” Use this page to review retelling throughout the year. You might also pair students and have them tell each other how to use the strategy.


• Review the graphic organizer with students and explain that they will complete the chart with facts about one of the heroes discussed in Chapter 4: Harriet Tubman, Levi and Catharine Coffin, John Rankin, John Parker, Arnold Gragston.

• Ask if students have any questions before they begin. Monitor their work and intervene if they are having difficulty completing the graphic organizer. Discuss students’ responses together.

• For more practice with analyzing character, have students complete the blackline master “Analyze Character” on page 15 of this guide.

Use Text Features to Locate Information: Primary Source Documents

• Have students turn to the Eyewitness Account feature on page 29. Read the blue text aloud. Explain that this account of a river crossing on the UGRR is by an eyewitness, a person who was actually there at the time. Primary, or original, sources such as eyewitness accounts, letters, photographs, and journal entries provide firsthand accounts of an event or of the times.

• Ask: How did Arnold Gragston feel as he rowed passengers across the river? (He was afraid. He was trembling and worried.)

Why is this eyewitness account useful to us? (It gives a clear, accurate picture of what it was like to travel on the UGRR.)

• Encourage students to examine other primary source documents in the book, such as the map on page 7; the Eyewitness Accounts on pages 9, 18, 21, and 26; and the music score on page 23.

Chapter 4–Conclusion (continued)


Reader Response

Which of the people in this chapter do you admire most? Why? Write a response in your journal and share your thoughts with a group member.

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born a slave; suffered life-long blackouts after childhood injury; escaped North; returned South many times to bring out other slaves; often tough on passengers; never caught

tough; a survivor; brave; daring; did whatever it took to bring others to safety, even if unpleasant; determined; resourceful

1. B 2. C 3. A 4. Douglass spoke in support for an end to slavery, but he also cared about

homeless people, women’s rights, and prison reform.

Harriet Tubman



1. Watch students as they analyze character. Ask yourself:

How have students progressed with this strategy? What problems are they still having?

2. Watch students as they complete the graphic organizer. Ask yourself:

Who is still struggling with this strategy? How can I help them?

3. Jot down your thoughts in your folder or notebook. For students who struggle with analyzing character, review the strategy.

Administer Ongoing Comprehension Assessment• Have students take Ongoing Assessment #1 on pages 38–39 in

the Comprehension Strategy Assessment Handbook (Grade 5).

Complete KWHL Chart• Refer to the KWHL chart students prepared before reading the

book.

• Remind students that the chart shows the facts they knew before they read the book. It then shows some questions they wanted answered by the text and some ideas about how to locate the answers. Now they must determine what they actually learned by reading the book.

• Encourage students to think about the Underground Railroad and to suggest information they learned from the book that complemented or extended what they already knew. As they recall information, work with students to record the information in the last column.

• When the chart is complete, have students check to see what questions in the W column were answered by information in the L column. Circle the unanswered questions, and write three more questions at the bottom of the chart. Have students choose one question and locate information to answer it. (They can look back at the H column for suggestions about where the information might be found.) Provide class time for students to share their research findings.


Scaffold the graphic organizer activity by discussing one row of the chart at a time. Ask students to read aloud the information in each column for that row. Help them find the sections of the chapter book that answer each question (if it is answered in the text), and invite them to reread that section aloud. Alternatively, students can create questions as a group and search together to answer those questions.

Synthesize Information

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K W H L

What I know about the Underground Railroad

What I want to know about the Underground Railroad

How I will learn about the Underground Railroad

What I learned about the Underground Railroad


1. Score assessments and determine if more instruction is needed for this strategy.

2. Keep group assessments in a small-group reading folder.

3. Look closely at students’ responses. Ask yourself: Why might this student have answered the question in this manner? For in-depth analysis, discuss responses with individual students.

4. If needed, reteach this strategy and administer Ongoing Assessment #2 on pages 40–41 in the Comprehension Strategy Assessment Handbook (Grade 5).

5. Use ongoing assessments to document growth over time, for parent/teacher conferences, or for your own records.

Write a Personal Response Invite students to respond to the book in a way that is

meaningful to them. The prompts below provide a variety of alternatives.

• Think about the heroes in this book. Who is a hero to you? What do you think makes that person a hero? (text-to-self)

• Do you think problems such as slavery still exist today? What can people do to help solve those problems? (text-to-world)

• What parts of this book confused you? What did you do when you came to a confusing part? (self-monitor)

• Describe what you felt about the slaves’ lives as you read this book. Explain why you felt that way. (personal response)

• What big ideas about the Underground Railroad were discussed in this book? Tell about those ideas in your own words. (synthesize information)

• What did you like best about this book? Would you recommend it to a friend? Why or why not? (evaluate)

• Compare this book about the Underground Railroad to other books you have read about people helping other people. (text-to-text/compare and contrast)

Write to a Text PromptUse the prompt below as a timed writing activity. Students have a maximum of one hour to draft, revise, and edit a response. Use the rubric provided in the sidebar to score students’ writing.

Write to a Picture PromptUse the following picture prompt to develop students’ visual writing abilities.

Reading/Writing Connections

Teaching Tips

Transfer personal response prompts to a piece of large chart paper and hang it in the room. Students can refer to the list throughout the year.

The prompt is well developed. There is strong evidence of focus, organization, voice, and correct conventions.

The prompt is developed. There is adequate evidence of focus, organization, voice, and correct conventions.

The prompt is somewhat developed. There is minimal evidence of focus, organization, voice, and correct conventions.

The prompt is weakly developed. There is little evidence of focus, organization, voice, and correct conventions.

Scoring Rubric

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3

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Why do you think people chose to work on the UGRR despite the risks? Use information from the book to support your answer.

Look at the picture on page 12. What do you think life was like for this runaway slave? Write a response in your journal and share your thoughts with a group member. Use details from the picture to support your answer.


© 2012 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Directions: Use this sheet to talk about the book.

Word Study: Write words you did not know. Discuss the meanings with your group. Use the text to clarify the meanings.

Questions:Write two or three questions you had while reading this book. Discuss the questions and answers.

Make Connections:Write three connections you made with the text. Discuss them with your group.

Adapted from Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom, Harvey Daniels (Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 1994).

Rules for a Good Discussion:

1. Be prepared.

2. Pay attention to the person who is talking and do not interrupt him or her.

3. Think about what others are saying so you can respond.

4. Use inside voices.

5. Let everyone in the group have a turn to speak.

6. Be respectful of everyone’s ideas.

Adapted from Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3–6): Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy, Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Publishing Co., 2001).

Ways to Make Connections

Text-to-Self: This reminds me of a time when I . . .

Text-to-World: What’s going on in this book is like what’s happening right now in . . .

Text-to-Text: This book reminds me of another book I read called . . . . It was about . . .

Small-Group Discussion Guide


Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Analyze Character

Person AnalysisClues

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Another Hero of the UGRR

William Still


Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Analyze CharacterDirections: Read the character sketch. Then complete the exercise below.

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery. As a young man in Maryland, he was recognized as being very bright. He learned to read and write and passed this knowledge on to other African Americans. When he was older, he became a great speaker. He had a deep voice and could be very dramatic.

Douglass escaped from slavery in 1838. He started working for a newspaper called The Liberator. He and the newspaper’s founder, William Lloyd Garrison, were both abolitionists. Douglass spoke to many people about the goals of the abolitionists.

Douglass traveled to England in 1845 to speak against slavery. He also spoke on behalf of homeless people in Europe. He wanted voting rights for women, and he wanted to reform prisons. He wrote, “I cannot allow myself to be insensitive to the wrongs and sufferings of any part of the great family of man.”

Douglass encouraged President Abraham Lincoln to make freeing the slaves an important issue in the Civil War. Douglass wrote, “The real question . . . is whether American liberty . . . can be made to include and protect alike and forever all American citizens.”

Directions: For items 1–3, circle the letter of the best answer. For item 4, write your answer.

1. The details about Frederick Douglass in the first paragraph show that he A worked too hard as a slave. C lived in Maryland. B wanted to learn and teach. D was not liked by other African Americans.

2. Douglass’s message to Abraham Lincoln shows that Douglass was A depressed. B insensitive. C concerned. D angry.

3. What does the third paragraph tell you about Douglass’s character? A He cared about people with many different kinds of problems. B He enjoyed being an actor and speaker. C He liked Europe more than he liked the United States. D He cared more about the problems of women than those of slaves.

4. What clues in the third paragraph support your answer to #3?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



Directions: Underline the two antonyms in each sentence. Use a thesaurus to check your work.

1. Harriet Tubman was born into slavery but escaped to freedom.

2. While slave owners despised Harriet Tubman, abolitionists admired her.

3. Although Harriet Tubman was severely injured as a child, her spirit was healthy and her will was strong.

4. Harriet Tubman managed to stay safe even though working for the Underground Railroad was risky.

5. Shortly before the Civil War, Harriet Tubman left for Canada, but she soon returned to the United States.

6. At one time Harriet Tubman was rich in rewards and tributes, but by the end of her life she was quite poor.

Directions: Underline the two antonyms in the sentences below. Then explain how you identified the antonyms in each sentence.

7. Harriet Tubman told her passengers on the UGRR that “a live runaway could do great harm by going back,” but “a dead one could tell no secrets.”

_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

8. Even after slavery had ended, Harriet Tubman did not rest. Instead she decided to work for the rights of women.

_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

Build ComprehensionDRAW CONCLUSIONS

• Explain Create an overhead transparency of the graphic organizer “Escape to Freedom: The Underground Railroad” or draw it on the board. Say: An author can’t give us every piece of information about the topic of a book. We have to figure out some ideas on our own. We can use the text and graphic features as our clues. Using three or more clues to figure out an idea that the author does not state directly is called drawing a conclusion.

• Model Say: I will draw a conclusion about Escape to Freedom: The Underground Railroad using clues from the text. On page 6, I read that abolitionists risked their own safety. Then I read that they hid escaped slaves in their homes, barns, and churches. Next I read that they led them through dangerous swamps. Finally, I read that they rowed them in small boats across wide rivers. Record these four clues in the first Clues box on the graphic organizer. Say: Now I will use these clues to draw a conclusion. I can conclude that abolitionists were determined to let nothing stop them from helping escaped slaves get to freedom. Write this conclusion in the first Conclusion box.

• Guide Say: Now let’s draw a conclusion about the problems slaves faced when they ran away. Look at the top caption on page 7. What does it tell you about runaway slaves’ problems? Now look at the text on page 11. What problem does it add? (Allow time for students to respond, assisting if needed.) Yes, most slaves were not allowed to learn to read. Runaways had no maps or directions. Slave catchers pursued fugitives, even into the free states. Record these clues in the second Clues box on the graphic organizer. Then ask: What idea can we figure out from these clues? What conclusion can we draw? (Again allow time for students to respond.) Yes, we can conclude that most slaves needed help from others to run away and not get caught. Record this conclusion in the second Conclusion box on the graphic organizer.

• Apply Ask pairs of students to work together to draw another conclusion using the text and graphic features in the book. Remind them that they are looking for clues they can use to figure out ideas that the author does not state directly. After each pair shares its clues and conclusions, record the information on the graphic organizer. Finally, ask volunteers to read the completed graphic organizer aloud.

Skills Bank


People Who Made a Difference

Assign small groups of students one of these people discussed in the book: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Josiah Henson, Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, Catharine Coffin, John Rankin, John Parker. Ask the groups to research the person and prepare a brief biographical sketch that contains at least three new facts about the person. Invite the groups to present their sketches to the class.


Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Draw Conclusions

Escape to Freedom: The Underground Railroad

Clues Conclusion