Get on board with the beat!

1. Get on board with the beat! Listen carefully!

2. Song: “Get on Board!” • What might this song be about?

3. Song: “Get on Board!” • What might this song be about? • This song is about a train! • How do you know? • What did you hear?

4. Back in the1800s when therewas slavery, the slaves would sing songs as they worked. “Get on Board” is a slave song. • Slave life was hard, and some were often mistreated, so they sang songs about freedom and a better life.

5. In this song, the phrase “gospel train” is a code word for the Underground Railroad. • The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routs and “safe houses” that would take slaves to freedom. “Get on Board” is a slave song. • Safe houses were homes where good people who didn’t like slavery would take care of the slaves that were trying to escape. • This song invited the slaves to get on board the train to freedom and travel to a better life. A safe house.

6. Types of Engines • Steam engines were used in the 1800s, when “Get on Board” was sung. Steam builds up in the boiler and makes the wheels turn. • In the 1930s we started using diesel engines that burn diesel fuel to run.

7. ♫ Get on Board! ♪ Get on board, little children, Get on board, little children, Get on board, little children; There’s room for many a more. The gospel train’s a-comin’, I hear it close at hand; I hear the carwheelsrumblin’ And rollin’ through the land. Get on board, little children, Get on board, little children, Get on board, little children; There’s room for many a more.

8. Make a train! As we sing this song, let’s move like little trains with an engine, a car, and a caboose!

9. What will you be on Halloween? What will you be on Halloween, Halloween, Halloween? What will you be on Halloween? Please show us now.