Grade Levels: 2, 3

In this lesson plan, students use BrainPOP Jr. resources to learn about Harriet Tubman. They’ll discover how she escaped slavery, and later risked her life to lead others to freedom as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Students then apply their understanding by writing a diary entry describing a day in their life as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. 

 

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Students will:

  1. Build background knowledge: Watch the BrainPOP Jr. Harriet Tubman movie.
  2. Express understanding: Write a diary entry from the point of view of a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
  3. Complete an Assessment: Take the Harriet Tubman Quiz to show what they learned.

Materials:

Preparation:

Lesson Procedure:

  1. Tap students’ prior knowledge. Ask them to share what they have heard about the Harriet Tubman and/or the Underground Railroad? NOTE: Many children may not know anything about this topic, and that’s okay. In that case, you can share a few facts about Tubman from Harriet Tubman Background Information. 
  2. Watch the BrainPOP Jr. movie Harriet Tubman. Click the pause button each time a question appears in Annie’s Notebook and answer it. Then play to see how Annie answers it.

    TIP: the pause button turns red to remind you to pause.  

    Offline Option: Print out the transcript and Annie’s Notebook for a grown-up to read aloud at home. Suggest that the child play Moby and “Beep” in response to Annie.
  3. Instruct students to open their Activity assignment. Or, if you are not using the Assignment Builder, show how to open Activity 
  4. Hover over the prompt to hear it read aloud: Imagine you are a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Draw or write a diary entry of your day. When they finish, remind them to click the Submit To Teacher button and/or print out.
  5. Have students open their Quiz assignment. Or, if you are not using the Assignment Builder, show how to open the Quiz. You can choose the Easy Quiz or Hard Quiz
  6. To hear the questions and answer read aloud, show students how to hover over the words. If you assigned the quiz, you will see students’ results in your Dashboard. If not assigned, remind students to click the Submit to Teacher button.

    Offline Option: Print out the Easy Quiz for students by clicking the print icon.   Read aloud each question and answer options, repeating as needed.