Civil War On Sunday Part 1

This lesson was so busy that I didn't get to take any photos. (That's ok, after my grainy ones from the previous lesson you're probably glad!)

This book took us 2 weeks worth of activities to get through.



1. Gave some background on Slavery

2.  Lesson in Inequality:

Divide the students in the classroom arbitrarily by one of the following (shoe color, bus rider or pick up, etc.). Without giving any rationale, tell the first group that they will get candy. Don't respond to the other students cries of unfairness or questioning. Discuss the feelings of discriminating.
 The 5/6/7 crowd did not "get" this.

3. Discussed the Need for War

4. Advantages/Disadvantages during the war

5. Civil War Card Game...to show how the North had an advantage over the South


6. Death and The Civil War

7. Discuss the Underground Railroad

8. Read and learn about the Secret Signs of the Underground Railroad

9. Play a game to simulate running North as a slave

Game:1. Underground Railroad game.

1.Give one student a green star and have he/she place it in his/her palm. (This student represents a conductor on the Underground Railroad.)

2. Give two students yellow stars and have them place them in their palm. (These students represent the free Blacks who helped the slaves on the Underground Railroad.

3 Give three students red stars and have them place them in their palm. (These students represent the slave catchers.)

4. The rest of the students represent the slaves and do not receive any stars.

5. The objective of the game is for the slaves to get to the North (designated spot in the classroom) by trying to find out who the conductor is. If the slaves find the slave catchers, they are taken back to the South (the student’s seat). The free Blacks help the slave locate the conductors. (If a student finds a free Black, he/she can stay in the game and continue looking for the conductor.)

6 After the students have played the game, encourage the students to take part in a discussion. Use the following questions as prompts:


How did you determine who the conductor was?

How did you feel when you were caught by the slave catcher?

What would have helped you find the conductor?

My group did not read about the Secret Signs before hand and the game didn't really go too well.


Extras:
Simulate a slave auction

My previous posts on this subject are:

Forming a Co-op
Magic Tree House Index
Dinosaurs Part 1
Dinosaurs Part 2
Vikings
Ninjas
Pirates Part 1
Pirates Part 2
Knights Part 1
Knights Part 2
Ancient Rome & Pompeii Part 1
Ancient Rome & Pompeii Part 2
Ancient Greece & Olympics Part 1
Ancient Greece & Olympics Part 2
Day of the Dragon King; Ancient China
Ancient Egypt Part 1: Mummies
Ancient Egypt Part 2: Pyramids
Gorillas In The Morning
Tigers At Twilight
Polar Bears
Lions at Lunchtime
Afternoon on the Amazon
Thanksgiving on Thursday