Freedom Train
Simulate the Underground Railroad and design dream homes for fictional former slaves.
1. Read non-fiction and fiction books about slavery and the Underground Railroad in book groups, as read-alouds, and independently. Share information about life in slavery and methods used to communicate secret information about passage on the Underground Railroad.
2. Use Crayola® Model Magic®, Crayola Multicultural and Regular Markers, and fabric scraps to model a small figure of a slave. Give the slave a name and identity.
3. Make a small box into "slave quarters" with minimal furnishings of scrap cardboard, using Crayola School Glue and Crayola Scissors.
4. One or two students label another box FREEDOM and place it in an inconspicuous area of the room.
5. Write your slave's testimonial, including details about life in slavery found in your reading. Each day, write about your slave's desire to be free and escape. Write songs, letters, poems, and plans.
6. Four students (chosen randomly by the teacher) become conductors on the Underground Railroad. They secretly free slaves over a period of 1 to 2 weeks. The first child secretly removes slaves from their quarters, then passes the figure along to the next child. Slaves move carefully and secretly from child to child, remaining hidden in clothes, lunchboxes, desks, and pencil cases until the next move. The final move is into FREEDOM.
7. Discuss how slave owners reacted to losing slaves. Make posters publicizing rewards for lost slaves.
8. Finally reveal the Underground Railroad and return figures to children now as free citizens. Use a variety of craft and recycled materials, Crayola School Glue, and Crayola Scissors to build new homes. Write about new lives in freedom, including details found in reading.
Adult supervision is required for any arts & crafts project.
Crayola Modeling Materials including Crayola Model Magic®, Model Magic Fusion™, Crayola Air-Dry Clay, and Crayola Dough With Small Parts—
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD—
- Keep away from open flames. Do not use to make candleholders, hot plates, trivets, or other similar objects that will be used or placed near fire and other heat sources.
- Do not put in an oven, microwave, or kiln.
- Do not make into vessels/containers that will hold unpackaged food.
- If the arts & crafts project involves making small objects, follow the small parts/choking hazards standards: WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD—Small parts. Not for children under 3 years."
- The use of modeling material to make items that look like food is discouraged for children younger than age 5 to avoid their confusion with real food.
- Unless sealed with a water-resistant glaze, do not make projects exposed to or immersed in water, such as boats or outdoor bird feeders. They would disintegrate when exposed to moisture.
- Crayola Dough—contains gluten (wheat flour) as an ingredient. Crayola Air-Dry Clay, Crayola Model Magic, and Model Magic Fusion are gluten-free. However, they are produced on the same machinery as Crayola Dough which does contain gluten. Although the machines are cleaned prior to the start of each production run, there is a slight possibility that trace amounts of gluten from Crayola Dough may be present in the other modeling compound products. For information regarding specific ingredients or allergic concerns, please call our Consumer Affairs department at 1-800-272-9652 weekdays between 9 AM and 4 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Small Parts— WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD—Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.
Scissors—ATTENTION: The cutting edges of scissors are sharp and care should be taken whenever cutting or handling. Blunt-tip scissors should be used only by children 4 years and older. Pointed-tip scissors should be used only by children 6 years and older.
- Create journals with recycled paper grocery bags with torn edges. Bind journals by sewing string through the binding. Keep journals hidden and secretly write in them throughout the school day to imagine what it was like for a slave to keep writing ability a secret.
- Underground Railroad conductors keep a daily record of each slave's journey to freedom. When did each slave disappear and where were they hidden on their journeys? Were there any close calls? Share information with the class when the Underground Railroad system is revealed.
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