Discuss Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad with the class. Make sure the children understand that the Underground Railroad was a dangerous route to freedom for slaves. Have the children, either individually or in pairs, pick a specific location in a slave-controlled area. Then have them select a location in a free state. The children must map a specific route from the slave area to the free area. Have them calculate how long the route would take and account for any specific obstacles, geographic or political.
Watch video footage of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Discuss with the children the importance of Dr. King and this speech in the Civil Rights movement. Have the children think about their community and then write their own version of the speech and present it to the class.
Have the children read a slave narrative detailing the life of a slave before the Emancipation Proclamation. They also need to read the Emancipation Proclamation itself. Have them imagine that they are the slave in that narrative, and have them write their own first-person account of what that slave's life was like following the Emancipation Proclamation.
This project may be best suited to older children. Have the children locate a situation that they feel represents injustice. An example would be a child being picked on during recess, or in a broader sense, any current event that represents injustice to others. A possible example of a current event might be the annexing of Tibet by China. Once they have chosen their issue, have them write a paper describing how they can help reduce injustice in the world they live in, using their specific issue as a theme. Ideally, they would then seek to engage in some sort of protest or activity to help contribute to a positive change. Discuss how attempting to end injustice is one of the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement.