Feb. 27, 2008: Get to Know Sojourner Truth

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. What would Sojourner Truth carry in her backpack? Draw a large backpack on a piece of paper. Cut out newspaper pictures of items that tell something about Sojourner Truth's life. Write a sentence about the contents of your backpack.

2. Write the letters S-O-J-O-U-R-N-E-R down the left side of a piece of paper. Find newspaper words that describe Sojourner Truth and write them next to the letters. For example, you could use the word "strong" next to the letter S.

3. Create a "Sojourner's Legacy" display on a large piece of paper or poster board. On the board, put newspaper stories that show women and African-Americans in these areas: politics, community leaders, business, sports, entertainment and the comics.

4. Find an individual or an item in the newspaper that would have helped Sojourner Truth (a) raise her children, (b) communicate with many people, (c) travel to cities to give her speeches, and (d) influence political leaders.

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of slaves in the United States from Colonial times to the Civil War. Use these questions to guide your research: Which Colonies and early states allowed slavery? Why was slavery accepted in those areas? When did different Colonies/states end slavery? What forces or groups influenced the decisions that Colonies/states made to end slavery? Write a paragraph summarizing your findings.

This week's standard:

• Students understand that history relates to events and people of other times and places by identifying examples of interesting Americans. (Social Studies: History)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)