edHelper.com
Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
A Nation Divided
(1840-1861)
 The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 4 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.69

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    fined, slavery, historic, runaway, kidnap, criminal, fines, listed, public, freedom, lead, kidnappings, unfair, dislike, escape, middle
     content words:    Underground Railroad, Fugitive Slave Law, Thomas Garrett, Calvin Fairbank, Civil War

Print The Underground Railroad
     Print The Underground Railroad  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format
     Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
     Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format
     Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity
     Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on The Underground Railroad
     Leave your feedback on The Underground Railroad  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

The Underground Railroad
By Cathy Pearl 		  
1     It is the middle of the night and clouds cover the moon. This is good because it will make you harder to find. As quietly as you can, you keep walking north. There are people in the woods hunting for you and you don't want to be caught. You aren't a criminal. You are a slave who is trying to run north to freedom.
 
2     The Underground Railroad was made up of a lot of different people. Some of them were white, and some were black. These people helped slaves escape to the Northern states and to Canada.
 
3     The Underground Railroad was not underground. And railroads were not used. But it was a good name for the system that helped slaves make their way north.
 
4     The system worked well. Hundreds of slaves were helped north every year. Between 1810 and 1850, about 100,000 slaves used the Underground Railroad to run away.
 
5     The system was started in the late 1700s. It kept growing as more people started to dislike slavery. It earned its name around the 1830s. This was about the time that steam engines were making their way across the country.

Paragraphs 6 to 15:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Weekly Reading Books

          Create Weekly Reading Books

Prepare for an entire week at once!

Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
             Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

A Nation Divided
(1840-1861)
             A Nation Divided
(1840-1861)

More Lessons
             Special Education United States History Materials for Teachers

United States
             United States


    American Government  
 
    Black History and Blacks in U.S. History  
 
    Children in History  
 
    Government Careers  
 
    Hispanic Heritage  
 
    How Can I Help?  
 
 
    Immigration  
 
    National Parks and Monuments  
 
    Native Americans  
 
    Presidents of the United States  
 
    Women's History  
 

United States History
    A Nation Divided
(1840-1861) 		 
 
    A New Nation
(1776-1830) 		 
 
    After the Civil War
(1865-1870) 		 
 
    American Revolution  
 
    Cold War
(1947-1991) 		 
 
    Colonial America (1492-1776)  
 
    Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806) 		 
 
    Spanish American War (1898)  
 
    The 1890's  
 
    The 1900's  
 
    The 1910's  
 
    The 1920's  
 
    The 1930's  
 
    The 1940's  
 
 
    The 1950's  
 
    The 1960's  
 
    The 1970's  
 
    The 1980's  
 
    The 1990's  
 
    The 2000's  
 
    The Civil War
(1861-1865) 		 
 
    The Great Depression
(1929-1945) 		 
 
    The United States Grows
(1865-1900) 		 
 
    The War of 1812  
 
    Wild, Wild West  
 
    World War I
(1914-1918) 		 
 
    World War II  
 

50 States

             Fifty States Theme Unit

Document Based Activities
      Document Based Activities

More Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets


Back to School
Graphic Organizers
Alphabet Worksheets
Sight Words
Math Worksheets
Mazes
50 States

Monthly Themes
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Fractions
Place Value
Time and Calendar
Money
Earth Day
Solar System
Analogies
Nouns
Following Directions
Listening
Capitalization
Cursive Writing
Patterns and Sequencing
Dinosaurs
All About Me

Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Sixth Grade
Multiplication
Division
Main Idea
Cause and Effect
Measurement
Decimals
Rounding
Order of Operations
Verbs
Community Helpers
Adjectives
Plants
Grammar
Addition and Subtraction
Contractions
Bulletin Board Ideas
Word Searches
Crossword Puzzles
Printable Puzzles

Reading Comprehension
Reading Skills
English Language Arts



Copyright © 2011 edHelper