Tell the class that fairy tales originated from dreams. Discuss Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream. Then have students write or tell a fairy tale that Dr. King might have told to the children of the world. Ask students to draw a map of the United States and color the slave states. Then have them find out the location of the terminals on the Underground Railroad and mark them on the map.
Tar Beach is set in Harlem during the Great Depression.
Ask the class to research the many hardships that families faced during this time. Harriet Tubman was born on a plantation in Maryland. She made 19 trips north on the Underground Railroad, taking over 300 slaves to freedom. Ask students to use a map to determine three different routes that Harriet Tubman could have taken from Bucktown, Maryland, to St. Catharines in Canada. Have students calculate the distance of each route.