4th Grade
The focus of fourth grade curriculum is Kentucky history, therefore the Network created lessons that focus on Kentucky’s influence on Lincoln’s growth as a leader as well as Kentucky’s response to Lincoln’s actions as president. These are stand alone lessons that can be integrated into your existing curricula. The lessons may extend over duration of days based upon a traditional 60 minute block. The intention of these lessons is to be integrated into units that you may already be doing in your classroom and adapted to meet the needs of your individual classroom.
The lessons focus on the essential questions below. It is important for students to make connections over time. We recommend that you incorporate these lessons into your larger units of study to allow students to make connections to broader concepts within the fourth grade curricula.
How did Lincoln’s ties to Kentucky shape him as a person and a leader?
How did Kentucky respond to the issues that arose during Lincoln’s Presidency?
The lessons were designed with the assumption that certain background knowledge would be needed in order to start each lesson. The background knowledge for this lesson would assume that students are aware of the fact that Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. Students should also have knowledge of the regions and landforms of Kentucky. They should also be able to identify Kentucky’s location within the regions of the USA.
To begin a discussion around Abraham Lincoln, a teacher, for example, could flash a picture of Abraham Lincoln’s statue in the rotunda of the state capitol. “Why is a statue of Abraham Lincoln placed in the center of the rotunda of Kentucky’s capitol?” the teacher may ask. Students will probably be able to tell the teacher that he was born in the state of Kentucky, but we want them to begin thinking of the time period and why his roots were valuable to his actions as a leader. The teacher should set up the chronological time period as it relates to Kentucky. Students should make Kentucky connections and ties to Lincoln throughout these lessons. These lessons can be taught at different points throughout your curricula.