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This Newbery Honor Book personalizes the hardships and struggles of African-American slaves. The book contains a number of personal accounts from slaves and ex-slaves, who describe their experiences from the time they left Africa through the Civil War and into the early twentieth century. |
To buy this book, click here or on the book cover.
Enrichment Activities
Internet Resources
Books by Julius Lester
Enrichment Activities
- An Abolitionist Play
Students learn about five women abolitionists and are asked to write a one-act play that reflects the views of the women concerning the biracial makeup of the movement.
- Comprehension Checks
Check your students' comprehension of To Be a Slave with Test A, Test B, and Test C. Use the Answer Key for correcting.
- Emancipation Proclamation
On January 1, 1863 President Lincoln presented the Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves. Read and analyze the entire speech with your students, as a whole class or a group activity.
- Famous Abolitionists
Share with your students reference articles on Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman.
- Harriet Brent Jacobs
Harriet Brent Jacobs (1813-1897) was a slave who wrote an autobiography. In this lesson, students read an excerpt from her autobiography and react to it.
- Indentured Servants
This lesson helps students to compare and contrast European American indentured servitude to African-American servitude.
- New Bedford Virtual Field Trip
Take your students on a virtual field trip through New Bedford, site of the Massachusetts Underground Railroad.
- The Underground Railroad
Students take a cyber-journey through the Underground Railroad – the path to freedom for slaves in the 1850s.
Internet Resources
American Slave Narratives
Grade Levels: Intermediate, Middle, Secondary
These firsthand accounts came from former slaves who were interviewed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) writers and journalists from 1936-1938.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html
Slave History
Grade Levels: Intermediate, Middle, Secondary
A comprehensive collection of resources on the slave trade, including slave accounts, the slave system, slave life, anti-slavery groups, and more.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/slavery.htm
Underground Railroad Virtual Journey
Grade Levels: Primary, Intermediate, Middle
Making choices of their own, students follow Harriet Tubman on one of her many freedom trips up the east coast.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/j2.html
December Events
Find educational resources for every day in December. Fill your December lessons with activities for Hanukkah (Dec. 21 -- Sundown), Winter Solstice (Dec. 21), Christmas (Dec. 25), Kwanzaa (Dec. 26), New Year's Eve (Dec. 31), Universal Human Rights Month (Dec.), World AIDS Month (Dec.).
Rulers & Number Lines
Take a look at our collection of printable rulers and protractors and number lines and place-value charts.
Letter-Writing Activities
Develop students' composition skills with these printables and activities. Students will learn about basic letter formats and practice writing formal, persuasive, and friendly letters.
Walden Forums
Wondering about online education at Walden? Get answers to your questions, meet faculty, and learn what it's like to be a Walden student. Click here to check out our free Walden Forums!
2009 Educators' Calendar
There's something worth celebrating every day! Find fun and educationally relevant holidays, events, and celebrations for each day of the year.
Printable Maps
Enrich your lessons with our collection of printable world maps depicting continents, countries, capitals, political boundaries, lines of longitude and latitude, climate zones, oceans, land forms, and more. Plus, browse our collection of Unites States maps.
Daily Printables
Add a TeacherVision widget to your blog, personalized homepage (such as iGoogle or Pageflakes), or social networking sites (such as Facebook). Our widgets feature a different fifth-grade language arts printable or fourth-grade math printable for each day of the year.
