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Follow the
Drinking Gourd

Subjects

• Arts & Humanities
  Language Arts, Fine Arts, Visual Arts
• Science
  Space Science
• Social Studies
  History (U.S.), Regions/Cultures, Sociology

Grade

• Pre-K
• K-2

Brief Description

Students create an art project based on "Follow the Drinking Gourd," a song used to guide slaves to freedom during the Civil War.

Objectives

Students will

• read a picture book to learn the story of how Harriet Tubman and Peg Leg Joe led slaves to freedom.
• learn the "Drinking Gourd" song,
• learn how the "Drinking Gourd" song led slaves to freedom,
• create an art project "map" of the drinking gourd.

Keywords

women's history, slavery, Civil War, Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, Big Dipper, black history

Materials Needed

• Follow the Drinking Gourd: An AskERIC Lesson Plan
• "Follow the Drinking Gourd," by Jeanette Winter
• Educator's Guide to "Follow the Drinking Gourd" (optional)
• 9 x 12 sheets of black construction paper
• white color crayon
• glue or glue stick
• star stickers
• pen

Lesson Plan

The entire lesson plan is available online at Follow the Drinking Gourd: An AskERIC Lesson Plan.

Assessment

Assess students on the finished art project, student participation during discussion and singing, and ability to recall information by answering questions after reading the story.

Lesson Plan Source

AskERIC

Submitted By

Cara Bafile

National Standards

INE ARTS: Music

• GRADES K - 4
  NA-M.K-4.1 Singing, Alone and With Others, a Varied Repertoire of Music
  NA-M.K-4.9 Understanding Music in Relation to History and Culture
  NA-M.K-4.8 Understanding Relationships Between Music, Other Arts, and Disciplines Outside the Arts
  NA-M.K-4.9 Understanding Music in Relation to History and Culture

FINE ARTS: Visual Arts

• GRADES K - 4
  NA-VA.K-4.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
  NA-VA.K-4.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
  NA-VA.K-4.4 Understanding the Visual Arts In Relation to History and Cultures

LANGUAGE ARTS: English

• GRADES K - 12
  NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective
  NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
  NL-ENG.K-12.7 Evaluating Data
  NL-ENG.K-12.9 Multicultural Understanding
  NL-ENG.K-12.11 Participating in Society

SCIENCE

• GRADES K - 4
  NS.K-4.4 Earth and Space Science

SOCIAL SCIENCES: Geography

• GRADES K - 12
  NSS-G.K-12.2 Places and Regions
  NSS-G.K-12.5 Environment and Society
  NSS-G.K-12.6 Uses of Geography

SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History

• GRADES K - 4
  NSS-USH.K-4.1 Living and Working together in Families and Communities, Now and Long Ago
  NSS-USH.K-4.3 The History of the United States: Democratic Principles and Values and the People from Many Cultures Who Contributed to Its Cultural, Economic, and Political Heritage

See more lessons at Celebrate Women's History Month!

Return to the Women's History lesson plan page.