Reading to kids is a grassroots organization dedicated to inspiring underserved children with a love of reading, thereby enriching their lives and opportunities for future success. A stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom by a jane addams peace awardwinning author and a coretta scott king awardwinning artist. This henrys freedom box lesson plan is suitable for 2nd 5th grade. It also poignantly presents the heartwrenching sorrow of families torn apart, and the powerlessness of the enslaved. No more slave work for henry box brown, in the box by express he did go, in the box by express he did go. Henry s freedom box written by ellen levine and illustrated by kadir nelson is a historical fiction book. Use these activities for whole group, center, small group, individually, many possibilities. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream. Henry and his wife were allowed to live together even though they had different. Henry s freedom box by ellen levine and kadir nelson.
A true story from the underground railroad hardcover january 1, 2007. The picture book has been around since 2007, becoming a caldecott honor book the following year. A fictionalized account of how in 1849 a virginia slave, henry box brown, escapes to freedom by shipping himself in a wooden crate from richmond to philadelphia. Henry box brown event video and gives background and provides a reenactment of henrys experience. This word document contains six higher level questions based on the blooms taxonomy of learning to go with the picture book henrys freedom box by ellen levine. Henrys freedom box by ellen levine and kadir nelson. Kadir nelson illustrated two caldecott honor books. Henrys freedom box kindle edition by levine, ellen. Henrys freedom box is the poignant, harrowing and true story of henry brown, an african american slave, who in the midnineteenth century escaped slavery by mailing himself to freedom. But when his family is sold, he risks everything for what he knows is right. A true story from the underground railroad ellen levine, kadir nelson on.
A true story from the underground railroad recounts the. Title of a book, article or other published item this will display to the public. You may use the story as a guide or learn more about henry box brown by clicking on the blue button bellow. Challenge students to turn the story of henrys freedom box into a. Reading practice, recorded voice, vocabulary practice. Henrys freedom box higher level thinking task cards will have your students responding at the analysis level or higher after reading the book, henrys freedom box by ellen levine. In this underground railroad lesson, students read the story henrys freedom box and discuss the plot, settings and characters.
Smith, mother, passenger 1, passenger 2, william still, railroad workers all. Explain that henrys freedom box is based on a true story. When his family is sold during the era of slavery, a determined young boy who dreams of freedom ships himself in a wooden box to a place up north in the hopes of living the life he always wanted, in an inspiring story about one of the underground railroads most amazing escapes. Inspirational in its simplicity, henrys freedom box tells a moving story of one individuals strength of spirit. Encourage students to read the book and compare how information is presented in the two books. The book, by the same author as henrys freedom box, is a nonfiction text written in an engaging questionandanswer format.
Children will be able to have a better understanding of slavery by the emotion the author displays in words and pictures throughout the text. Use these teaching resources to introduce students to the underground railroad, a covert network of former slaves, free black men and women, northern abolitionists, and church leaders who helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom. Take this quiz to show everything youve learned about the book, henrys freedom box. Henry box brown dreams of a world where his life belongs to him. Will smiths just the two of us won an naacp image award, and his new book, we are the ship continues to garner major awards. Is there anything that you notice about the cover that you didnt notice before. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. A true story from the underground railroad while i was still reading the good lord bird.
I needed to show kids that sometimes these answers are hidden in the text and do not jump out at you, but rather you as a reader have to read. Henrys freedom box by ellen levine is a beautiful mentor text to share with your students. Students explore the civil war by reading a childrens book in class. Henrys freedom box is a wonderful storybook for teaching younger children about slavery and the underground railroad. After the six discussion questions, there is a blooms level 6 reading response log question for students to answer during independent. Henrys freedom box is the emotional story of a boy born into slavery and his unconventional escape to freedom. Ellington was not a street by ntozake shange won the coretta scott king award.
Will smiths just the two of us won an naacp image award, and his new book. Reading and writing connection write a play script. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading henrys freedom box. A true story from the underground railroad by ellen levine and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. This book is about a slave named henry who went through many struggles in life including, being taken away from his family at a young age and his wife and kids being sold. Spiders once upon a cool motorcycle dude planting the trees of kenya survival at 120 above third grade angels those shoes. Henry box browns ingenious design to ship himself in a box from slavery to freedom is portrayed in luminous illustrations. I have created activitiesresources that will get your students thinking outside the box and digging deep. Henry traveled 350 miles in a large box, sometimes upside down and.
Henrys bravery and ingenuity were inspiring to read about. Have students spend 20 minutes individually working on their. Fold on each of the dashed lines to form a box that represents the box that henry traveled in to escape slavery. Henrys freedom box takes place in the mid 1800s when slavery existed in america and the underground railroad was coming into existence. Drawing from an actual historical account, ellen levine details some of the hardships and heartbreaks of slavery, and the creative resiliency of henry box brown, a man who mailed himself to freedom. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company. Initially i was going to demonstrate this strategy using the picture book henrys freedom box, but i decided to use a harder level picture book with more words per page, denser plot, and a longer story. Henry dreams of a world where his life belongs to him.
Henrys freedom box is a great book about a boys struggle with slavery. Levine tells the true story of henry brown, a slave who came up with the ingenious idea to escape slavery by traveling from virginia to pennsylvania in a wooden box. Henrys freedom box kindle edition by levine, ellen, nelson, kadir. For readers who have some knowledge of this time in history. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. This lesson uses the book as a starting point for a social studies unit on slavery and the underground railroad. Henrys freedom box literacy unit by joanne miller tpt. The story of an african american slave who escaped to freedom by having himself mailed to philadelphia by a. These 18 task cards can be used individually or with partners.
This interactive website guides you though the journey of a slave traveling through the underground railroad to freedom. Read the story aloud, stopping when appropriate to explore illustrations, address student comments, clarify, predict, and guide their understanding of the story and the values to pursue justice and freedom. Ncss notable trade book lesson plan henrys freedom box. Although ellen levine enjoys reading and writing fiction, most of her books for. Henrys freedom box vocabulary worksheet answers printable. Drawing from an actual historical account, ellen levine details some of the hardships. Henrys freedom box teaches to pursue justice and freedom. Lincolns way my freedom trip the new kid on the block nic bishop. Ellen levines biographical narrative of henry browns life from a young age. It is the true story of henry box brown who mailed himself to freedom. Henrys freedom box ellen levine narrators 17, master, nancy, henry, james, dr.
Fifth grade lesson the man who mailed himself to freedom. This book is based on the amazing true story of a slave named henry box brown. To the left is a picture of henry box brown as he arrived to his freedom in philadelphia, pennsylvania. Henry and his brothers and sisters worked in the big house where themaster lived. I will be conferring with some of you to see how it is going. Include a headline, a picture, and several facts about henrys journey.
492 1389 1402 23 1252 347 594 786 123 424 2 939 1325 1205 327 363 69 1218 1300 1556 820 119 170 293 560 577 373 193