By the time students reach fourth grade, they begin socializing by race, perhaps without doing so consciously.

I have observed this phenomenon personally over the course of the time I have worked in my 4th grade classroom placement at Meredith Elementary School. There is an undue lack of community; bullying and teasing are quite common; and there is an overall lack of appreciation for one another. While the classroom of 32 is predominantly white, there is a mixture of races, cultures, and overall life experiences. Despite the fact that the students in my classroom are somewhat diverse, from what I have witnessed, there is little being taught regarding race or racial understanding; no history of diversity or non-white cultures have been discussed. All of the books we have read so far have been centered around white protagonists of European descent. In some ways, it seems that the students are grouping up as a result of marginalization. But I say that reluctantly after having read excerpts from a book that addressed these issues during School and Society over the summer. I recognize it is perfectly acceptable for people of similar experiences to ban together (Tatum, B.D.). We are learning about the history of Pennsylvania through the social studies portion of class, but there has not been an emphasis on civic or social rights in the classroom. I believe focusing on such issues would build a more cohesive classroom culture (Charney, R.). I also believe most students have an inherent sense of right and wrong, but this understanding often needs to be cultivated and nurtured in order for it to be manifested into a critical component of their processing skill repertoire. Because I want my students to develop a greater sense of empathy for one another, and because I feel my students arent as exposed to curriculum that allows or pushes them to be critical thinkers, nor do I believe they are as aware of the unique history belonging to the city in

which they live, I am eager to teach them a unit about the Underground Railroad. Through this unit, they will have access to literacy components, complex mathematical calculations and problem solving skills, sciencein the form of biomes and astronomy and issues of ethics. The students are accustomed to copying down what the teacher models, memorizing these facts, and then getting tested on them. I think it would benefit them to instead utilize their own critical reasoning skills to draw out pertinent issues embedded within text and come up with their own ideas regarding issues surrounding slavery. Because students are not used to such independent thinking, I will draw on my experience with teaching Understanding Differences sessions to help model conversing in a safe forum through think/pair/shares and other cooperative learning exercises. So much legacy of the abolition movement can be found in Philadelphia. Based on brief conversations I have held surrounding this issue, not many of my students are aware of this wealth of resources within their own backyards. By building a unit that provides students the opportunity to explore the reasons why slaves went to great lengths to strive for their desired freedom, and in the process, gain broader understanding of social issues and the heritage of the city and country. I want my students to come away from this unit with a solid understanding of the persecution a group of people faced in our history. I want my students to understand how hard this same group worked to fight for freedom. But even more importantly, and perhaps as enduring understanding, I want my students to understand that the legacy of racism and social injustice was not eradicated with the illegalization of slavery. The challenging part will be to accomplish this without making any of my students feel singled out in any which way or form.