Learning Objectives 

Students will: 

• Determine key details about Harriet Tubman through a children’s book, Harriet and the Promised Land.
• Analyze the artistic technique of collage.
• Discuss the characteristics of collage artwork by artist Jacob Lawrence.
• Research and gather information about a historical figure. 
• Create original artwork in the style of Jacob Lawrence.

Standards Alignment

National Core Arts StandardsNational Core Arts Standards

Common Core State StandardsCommon Core State Standards

Recommended Student Materials

Editable Documents: Before sharing these resources with students, you must first save them to your Google account by opening them, and selecting “Make a copy” from the File menu. Check out Sharing Tips or Instructional Benefits when implementing Google Docs and Google Slides with students.

• Capture Sheet: Harriet Tubman, 
• Criteria for Success: Harriet Tubman Collage

Books

• Story Painter: The Life of Jacob Lawrence by John Duggleby
• Harriet and the Promised Land by Jacob Lawrence

Videos

• Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series by Smarthistory
• Harriet Tubman Abolition Activist

Websites

• Jacob Lawrence: 60 Panels of The Migration Series
• National Geographic Kids: Harriet Tubman, Spy
• North Star to Freedom
• Ducksters: Harriet Tubman

Teacher Background

Teachers should review historical information about Harriet Tubman from the following resources: Harriet Tubman Biography, National Geographic Kids: Harriet Tubman, Spy, Harriet Tubman Timeline, History: Harriet Tubman, and Ducksters: Harriet Tubman.

Teachers should also review information about Jacob Lawrence. Note: Some websites require a browser that supports Flash. Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series, About Jacob Lawrence, Jacob Lawrence: 60 Panels of The Migration Series, Jacob Lawrence Interviews, Book: Harriet and the Promised Land by Jacob Lawrence.

Student Prerequisites 

Students should have background knowledge about the American institution of slavery, the Underground Railroad, and African American history. 

Accessibility Notes

Modify handouts and give preferential seating for visual presentations. Allow extra time for task completion.

Engage

1. Show or share with students the Jacob Lawrence: 60 Panels of The Migration Series.

2. Discuss Lawrence’s artwork with students. Ask students: What is similar about these pieces of artwork? (Bold colors, repeated colors, strong shapes, repeated shapes, strong lines, heavy feeling to artwork, strong emotions, little detail, exaggerated figures—they seem to tell an African American story) Why did the artist call this collection of artwork the Migration Series? (African Americans were moving from the south to the north to begin a new life.) How did you feel as you viewed this series of artwork? 

Build

1. Introduce the artist, Jacob Lawrence, to students by reading Story Painter: The Life of Jacob Lawrence by John Duggleby, and/or watch Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series by Smarthistory.

2. Explain that the Underground Railroad was a secret migration network of escaped enslaved people from the south to the north. This is not the migration that Lawrence was depicting in his Migration Series, but it is the subject of some of Lawrence’s artwork.

3. Read Harriet and the Promised Land by Jacob Lawrence. Ask students: How is the artwork in this book similar to the slide show? (Same colors, shapes, emotions, and style) What do you think Lawrence was trying to share with his viewers through this series of artwork? (The emotional journey of Tubman and her followers, the risk, and the fear.) What new information did you learn about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad?

4. Explore the artistic style of collage art. Explain that collage-style art comes from the word “coller,” meaning to “to glue or to stick.” In Lawrence’s work, shapes, color, and other items are layered onto a single surface to create a multi-layered creation. There is often a background, middle ground, and foreground. 

5. Show a piece of artwork in Harriet and the Promised Land. Ask students: Is the artwork composed using a vertical or horizontal layout and why? (Most, but not all, portraits are done in a vertical format; and most, but not all, landscapes are done in a horizontal format.) What is in the background? What is in the middle ground? What is in the foreground? How does the artist distinguish between these “grounds”? (by varying the size of the shapes, from smallest in background to largest in foreground) In what order do you think the artist places items onto the paper? (background to foreground) Why do shapes overlap? (to create depth through layers) How did he know where to place the items? (He probably made a sketch with pencil first to visualize the pieces and their placement onto the paper.) What colors did Lawrence use? What shapes are repeated? What story was Lawrence trying to tell with this collage illustration?

6. Have students research and gather details about Harriet Tubman’s life with the Capture Sheet: Harriet Tubman. Share the following resources with students: National Geographic Kids: Harriet Tubman, Spy, North Star to Freedom, Video: Harriet Tubman, Abolition Activist, and Ducksters: Harriet Tubman. 

Apply

1. Create a Lawrence-type collage. Have students create a scene that depicts an aspect of Harriet Tubman’s life or journey. The scene should depict three or more “facts” about Tubman and her north-south journeys. Students can pull from information gained from Harriet and the Promised Land or from their research. For example, students may choose to show the North Star that guided her, the rivers journeyed along or waded through, the friends/allies that provided housings along the way, or some of the dangers that were encountered.

2. Review the Criteria for Success: Harriet Tubman Collage with students. Provide students with feedback throughout the process. 

Reflect 

1. Create a Jacob Lawrence classroom gallery. Display artwork in the classroom, hallway, or create a digital gallery. If possible, place Lawrence prints alongside student work. Invite students from another class to view the gallery.

2. Assess students orally as they serve as a docent (museum tour guide) to explain their artwork to the students on the tour.

Extend

1. Write an original poem about Tubman to accompany the collage. Use one or more poetic devices in the original poem: alliteration, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, rhyme, and simile. 

2. Explore the other works of Jacob Lawrence or other collage artists.

3. Choose a topic to research and create a collage. The topic can be related to math, science, history, or another subject area. Create a Lawrence-style collage on the topic. 

4. Create a timeline of historical events. As a class or in small groups, create Lawrence-style collages showing a series of events.