Primary Grade Levels: Lesson 1
Lesson Topic/Focus: Abraham Lincoln: A Leader Who Impacted History
Lesson Essential Question(s): Why do we remember individuals that have impacted history, such as Abraham Lincoln?
Estimated duration of lesson: 4 class periods
Academic Expectations: 2.20 Students understand, analyze, and interpret historical events, conditions, trends, and issues to develop historical perspective.
|
Program of Studies: Understandings |
Program of Studies: Skills and Concepts |
Related Core Content for Assessment |
|
SS-P-HP-U-1 Students will understand that history is an account of human activities that is interpretive in nature. A variety of tools (e.g., primary and secondary sources) are needed to understand historical events. SS-P-HP-U-3 Students will understand that history has been impacted by significant individuals and groups. |
SS-P-HP-1 Students will develop an understanding of the nature of history using a variety of tools (e.g., primary and secondary, family mementoes, artifacts, Internet, diaries, timelines, maps): b) distinguish among past, present and future people, places, events SS-P-HP-2 Students will use print and non-print sources (e.g., stories, folktales, legends, films, magazines, Internet, oral history): a) investigate and give examples of factual and fictional accounts of historical events.
|
SS-EP-5.1.1 Students will use a variety of primary and secondary sources (e.g., artifacts, diaries, timelines) to interpret the past. |
Targeted Lesson Essential Question(s): Why do we remember individuals that have impacted history, such as Abraham Lincoln?
|
Students Will Know…… |
Students will be able to….. |
|
|
Lesson Summary
Brief overview of the lesson
The focus of this lesson is why we remember individuals who impact
history, such as Abraham Lincoln. In order for students to
understand the chronological sequence of Lincoln’s life, they will be
directed to information and literature that takes them from Lincoln’s
birth in Kentucky up to the age of 7, then his childhood in Indiana, and
then on to adulthood in Illinois that leads to him becoming the 16th
President of the United States.
To understand why we study history and the significant individuals who
have impacted our history, students must understand that certain
individuals emerge to take on leadership roles. By building upon
prior knowledge of leaders within their school and community, students
will be able to understand Abraham Lincoln’s leadership qualities by
examining important events in his lifetime as well as decisions he has
made.
Day 1/4
Previous instruction: In order for students to understand the leadership role of Abraham Lincoln and his impact on our history, they are going to need prior knowledge on the definition of a leader. They will need to have had prior experience with the different qualities a leader can possess. They will need to have been able to recognize their own qualities and be able to compare those to other leadership qualities. The Social Studies curriculum at the primary level focuses on the community, therefore students should be able to recognize school, club, and community leaders as well as be able to compare their leadership qualities. Reference the introduction to the primary lessons for ideas of how the prior knowledge can be experienced within the classroom.
Instructional Set/Bell Ringer: What is a leader?
Teacher will ask a question, “What is a leader?” As students brainstorm aloud, the teacher will chart answers. Follow up each quality listed by asking students to justify answers, “Why do you think that is a quality of a leader? Can you think of a person who is a leader with this quality?” Some example of student response might include:
A person who is…
- hardworking
- a good listener
- independent
- fair
- honest
- trustworthy
- respectful
- a good citizen
- makes decisions for the good of the people
Transition
The teacher will transition students’ thoughts of a leader to those of a particular leader who has impacted our history: Abraham Lincoln. “Today we are going to discuss a man who is considered to be a great leader because he led the nation through a critical time in our history. His name is Abraham Lincoln. He was President of our country, the United States of America in the 1860’s. In February of 2009, we are going to celebrate a bicentennial or two hundred years since his birth. What do know about Abraham Lincoln? What do you think his qualities were as a leader? If you were president who could lead a nation through a difficult, what qualities do you think would be important to have as the leader?”
The teacher can capture students’ answers by organizing their knowledge on a KWL chart (Resource A). The teacher will assure students that they will be learning more about Abraham Lincoln today and then more information can be added to the chart.
Lesson Assessment
The teacher will check for understanding (formative assessment) by observing students ’ charted answers and therefore, making sure that gaps in knowledge are covered throughout the rest of the lesson. The students will be assessed on their answers to their guided questions from their group work. Note: The KWL chart should help the teacher make decisions about the grouping of students.
Learning experience
Modeling: The teacher will read aloud a book (refer to resource list) to the class on Abraham Lincoln. The teacher will guide the students in a discussion of three aspects (Lincoln’s qualities, decisions, and events in his lifetime) that will be focused in group work following this exercise. Together, they will discuss one quality that he had with supporting evidence from the book. Next, they will discuss one important decision he made from the reading with supporting evidence of why he made that decision. Third, the teacher will discuss one event from Lincoln’s lifetime that appeared in the book. The teacher should make connections to how events in his lifetime might have shaped his qualities and therefore may have affected why he made certain decisions.
Group Work: The students will be divided into groups of three to review information on Abraham Lincoln. Each group will be reviewing their resource by focusing on one of three aspects-- Qualities, Decisions, Important Events. The teacher will group students into base groups consisting of three students to a group. Students will break out of these groups on day one to gain information on each of the three aspects. On day two, they will report to back to their base groups on their area of focus. Each base group should be represented by a color. Students in each base group should be assigned a number from 1-3. Each number will be grouped into breakout groups. For example, Red base group will count off from 1-3. All number ones will be grouped to gather information from their resource, as will all the twos and threes. Ones will be responsible for gathering information from their resource on the qualities of Abraham Lincoln. The twos will be responsible for finding out what major decisions he had to make while leading our country through one of the most difficult times in our nation’s history. The threes will review their resource to gain information on the important events in his lifetime. The students in these number groups will be report back their gathered information to their base groups the following day. To assist students in gathering information, students will use the guiding questions (refer to the teacher note below.)
Teacher Note: Some resources that could be used in this activity are books, videos, websites, and teacher-made readings or power points. Refer to the resource section for a list of suggested readings and videos. The teacher would have the option of having each group use a different resource or the same. Groups and resources could be differentiated as to abilities of students, learning styles, interests, students’ prior knowledge (based on KWL chart) and resources available.
The guiding questions need to be modified according to the cognitive ability of students within your class. The suggested guiding questions range from knowledge/comprehension to application/analysis for varied entry levels.
Suggested Guiding Questions for Groups
Qualities Group:
- What qualities did you find that described Abraham Lincoln as a person?
- From your research, what examples or details described those qualities listed in your answer above?
- From your research, what did other people say about him? Do you agree with what people said about him? Why or why not?
- Compare Lincoln’s qualities to someone in current time, such as your principal or community leader.
Decision Group:
- What decisions did Abraham Lincoln make?
- Did people agree with these decisions or not? What evidence supports your answer?
- Did his decisions change the country at that time? How?
- What are some changes that you would make for our country now? Explain your answers.
Important Events
- What are some important events that Abraham Lincoln took part in?
- Who else was involved in those events?
- How did those events affect Abraham Lincoln? Give details to support your answer.
- What do you think was the most important event Lincoln took part in and why?
For an example, refer to student handouts (Resources B, C, and D) that illustrate guiding questions at a beginning entry level.
Lesson Wrap Up
Before students get out of groups, they should review their answers together. The teacher should carefully monitor student groups to ensure answers are correct. The teacher will wrap up the lesson by asking students complete an exit-slip. The exit slip should be filling in your learn section of the KWL chart.
Day 2/4
Instructional Set/Bell Ringer
Sometimes leaders affect the lives of many people in different ways, and are remembered for their influence. Think of a leader that has made decisions that affected you at some point in your life. Maybe it was a coach, principal, or teacher. What type of qualities did they have as a leader? Did any event in their lifetime allow them to have that quality?
Modeling: The teacher will model this for the students by explaining a leader that she/he had that made a decision that affected him/her. (The teacher should model using this format as it is replicated from the graphic organizer that students will be using in group work.)
Example:
My basketball coach in elementary school
- Quality: Fair to everyone.
- Event in His Life: He had been treated unfairly when he was younger.
- Decision: On our team, we all had equal playing time.
The teacher should help the students make the connection that certain events in our lifetime shape help shape our character. Our qualities as a leader will help us make decisions.
The teacher will allow students a chance to give an example. They could do this through a think, pair, and share exercise or as a group discussion, with teacher recording answers on board.
Transition
“Today, we are going to get back into our base groups. Each of you are going to be teachers as it is your responsibility to teach the rest of your group about the aspect that you focused on. You may use your answers to your questions to help you teach. “
Lesson Assessment
The students will fill in a graphic organizer to take notes on the qualities of Lincoln, the decisions he made and the events in his life.
The teacher will also have students make the connection of how the decisions Lincoln made proved his leadership qualities.
Learning experience
Group work: The teacher will have students do a jigsaw activity. The students will get into their base groups to teach the other students. Students may use their answers from their questions to assist them in teaching the other students in their base group about the aspect they were focusing on. Students will be given a graphic organizer (Resource E) to fill out.
Lesson Wrap Up
From the group work, students will make the connection of how the decisions Lincoln made proved his leadership qualities. The teacher will record students’ responses using a web as students answer aloud the following question: What are the leadership qualities of Abraham Lincoln? The students will have to justify why he has the qualities with details from Lincoln’s actions or decisions he made.
For higher-order thinking, the teacher could have students relate Lincoln’s qualities or events in his life to their life and life experiences. For example, Lincoln’s leadership quality of being honest, do you think that you have that quality. Have students justify their answer. Students can also relate to his life experiences by relaying an event that was similar in their life.
Additional note: A visual representation of Lincoln and his qualities will enable the discussion.
Day 3/4
Instructional Set/Bell Ringer
Students will be asked to draw/summarize five events from their life in chronological order. Refer to Resource F for student handout. The teacher will illustrate by creating a chronological illustration (timeline) of five events from his/her life.
Integrating Technology Option: The teacher could use a tool from Read, Write, Think that creates a timeline as the data is entered. The resource can be found here.
Transition
The teacher will allow students time to share out some significant events and dates from their lifetime. What were some significant events from Lincoln’s life that you learned from yesterday? The teacher will chart the events as students relay them.
Lesson Assessment
The students will be assessed on their creation of a visual interpretation of events in Lincoln’s life. The teacher will decide the number of events that students will be responsible for depending on level of students.
Learning experience
Students will create a product that is a visual interpretation of the events of Lincoln’s life (e.g., timeline, PowerPoint.)
Modeling
The teacher should create a quality timeline with students as they discuss the scoring guide. (Resource G) The teacher should create a timeline of Lincoln’s life on the board. The teacher will then hand out the rubric and discuss all the elements needed in the time line. All the elements of the rubric will be discussed so the students know the expectations. While reviewing the scoring guide, students, guided by the teacher, will edit the timeline as a class so that it reflects the highest score.
Students will then be responsible for creating a timeline depicting the chronological sequence of Lincoln’s life. Students can use various resources to collect their information. The teacher has the option of allowing students to work in pairs or individually as well as allowing students the ability to create their products in various forms (e.g., timeline, PowerPoint)
Lesson Wrap Up
The teacher will summarize the activity by explaining how their choices of the important items to put on Lincoln’s timeline should summarize Lincoln’s life.
Day 4/4
Instructional Set/Bell Ringer
The teacher will have students use their timelines as they get into groups of five. Within their groups, students are to choose five events to do a human timeline. Each student will represent an event. The teacher will allow the groups to share out their timeline to the rest of the class.
Transition
The teacher will have the students remain in groups. Direct the students by saying, “Thinking about the events in Abraham Lincoln’s lifetime, as a group, come up with one leadership quality that he possessed and act that out by displaying one event or decision that supports that quality.”
Lesson Assessment
Students will be demonstrating proficiency of the knowledge of the lesson by answering an open response question. This type of assessment should be used as a formative assessment in your classroom as you are forming your instruction from the knowledge gained by student responses.
Open response item
Abraham Lincoln was a significant figure who has impacted our history.
- Describe two leadership qualities that Lincoln possessed. Support your answers by providing specific examples.
- How did Lincoln’s leadership qualities help him make decisions that impacted history in the U.S.?
Learning experience
The teacher will have the students answer an open response item. Review the scoring guide (Resource H). The teacher will then provide feedback to the students. Refer to the feedback section of the Developing Quality Open Response and Multiple Choice Items for the Classroom manual on the Kentucky Department of Education’s website.
After looking at the responses, you will discuss the students’ answers. Discuss answers that followed the scoring rubric. If the students did not follow the scoring rubric, discuss how they could have to improve their answers and their performance on this assessment. Project various levels of answers on the overhead projector, document camera or overhead computer screen.
Lesson Wrap Up
The students will have discussed the answers and have seen examples of appropriate answers based on the rubric. Allow students the time to edit their open responses.