Economics, society

• Why have slaves? Make sure your students understand the economic "reasons" behind slavery. Focus on a familiar product, such as a toy, and help the class identify some expenses the toy producer has (for example, the producer has to buy the parts and pay someone to put them together). Ask the students how the producer would benefit if he or she could make people work for free.
   
• Wages: Help your students see the importance of wages in today's society. Is everyone paid for their work? How are they paid? (by the hour, by the month, for each piece produced, etc.) Who isn't paid? (volunteers, family members doing chores) Are they slaves? Why or why not? What kinds of work do your students want to do? Should they be paid for this work? How much?
   
• Labor laws: Explain that when the Crafts were slaves, there were few laws about work and pay. Now we have more laws. Describe a labor law your students will understand, such as the minimum wage law. Ask the students to describe any laws they would make about work and pay if they ruled the country. Would businesses get to pay whatever they wanted? Would everyone be paid the same? Would anyone have to work for free? Would all kids get a huge allowance even if they did no chores?
   
• Are kids slaves? Ask the students to describe the restrictions placed on the Crafts (they couldn't travel freely, get a job, walk away from a bad situation, talk back to their masters, etc.). Then have the students list restrictions placed on young kids (they can't travel alone, get a job, skip school, talk back, etc.). How was being a slave like being a kid? Are kids slaves? What kinds of protection do children have that slaves didn't?

Social movements; communication

• The abolitionist movement: Explain that when they got to Philadelphia, the Crafts were helped by people who thought slavery was wrong. Many people opposed to slavery came together and tried to convince others that slavery should be stopped. They gave speeches and wrote books and newspaper articles. Remind students that there was no TV, radio, or internet back then. Ask the students what people can do now to change people's minds about an important topic (go on the radio, create a web site, make a commercial, organize a march to get news coverage, etc.).

Science

• Melanin: Ellen's story can help you discuss melanin. Explain that melanin is (basically) tiny bits of color in our skin. The more melanin we have, the darker we are. People from Africa have a lot of melanin; people from Europe have less. Have the students compare color photos of African and European people. Pictures of families are most useful. Explain that kids have about the same amount of melanin as their parents.
      Remind the students that some Americans came from Europe, and some others were brought here from Africa. William's family was from Africa, so he had a lot of melanin and was dark-skinned. But Ellen's father was European, and her mother was half European and half African. So Ellen had less melanin and her skin was lighter than William's. (Ellen's father was her master.)

Math

• Timeline; computing time: Using the information in the back of the book, have the students create a timeline showing important points in Ellen's life. How old was Ellen when she escaped? How old was she when the US outlawed slavery? How many years did Ellen live?
   
• Geometry: On a US map, draw the Crafts' actual route, using each city as a point connecting line segments (see this map for help). Then ask the students to draw a line segment that would show the shortest route from Macon, Georgia, to Philadelphia. Why is that route shorter? Why do we say, "The shortest distance between two points is a straight line?"

Language arts

• Research: Have the students form small groups and use an age-appropriate encyclopedia to research an aspect of Ellen's and William's lives that interests them (slavery, trains, ships, abolitionism, Africa, men's fashion, etc.). Have each group present their research to the rest of the class.
   
• Creative writing: Have the students write short stories or plays in which someone escapes a bad situation. Have the students first outline their plots, then discuss the plots to identify what makes them exciting and how they could be more exciting. Then have the students complete their works using their revised outlines.

Art

• Disguises: Have the students pretend they need to travel without anyone recognizing them. Provide enough materials for disguises and see if students can fool each other. Also discuss why disguises work (by changing gender, age, species, etc.).

Other ideas

The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft describes how Ellen Craft escaped slavery by disguising herself as a white man. The award-winning book is written for grades 2 through 5. Learn more about the book.

Looking for more Black History Month lesson plans for young children?

Try these links.