While holding a ball of yarn, give the students a story starter. For example, “Yesterday Sally and David ran across the road. They saw an animal that looked very scary running towards them, but it turned out to be a ___________.”

While holding onto the end of the yarn, pass the ball to a student who adds a line to the story. When he/she finishes their line, they pass the ball of yarn to another student. Each student should hold on to the yarn as they pass it so eventually the entire class will be “connected” to each other.

In this game, a blindfolded child has to choose whom to trust. It demonstrates how difficult it is to know who to trust, relating the students to how slaves felt on a daily basis while traveling along the Underground Railroad.

Create a small obstacle course in the classroom with items found in the room. Blindfold one student and have 2 other students waiting at the end of the maze—one trying to lead them to safety and the other child leading them to danger. The game is over when the blindfolded student touches an obstacle item or when he/she reaches one of the two students calling out instructions.

Map out possible paths that Daniel, Ben, and Sally could have traveled on their way to the North—keeping in mind that they were traveling on foot with no canoes or boats to aid them in crossing rivers, etc.

Send a secret message to the students in the class starting with one student and then the next student, and so on . . . . Does the original message come back to you? How important was it for the slaves to get the exact messages from the conductors?

Ask the students to go home and trace their own family roots back to 1800. They can call upon grandparents, family Bibles, whatever it takes. Ask the students to draw family trees. Discuss with them how difficult it is for many African Americans to trace their families back as a result of slavery.

Have students make a “secret” mask, object, drawing, etc. that symbolizes value or has some importance in their lives. Have them present their piece of art in front of the class. Explain the importance of keeping their works a secret so that outsiders did not know what the symbol meant. This idea was very important to the runaway slaves.

Plan out a day in the life of the Masons or the runaway slaves. What kind of events were going on? What were they thinking? What were their daily chores? How did they feel? Have students either discuss this as a whole or have them “free write” and turn in the paper to you.

Ask students to list the qualities of a hero. Who are their heroes? What makes these people special? Do they think that there were many heroes working on the Underground Railroad? What qualities do they think these workers would have needed to possess? Discuss these questions and list student responses on the board.

Have students go through the journey on an Underground Railroad site such as National Geographic to gain an idea of what it was like to be traveling along the Underground Railroad. Ask them to describe the conditions in which slaves lived and some of the dangers that an escaping slave faced. Do the students think that slaves could have successfully made it over this route all by themselves or did they need help? What helpers appear on this online journey? List on the board the names that they encounter: Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett, William Still, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony. Explain that all of these individuals, plus many more, helped the slaves on their journey over the Underground Railroad. In their opinion, were each of these people a hero? What dangers did they face while doing their secret work? Have students discuss these questions as a class.

Have students imagine that they are living in the time of slavery. Ask them to think about the things they know about slave life and about the heroes who helped the slaves. Then, either orally, in writing, or in pictures, have them explain what they would have done to help the slaves. How could they have made themselves heroes for the slaves?