Teacher
Grade
Title
Subject Area(s)
Overview
Essential Understanding
Essential Questions
CT Standards
Objectives
Materials
TAH Lesson Plan
Mary Ellen Rourke
5th
A Day with Three Harriets- Beecher Stowe, Tubman and Jacobs
Social Studies with an integration of language arts and technology
Students will be comparing and contrasting three women who each
had an active connection to the Civil War.
Contributing to history can take many forms. Some more active than
others but each making a mark on history.
How did their beliefs influence history?
How are these ladies alike or different?
How did the ladies influence American social reform?
CT GLE1.1 Demonstrate an understanding of significant events
and themes in United States history
CT GLE 1.12. Describe the influences that contributed to
American social reform movements.
CT GLE1.14. Explain how specific individuals and their ideas
and beliefs influenced U.S. history.
CT GLE 2.1-1 Access and gather information from non-print
materials with teacher support (e.g. artifacts, guest speaker,
technology)
Students will learn how the lives of these three women significantly
impacted our American society whether it is through actions or
writings. The students will be able to compare and contrast the lives
and significance of these three women.
 Access to technology
Harriet Tubman
websites
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j3.html
Interactive sight on Harriet Tubman
ANIMATED HERO CLASSICS: HARRIET TUBMAN
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/harriet tubman.html
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/tubman/tubman.html
interactive site on the life of Harriet Tubman
Books
...If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad. Levine, Ellen. NY: Scholastic,
1988.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
websites
http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/special/exhibits/clastext/clspg149.cfm- quotes
from UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
Discovery Education videos– UNCLE TOM’S CABIN :POLITICS AND THE PEN
http://www.netstate.com/states/index.html Harriet Beecher Stowe
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/harriet_beecher_stowe.html
HARRIET JACOBS
websites
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/jacobs/hj-site-index.htm
text from Harriet Jacobs’ book
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/harriet jacobs.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/teachers/lesson3.html
Primary Source
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1541b.html
Books
Letters from a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons
Harriet Jacobs: A Life by Jean Fagan Yellin
Day 1
PRETEST


The teacher will begin the activity by discussing the goals and
objectives of unit and the lesson with the students.
Begin with a pretest.
Name______________________________________Date___________________
Pretest
Number these significant events in chronological order.
_______Frederick Douglass begins publication of his abolitionist newspaper The North Star.
_______Cotton gin patented leading to the increased need for slave labor on large cotton
plantations.
_______Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin published.
________Harriet Tubman escaped and later led 19 missions to the South to free slaves.
The Civil War ends, and slavery is formally abolished.
______The Civil War begins with slavery being one of the leading issues.
_______The Emancipation Proclamation becomes effective, declaring slaves in the South free.
American Anti-Slavery Society formed.
_______ Harriet Jacobs remained hidden for seven years.
ANIMATED HERO
CLASSIC
HARRIET
TUBMAN VIDEO


Watch the ANIMATED HERO CLASSICS: HARRIET TUBMAN
from Discovery in Education.
Create a timeline of events from Harriet’s life.
Ask the students to view and reflect on this interactive site about Harriet
Tubman written by school children
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/tubman/tubman.html
Homework
Ask the students to go on the following website;
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/harriet_tubman_.html
Choose a quote from Harriet Tubman and interpret it in an artistic
way- draw, make a collage, write a poem etc.
Day 2
HARRIET BEECHER
STOWE
Details of the Activity
Have the students read the short biography of Harriet Beecher
Stowe from http://www.netstate.com/states/index.html ( CTHarriet Beecher Stowe.)
Explain to the studentsUncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was described by Abraham Lincoln as
the “book that started the Civil War”. It was published in 1852 and sold more than
300,000 copies in its first year. It was also performed as a play in many towns and
cities throughout the North. In this excerpt, the dialogue, spellings, and “accent” are
from the original and were Stowe’s attempt to represent uneducated speech. However,
it will be somewhat difficult for many readers to understand. Haley is a slave trader and
Tom, and Marks are slave catchers talking about the enslaved people they are seeking
to recapture.


Read the section of dialogue aloud or as a reader’s theatre. In groups of
four, spend about 15 minutes discussing the excerpt to clarify the
meaning. Create a poster describing the character in the dialogue.
After sharing the posters, discuss the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
work as a class.

"Yes Eliza, it's all misery, misery, misery! My life is bitter as wormwood; the very
life is burning out of me. I'm a poor, miserable, forlorn drudge; I shall only drag
you down with me, that's all. What's the use of our trying to do anything, trying
to know anything, trying to be anything? What's the use of living? I wish I was
dead!"
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Ch. 2

"This is God's curse on slavery!--a bitter, bitter, most accursed thing!--a curse to
the master and a curse to the slave! I was a fool to think I could make anything
good out of such a deadly evil."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Ch. 5

"If I must be sold, or all the people on the place, and everything go to rack, why,
let me be sold. I s'pose I can b'ar it as well as any on 'em."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Ch. 5

"I have lost two, one after another,--left 'em buried there when I came away;
and I had only this one left. I never slept a night without him; he was all I had.
He was my comfort and pride, day and night; and, ma'am, they were going to
take him away from me,--to sell him,--sell him down south, ma'am, to go all
alone,--a baby that had never been away from his mother in his life!"
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Ch. 9
HOMEWORK
Ask the students to go on the following website;
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/harriet_beecher_stowe.html
Choose a quote from Harriet Beecher Stowe and interpret it in an
artistic way- draw, make a collage, write a poem etc.
Day 3
HARRIET JACOBS
Details of the Activity
Use this website as a area for further activities on Harriet Jacobs.http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/teachers/lesson3.html
These lessons are not original, but can be found on the PBS website.
"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl"
Reader Response
Part 1. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," Chapter 23
Log on to the "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Chapter 23, Still in Prison" Web site at
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JACOBS/hjch23.htm and complete the following
questions. Be prepared to discuss your answers after you have completed your reading.
1) Why were terrible storms acceptable in the summer?
2) What did the wet nurse do to escape a whipping?
3) How did William get herbs, roots, and ointments when Harriet was sick?
4) Why do you think the coals made Harriet weep?
5) What does Harriet mean when she writes that "childhood is like a day in spring"?
6) Why did Mrs. Flint (Dr. Norcom's wife) come tend to Harriet's sick grandmother?
7) Why did Mrs. Flint wish that the dog had killed Benny?
8) Why do you think that Harriet uses the phrase "Christian words" to describe what Mrs.
Flint said?
9) Did Harriet know that Dr. Flint (Dr. Norcom) was in the house caring for her
grandmother? How do you know?
Another good lesson from PBS- http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/teachers/lesson3c.html
Students will understand confines of the space where Harriet hid.

Read the excerpt describing her hiding place for seven years.
"A small shed had been added to my grandmother's house years ago. Some
boards were laid across the joists at the top, and between these boards and
the roof was a very small garret, never occupied by anything but rats and nlice.
. . .The garret was only nine feet long and 7 feet cleep. The highest part was
only three feet high, and sloped down abruptly to the loose board floor. There
was no admission for either light or air. . The air was stiflin8; the darkness
complete ... I could sleep comfortably on one side; but the slope was so
sudden that I could not turn on the other without hitting the roof. The rats and
mice ran over my bed.... Morning came I knew it only by the noises heard; for
in my small den day and night were the same. I suffered for air more than for
light ... for weeks I was tormented by hundreds of little red insects, fine as a
needle point that pierced through my skin, and produced an intolerable
burning. The good grandmother gave me herb teas and cooling medicines,
and finally I got rid of them. The heat of my den was intense, for nothing but
thin shingles protected me from the scorching summer's sun. . . . Autumn
came with a pleasant abatement of heat.... But when winter came, the cold
penetrated through the thin shingle roof, I was dreadfully chilled.... But I was
not comfortless. I heard the voices of my children. There was joy and sadness
in the sound. It made my tears flow. How I longed to speak to them! I was
eager to look upon their faces; but there was no hole, no crack, through which
I could peep.... It seemed honible to sit or lie in a cramped position day after
day, without one gleam of light. Yet I would have chosen this, rather than my
lot as a slave. . . ."
Harriet Brent Jacobs eventually escaped to the North. When, after seven
years, she came down from the garret, her legs would not walk; she had to
retrain her muscles to carry her after seven years of inaction.


On a separate piece of paper, draw a rough sketch of how you
imagine Jacob's hiding place looked.
Around this sketch, write the words that describe the feelings you think
Jacobs had while living in hiding.
Homework
Ask the students to go on the following website;
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/harriet_jacobs_.html
Choose a quote from Harriet Jacobs and interpret it in an artistic
way- draw, make a collage, write a poem etc.
Suggested
Assessment/Evaluation





Divide the class into 3 sections. Assign a group to concentrate
on Harriet Tubman, another to Harriet Jacobs and the third
to Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Sharing their notes, have each group decide on the significant
events in the life of their person and create a timeline on
chart paper.
Once all three charts are hung on the board, color code
similarities and differences.
Give the students a 3 circled Venn diagram for comparing and
contrasting.
Give the Post test.
Rubric
Venn Diagram Rubric
Objects being compared in the Venn diagram:
______________________________ and ______________________________
Strong Grasp Progressing
Not in
Evidence
Text support
All statements
Most
Few or none
of
are supported by statements are of the
comparison
the text.
supported by
statements
statements
the text.
are supported
by the text.
Placement of All statements
Most
Few
statements
noting similarities
statements are statements
within the
are placed in the placed in the
are placed in
Venn
center circle and correct circle,
the correct
diagram
all statements
but student
circle.
that note
mixed up a
differences are
few
placed in the
statements.
correct outer
circle.
Number of
Student is able to Student is able Student
quality
make five or
to make 3–4
makes two or
statements
more comparison comparison
fewer
statements in
statements in
comparison
each circle.
each circle.
statements in
each circle.
Possible
Extensions/Resources

As bulletin board display, have the students create life sized
paper dolls of each of the Harriets by tracing one student on
bulletin board background paper, add in the details of the
time period clothing and display on board, illustrating the
appropriate background for each woman. Have the students
write key words and events to be placed on the board.