ABRAHAM LINCOLN UNIT

Welcome to a special historical February unit. Introducing or continuing a study of Abraham Lincoln, famous historical leaders, our presidents, and patriotism is perfect for our President's Day celebrations. I hope that you will find something that will benefit your instructional planning and spark an interest in pursuing more information about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. History is such fun! My students think so too. I will update and add as I have time.. I always have more ideas than time, so y'all come on back.

Enjoy the visit!

This unit is quite extensive with the guided reading materials that I do use. Please check the book list. There are many different levels of nonfiction and fiction materials for this unit. Organizing the books for guided and shared reading as you plan the unit will save time. Click here to review the books.

My guided reading lessons include all areas of literacy. The lessons for each group are too extensive to post here. However, I will list suggestions for journal response writing and other activities for each book.

To gather some background information, primary sources to show students, and other lesson ideas, the following links may be of interest.

1. http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/lincoln/index.html

2. http://www.apples4theteacher.com/presidents-day/abraham-lincoln/index.html

3. http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln80.html

4. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/pres/lincoln/index.shtml

5. http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/linc/linctg.html

6. http://www.mrnussbaum.com/abrahamlincoln.htm

7. http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/februaryholidays/1/blfeb12th.htm

8. http://www.proteacher.com/090158.shtml

9. http://www.alphabet-soup.net/hol/president.html

10. http://www.lincoln-institute.org

11. http://www.alincolnlearning.us/abe3.html

12. http://www.score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/presidentsday/pages/lincoln.htm

13. http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/presidents_day_abraham_lincoln_93511.php

14. http://consewogue.k12.ny.us/~rstewart/k2001/Themes/presidents/presidents.htm

15. http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln.index.html

16. http://www/nps.gov/libo/ (boyhood home pictures and more)

17. http://www.verybestkids.com (Make a stovepipe hat)

18. http://www.tlclessons.com (Great concept based art projects)

19. http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/reproducibles/profbooks/wildabe3.htm (time line activity)

20. http://www.lincolnimages.com

From a Log Cabin to the White House Unit

1. Gather primary source pictures first. There are many that I found on the web sties listed on this page. Glue the pictures on card stock. Laminate. Put the pictures on the board. Have students look at the pictures and try to tell you what they see about Abraham Lincoln's life. Later they will make a picture time line sequencing the events from his birth in a log cabin to his presidency in the White House. I also found many of the pictures at the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov). STUDENTS NEED picture and primary sources to develop a connection between themselves and the topic. Hook them early and keep them connecting to history.

Here are some of the pictures I have used. You can include more or less depending on your grade level. Additionally, you can focus on one theme (boy, young man, rail splitter, etc; or Lincoln's developing political life)

Log Cabin

Learning to Read

Rail Splitter

Early Jobs

Mary Todd

Children

Springfield

Lawyer

Congress

President

Civil War

Death

Log cabin Kentucky Mary Todd

Lincoln and Tad Lincoln's Law Office

Home in Indiana Lincoln's White House

Abe Lincoln Store clerk New Salem

Lincoln's Children

Rob Neddie

Willie Tad

These are a few that I have found on the internet or at the Library of Congress.

ABE LINCOLN WRITING

1. After students read from the guided reading books or listen to other books about Lincoln, have them share what they learned from their reading as a whole group.

2. Record ALL of their responses on chart paper. It does not matter what order the information is listed in at this time.

3. Take the chart with this list, write the information on sentence strips that will be used for a sorting activity the next day. Begin with chart paper for each of the following headings: LINCOLN AS A BOY, LINCOLN AS A YOUNG MAN, LINCOLN AS A MAN AND PRESIDENT, HOW WE HONOR LINCOLN TODAY.

4. Show students the sentence strips. As a whole group, have the students tell you what chart the sentence strips should be placed.

5. After placing all of the sentence strips on each chart paper, demonstrate to students how to use the details of this topic to form paragraphs. This is an important study skill that they need to be exposed to early to develop and employ in later grades. It sounds more difficult than it really is but in all of the years that I have implemented this method with my students in first grade, they are sponges and catch on the the process and logic rather quickly.

6. The response charts from the first day build each day. You add new information as students are working on the topics. Then, make the sentence strips after each brainstorming chart is completed. You can also cut the chart paper into strips but I think the students find the sentence strips easier to locate and read.

7. Students use the charts to guide their writing. MODEL, MODEL, MODEL, how to do this. If you do not demonstrate how to compose a story using the prompts, many will simply copy the sentence strips.

Here is an example of the first chart about Lincoln as a boy.

MAKE A TIME LINE

Use the guided reading selections to make time lines about Lincoln's life. Have students cut the event squares and sequence them in order. Glue the squares on 4" X 18" construction paper. Keep adding squares and construction paper as the time lines grow.

Guided Reading Suggestions

Click on Book cover for Activities

Click on Book Covers for Activities

*I have NOT included everything that I have created for each of these books. If there is something specific you need, email me. PLEASE remember, observe copyright rules. If people abuse the copyright rules, I will remove the free publications from the site. So, be kind and fair.

Abe Lincoln Art

From: http://www.tlclesson.com (Winter Book)

ACTIVITIES TO CELEBRATE PRESIDENT'S DAY

Math:

Probability Game: Give each student a penny. Make a T-chart paper with "heads" in one column and "tails" in another column. Students flip the penny about 10 times and tally how many times it lands as "heads" and how many times as "tails". This can be repeated using two pennies instead of one for a challenge.

Introduce money: In primary grades, teachers include money concepts in their morning math board. However, this is a perfect time to work with money in different mathematical applications. Incorporate activities that enable students to make money combinations, exchange, apply concepts of tens, counting by fives, tens, etc., a classroom store, and "Guess how much is in my pocket" game.

Science:

Penny shine: This experiment to observe chemical reactions. You will need some old pennies, paper towels, plastic cups, vinegar, water. salt. Put some water (about 1/3 full) in one cup, put some vinegar (about 1/3) in another cup. Have students work in pairs. Give each pair two tarnished pennies. Have them put one in each of the cups. Ask them to watch what happens to the pennies (smell, see, use magnifying lens). Let the pennies sit in the cups a little while. Then, students are directed to remove the pennies, place them on a paper towel, and observe. They RECORD their observations. Then, have the students in each pair add 2 teaspoons of salt to each cup. Put the pennies back into the cups, one in each cup. After a few minutes, have students remove the pennies, put the pennies on a paper towel, observe, and record. At the end of the session, students may reach the conclusion about copper changing with different chemicals. When copper pennies are exposed to air, the air makes the color turn dark. This activity is perfect for the Virginia SOLS in science for investigative method.

President Memory Game:

Use clip art, a clip art resource book, or real portraits of famous presidents. I USE THE REAL PICTURES. Seems logical since they are real people. Make TWO copies of each president's portrait about the size of a 3" x 3" cardstock paper square. Glue two of each presidential portrait or picture onto the squares. Laminate. Cut. Then, mix the cards. Have students put all of the cards face down in rows on the table. They take turns trying to find the matching portrait. These pictures can be used for a "Name that President" game with two teams of kids, using one set of the pictures as flash cards.

President's Day Resource Books

PRESIDENT'S DAY RESOURCE BOOK - Mailbox Magazine, February, Gr. 1-3: Click on the title to see this book.

5/10 updated