Grade 4 · History
Goal
Explain what Harriet Tubman did and why it mattered, using details from the text.
You'll need
Scissors, a glue stick, and crayons.
Help with the hands, not the answer
Add these words to the student's AAC device before the lesson
freedom, slavery, escape, north, guide, conductor, secret, safe, railroad, brave, dangerous, family, Maryland, Harriet Tubman, route
Words from the check are left out on purpose.
What's in this packet
Standards the check measures
CA Common Core ELA RI.4.3: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
CA Common Core ELA RI.4.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area. (See grade 4 Language standards 4–6 for additional expectations.) CA
CA Common Core ELA L.4.2.d: Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.
Related, but not fully taught or measured here
CA History-Social Science (grade 3) 3.4.6: Describe the lives of American heroes who took risks to secure our freedoms (e.g., Anne Hutchinson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr.).
CA History-Social Science (grade 8) 8.9.1: Describe the leaders of the movement (e.g., John Quincy Adams and his proposed constitutional amendment, John Brown and the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass).
These are California's standards. Outside California, check the code and wording against your state's framework before citing them in an IEP.
Activity answers
Color the answer. Which way did she go to freedom? North. Was it a real train line? No, secret routes.
Which railroad?. Real railroad: Steel tracks; Steam train; Paid tickets. Underground Railroad: Secret routes; Safe houses; Guides called conductors
Her life. 1. Born in Maryland 2. Escapes to the north 3. Goes back to Maryland 4. Guides others north
What does it mean?. Conductor: a guide to freedom. Safe house: a place to hide. Secret route: a hidden way north. Moses: Tubman's nickname
Spell the word. NORTH
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland around 1822. Enslaved people were forced to work without pay, and their families could be split apart.
Around 1849, she escaped and traveled north to freedom. She could have stayed safe, but she went back. She returned to Maryland again and again to guide family and friends north.
The secret routes and safe houses were called the Underground Railroad. It was not a real railroad, and guides like Tubman were called conductors. People gave her the nickname Moses.
Color the right box.
Which way did she go to freedom?
Was it a real train line?
Sort the cards.
Real railroad
Underground Railroad
Cut out along the dashed lines
Put them in order.
Cut out along the dashed lines
Match each one.
Cut out along the dashed lines
Spell this word.
Cut out along the dashed lines
How the student chose answers (mark one)
Independent, adult could not see
Independent, adult could see
With touch, a held device, or cues
Mark the last one if anyone touched the student, held anything for them, or cued them while they chose. Help with cutting or gluing after they chose doesn't count as support, but an adult who saw the choice means "adult could see."
Help after the student chose
Results
Date ____________ Check run by (role) ____________________
| Item | Standard | Student's answer | Right? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RI.4.3 | ||
| 2 | RI.4.3 | ||
| 3 | RI.4.4 | ||
| 4 | RI.4.4 | ||
| 5 | L.4.2.d | ||
| 6 | L.4.2.d |
Each question with four choices can be guessed right 1 time in 4. These 6 items are too few to conclude from alone. The on-screen report waits for 20 items at a level.
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland. Enslaved people were kept from learning to read. As a boy, he traded bread for reading lessons and practiced with old spelling books. In 1838, he escaped, dressed in a sailor's clothes. He became a famous speaker against slavery. In 1847, he started a newspaper called The North Star.
Choose your answer, then color its box.
How did Douglass learn to read?
Why might a sailor's clothes have helped him escape?
Choose your answer, then color its box.
In this text, what does escaped mean?
In this text, what does speaker mean?
Spell the word for what Douglass traded for lessons. Choose each letter. Glue them on the strips.
Cut out along the dashed lines
Spell the word for a person who works on a ship. Choose each letter. Glue them on the strips.
Cut out along the dashed lines
Keep this away from the check, and use it only for scoring afterward.
| Item | Standard | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RI.4.3 | How did Douglass learn to read? | He traded bread for lessons |
| 2 | RI.4.3 | Why might a sailor's clothes have helped him escape? | He could look like a free worker |
| 3 | RI.4.4 | In this text, what does escaped mean? | Got away from slavery |
| 4 | RI.4.4 | In this text, what does speaker mean? | A person who gives talks |
| 5 | L.4.2.d | Spell the word for what Douglass traded for lessons. | BREAD |
| 6 | L.4.2.d | Spell the word for a person who works on a ship. | SAILOR |