Historical Fiction
5th Grade
This is a story about Harriet Tubman as a child and her first realization that one day she wanted to be freed from slavery. When Minty was a young child she worked inside of the big house for her owners until she disobeyed an order. It was then that she was forced to work in the fields and she found herself wondering how she could escape.
One day her owner took her to the river near the plantation to get all muskrats out of the traps. While in the river Minty freed the muskrats (instead of capturing them for the master) and also tried to run herself. Unfortunately, her master captured her and whipped her extremely hard. Minty's father, Old Ben, knew that Minty wanted to escape so he spent the summer teaching her how to swim quietly, how to find her way north, and many other things.
Towards the end of the summer Minty's mother, Old Rit, sent her to the master's house to retrieve some flour. When Minty got to the front of the house she saw a horse tied to a tree and she then for one second prepared to escape but became frightened. That night she laid amongst her brothers and sisters and decided that one day she would run away. The last page of the book goes on to explain how Minty became Harriet Tubman the leader of the Underground Railroad.
This book will be used in a unit that focuses on Slavery and the Civil War. I feel that the Underground Railroad is an important part of these events in history. To begin this unit I will do a book pass that will include a number of picture books from this time period. This will be one of the books I use. Each book will be read aloud throughout the unit and students will use these picture books to help them connect to this time in history.
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