Teacher Resources 

• Teacher Slide Deck 
• Vocabulary Cards  
• Teacher Resources

Student Resources 

• Handout A: Vocabulary Word Study 
• Handout B: Video Predictions and Questions 
• Handout C: Civil War Artifacts 
• Handout D: Writing Museum Descriptions 
• Handout E: Explaining an artifact grouping 
• Handout F: Choice Board 
• Handout G: Lesson Reading 
• Handout H: Lincoln Timeline 
• Handout I: Emancipation Proclamation Primary Source 
• Handout J: Virtual Museum Assignment and Planning Sheet 
• Handout K: Student Self-Assessment 

This lesson is designed around inquiry questions. There is one essential question, and several guiding questions around which the content is based. The lesson takes place in 5 stages:  

• Anticipate- Students build background knowledge needed to be successful in the lesson. 
• Engage- Students are ‘hooked” into the lesson. 
• Explore- Students grapple with the main content of the unit (usually 2-3 parts). 
• Assess- Students demonstrate their knowledge through a performance assessment. 
• Reflect- Students reflect on their learning in the lesson. 
• The sections below provide a brief overview of the unit’s structure. It offers a snapshot of the organization and flow of the entire unit. 

The following detailed sections break down the five stages of the lesson. Each stage is discussed thoroughly with actionable steps to guide you through the teaching process effectively. 

Anticipate

Vocabulary Word Study

To anticipate the lesson, invite students to conduct a word study for the civic virtue focus of the lesson, responsibility, and the principle focus of the lesson, natural rights. 

Glossary term(s): term(s) that can be used during this part of the lesson for pre-teach opportunities: 

• Responsibility 
• Natural Rights 

To begin, provide each student with a copy of Handout A: Vocabulary Word Study, pencils, coloring utensils, and dictionaries or devices for research. Then provide students with an adequate time to complete, approximately 5-10 minutes, or assign for homework. 

When time has elapsed or students have completed the vocabulary word study handout, review with students by asking 1-3 students to share their writing for each section of the organizer.  

Optional: When students complete the organizer, review the definitions and illustrations from the Vocabulary Cards. 

Finally, lead a whole group discussion inviting students to answer the discussion questions aloud.   

• What are some examples of natural rights? 
• What are a few things you are responsible for?  
• How do responsibilities change as you grow up? 
• How might responsibility and natural rights help everyone make sure everyone is treated fairly? 
• How are responsibility and natural rights related? 

Before moving on to the next part of the lesson, tell students: “We will be thinking a lot about natural rights and responsibility in this lesson. At the end of the lesson, you will be creating a virtual museum exhibit which you will use to understand and be able to use these words. Be sure to keep these ideas in mind as we move through the lesson and ask any questions you have along the way.” 

Optional: If students have already completed the Virtue Vocabulary for these words in another unit or need an extension activity, try another vocabulary work activity: 

• Word Game- Students create a game to use their virtue vocabulary including instructions and materials. Then students play each other’s games. E.g. Word search, matching cards, or variations on other games students know and love. 
• Word Search- look for the virtue vocabulary in books. Write down the title of the book, page number, and sentence where you found the word. It is helpful to take 5 minutes the day before to identify books the students can look through. 
• Vocabulary Quiz- Create a vocabulary quiz for your classmates using multiple choice, true and false, or matching questions. Include at least 5 questions and an answer key. 
• Vocabulary Story- Write a story using the virtue vocabulary words, then read the story aloud to a student in a younger grade. See if the younger student understands the virtue vocabulary after hearing your story. 

To begin, address students’ vocabulary knowledge for this lesson.  

• Provide each student with a copy of Handout A: Vocabulary Word Study, pencils, coloring utensils, and dictionaries or devices for research. 
• Provide students with adequate time to complete in your classroom, 5-10 minutes, or for homework. 
• When students have completed the organizer, review the definitions and illustrations from the lesson vocabulary cards. 

Engage

Video Predictions and Questions 

In this activity, students watch the lesson video. The video gives students a preview of the content they will learn in the Explore parts of the lesson. 

Glossary term(s): term(s) that can be used during this part of the lesson for pre-teach opportunities: 

• Prediction 
• Union 
• Confederacy 
• Emancipation 

To begin, distribute Handout B: Video Prediction and Questions. Then share with the students that the video they are about to watch will preview what they are learning in this lesson.  

Ask students to locate the “prediction” box on their handout. Tell students “The name of this lesson is Course of the Civil War. Make two predictions in this box about what you think will be in the video based on the lesson title.”   

Then, watch the video together as a class.  

Scaffolding note: If your students need more support for watching a video critically, you can stop the video at strategic points and ask a student to summarize the video up to that point, hold a quick discussion, or ask a comprehension question. Some processing questions are also included within the video to help students pause, consider, and take an active role in viewing the video. 

After the video, ask students to locate the “Prediction Report” box. Tell students to indicate in these boxes if their prediction was correct or incorrect.  

Then, students complete the handout by locating the “Video Comprehension Questions” box and writing three comprehension questions about the video. Tell students the questions should test the knowledge and understanding of a classmate that just watched the video.  

Scaffolding note: If students need additional support or direction to craft their comprehension questions, you can offer some prompts like: 

• Ask a question that begins with Who, What, Where, When, or Why.  
• Ask a question about your favorite part of the video. 
• Ask a question about the main idea or most important part of the video. 

Students then swap papers with another student. Once the papers have been traded, students should write their name on the paper. This way you know the student who wrote the questions and who answered them.  

Finally, students answer the questions on the handout. Students can also grade the responses of their peers if time allows.  

Explore 

Explore #1: What were the major events of the Civil War? (45-60 minutes)

In this activity, students use the lesson reading to complete a choice board of activities focusing on Civil War battles and leaders.  

Glossary term(s): term(s) that can be used during this part of the lesson for pre-teach opportunities: 

• Proclamation 
• Constitutional 
• Artifact 

Civil War Choice Board 

To begin, provide students with Handout F: Choice Board and a copy of Handout G: Lesson Reading. Instruct students to choose three activities, one from each column. Then, students complete the tasks they have chosen onin the spaces provided.  

Students can read and complete the choice board in a few ways:  

• Independent work: students read and complete the choice board tasks on their own.  
• Group reading/Independent work: choose a group reading option from the Modes of Reading teacher support document. After reading, students complete the choice board activities independently. 
• Independent reading/group work: assign the lesson reading to students for independent reading. Students could also annotate their reading using the annotation bookmarks. Then, group students into teams of 2-3 students to work together on choosing and completing the choice board. 

Scaffolding note: With younger students, it may be helpful to provide visual examples of activity options such as the trading card and bubble map options. These can be found in the teacher slide deck.  

Formative Assessment: Choosing artifacts

This formative assessment checks students’ understanding of the lesson content and builds skills for the summative assessment by asking students to sort and categorize primary sources.  

To begin, provide each student with scissors, glue, a piece of plain or colored paper (8.5 x 11 or larger), and distribute or allow students to choose a version of Handout C: Civil War Artifacts. Each version of Handout C contains different primary source artifacts.  

Teacher note: There are three versions of Handout C to vary the sources students are working with, or create groups of students with the same artifacts to work together. If students need more support, you can also use one version to model the activity for students and then use the other two for students. 

Instruct students to cut out the artifacts from Handout C. Students will use the artifacts from Handout C to complete an open sort. In an open sort, students are not provided with categories. The students choose how to organize their artifacts based on their own connections and understandings and then label them with category titles. Finally, they write to explain their groupings at the bottom or on the back of their paper. 

Support students with a few prompts as they work: 

• You can have as many categories as you want, but there should be two or more artifacts in each category. Don’t leave an artifact out, each artifact needs a buddy that has the same theme!  
• The title of your category should fill in the blank: All these artifacts have __________ in common.  
• Some example categories: leaders, battles, types of artifacts, and locations.   

Explore #2: How did President Lincoln’s leadership influence the outcome of the Civil War? (45-60 minutes)

In this Explore activity, students view a timeline of Abraham Lincoln’s life and presidency in pairs or groups. They then use the timeline to discuss big ideas about Lincoln’s choices as president.  

Glossary term(s): term(s) that can be used during this part of the lesson for pre-teach opportunities: 

• Proclamation 
• General Assembly 
• Secede 
• Candidate 

Lincoln Timeline 

To begin, ensure student access to Handout H: Lincoln Timeline, either digitally or printed. The timeline includes references to death events, be sure to prepare the class or sensitive students before distributing the timeline. You may also want to communicate with the students’ families or your school administration. 

Arrange students into groups of 3-4. Ask students to read the timeline of Lincoln events aloud and complete the color-coding activity (question 1) together.  

Then, bring the class together for a whole-group activity.  In this activity, the class will alternate between whole-group discussion with modeling from the teacher, and independent writing time. Instructions follow each analysis question in the next section. 

Analysis Questions: 

• Consider Abraham Lincoln’s early life. Describe Abraham Lincoln’s early life in one sentence.  
  • Pose the question, then allow students to give sample responses. After 3-5 student’s share, resolve any misunderstandings or questions and allow students to write their own sentence. 
• Consider Abraham Lincoln’s early political career. Based on this part of the timeline, why might it be surprising that Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860? 
  • Read the early career section of the timeline aloud and present it on the class board. Draw students’ attention to the number of times it shows Lincoln was defeated in an election. Discuss how Lincoln continued to run and didn’t give up. Pose the question, then allow students to write their own answer.
• Consider Abraham Lincoln’s years as president. Summarize his actions as President. 
  • Lead students to consider that Lincoln spent almost his entire Presidency at war. His actions are mostly signing acts passed by congress and issuing proclamations.  
  • Tell students that many of his actions are not available to Presidents not at war such as calling for volunteers in April of 1861.  
• Abraham Lincoln believed in freedom for enslaved people in the United States, yet he did not immediately issue the Emancipation Proclamation when he became president. What about the constitutional powers of the president might explain this?  
  • Explain to students that Lincoln’s approach to ending or containing slavery focused on respecting the Constitution.   
    • In his first speech as President in 1861, Lincoln said “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so”. His goal in 1861 was to keep the nation together and prevent war. In addition, slavery was a matter of state law, so the federal government and especially the president had no constitutional power to end slavery in the states where it already existed. 
  • Then explain to students that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued January 1, 1863.  
    • The country went to war, and presidents have special constitutional powers in times of war. This gave Lincoln the opportunity to act on behalf of enslaved people in the South. 
  • Finally, return to the question. What constitutional role of the president might explain Lincoln’s delay in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation? You can lead students to discussion about how the circumstances changed, his powers changed, and that he was bound to the Constitution.  
• Why is it important for the president to be bound by the Constitution and unable to make significant changes on his or her own?  
  • Discuss checks and balances with students. Part of the strength of United States government is that power is balanced to prevent one branch from becoming too powerful. It is part of the design of our government for the president to be unable to make big changes alone.  

Formative Assessment: Writing Museum Descriptions

This formative assessment checks students understanding of the lesson content so far and builds skills for the summative assessment by asking students to describe one to three artifacts based on what they have learned in Explore #2. 

To begin, provide each student with a copy of Handout D: Writing Museum Descriptions. Use the teacher slide deck to lead students through a mini lesson on writing a museum description. 

Tell students that they will be choosing artifacts and creating museum descriptions for an imagined exhibit called “The Life and Leadership of Abraham Lincoln.”  Then, supply your students with Abraham Lincoln artifacts to choose from, such as those provided in the teacher resource, or provide them with appropriate places to search for artifacts. Students can create descriptions for 1-3 Lincoln artifacts based on your time for this activity and the ability of your students using Handout D.  

When students have finished, they should have chosen at least one artifact and crafted a description for it focusing on Lincoln’s life and leadership. Review student work and provide coaching as necessary to guide students toward acceptable museum descriptions. Use the 1-point rubric below to review student work if needed. 

1-point rubric:  

Evidence of Mastery		Room for Growth
	The museum placard for the chosen artifact is complete and accurate.
	The description helps visitors learn more about Lincoln’s life and leadership.
	The chosen artifact is appropriate for the task.

 

Explore #3: What was the purpose and outcome of the Emancipation Proclamation? (30-45 minutes)

In the final explore activity, students investigate the Emancipation Proclamation to understand more about the contents and historical significance of the document.   

Glossary term(s): term(s) that can be used during this part of the lesson for pre-teach opportunities: 

• Emancipation 
• Proclamation 
• Power 
• Rebellion 

Emancipation Proclamation Primary Source  

Before class begins, print copies of Handout I: Emancipation Proclamation Primary Source and cut each segment of the document into strips. Students will view each excerpt from the Emancipation Proclamation one-at-a-time.  

When students arrive, prepare students for the activity by explaining that they will be reading a primary source text with vocabulary and annotation supports and then color-coding the text to see important themes. Vocabulary cards for the themes power, rebellion, and enslaved, are available in the lesson materials to support student understanding.  

Review with students how to create a color-coding key based on the colors that you have available. It may help students to create a class key using colors that the whole class has access to. Keep the key posted in an area of the classroom for students to see.  

Then distribute the first excerpt from the handout to each student. Work through the first excerpt together, modeling for students how to use the vocabulary and annotations to understand the primary source text and how to color-code the text using the created class key.  

Then continue with the next excerpt, allowing students to take on more of the responsibility for reading, utilizing the available supports, and color-coding as you proceed through each excerpt.  

At the end of the activity, students line up their excerpts in order. Ask a few students to summarize the Emancipation Proclamation based on what they have learned from the activity.  

Wrap-up the activity with a few discussion questions: 

• Where does Lincoln say his power comes from?  
• Why is it significant that Lincoln is taking this action as president? 
• What impacts do you imagine the Emancipation Proclamation will have on the South? What about the North?  

Formative Assessment: Explaining an Artifact Grouping 

In the summative assessment, students create a virtual museum exhibit in which they justify the artifacts they have chosen by explaining their relation to the museum topic. This formative assessment practices that skill by asking students to describe the connection between two given artifacts.  

To begin, use the teacher slide deck to lead students in a mini lesson on explaining an artifact grouping.  

Then, discuss the primary source artifacts from Handout E with your students. Discuss what students see in the sources, steering them away from troupes and stereotypes. Due to students’ literal nature at this age, you may need to explain the allegorical or symbolic meanings to your students through a think-aloud. For example, addressing the symbolism of Lincoln standing with arms raised in Artifact 2.   

Take time to also emphasize for students the purpose and outcome of the Emancipation Proclamation in these two images with some discussion questions:  

• How do these images show the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation? 
• What do the images show us about the outcome of the Emancipation Proclamation? 

Finally, distribute Handout E: Explaining an Artifact Grouping to students and allow students to complete the handout. Student responses will vary, so provide students with individualized feedback and coaching on their responses before moving on to the summative assessment.  

 

Assess 

In the final activity of the lesson, students reflect independently on their learning through rating themselves and goal setting. Then, they take part in a class reflection activity. 

Self-Assessment 

To begin, distribute Handout K: Student Self-Assessment. The handout prompts students to reflect on their learning using the lesson objectives and primary question. The student reflection is designed to flex to fit your classroom.   

Students can complete the handout individually or with prompts from the teacher. However you choose to facilitate the student reflection, be sure that each student has their own paper and time to reflect independently so that the activity is a true self-reflection.   

Scaffolding note: It can be helpful to model with a think-aloud the first time students are self-reflecting. To successfully use a think-aloud in your classroom, plan ahead. Before the activity, identify places in the handout where students may struggle. Then while assigning the activity, review the handout and stop in those places. Model for students how they might support themselves. For instance, a teacher may choose to stop on an unfamiliar vocabulary word to define it. Additionally, teachers may read a complex sentence, stop, acknowledge the complexity, and re-read it for more clarity. 

Top 10 Lists

Challenge students to create a “Top 10” list related to the lesson, such as the top 10 most significant events, the top 10 influential figures, or the top 10 important concepts.  

Scaffolding Note: This activity can be modified based on your population by shortening the list to “Top 5” or “Top 3”. You can also guide students by giving them criteria such as Your top 10 list should include two people, two events, and three important words from the lesson.” 

Students can choose one of the following topics for their Top 10 list: 

• Top 10 most significant events of the Civil War 
  • Example:  
    • Battle of Gettysburg – A turning point in the Civil War. 
    • Emancipation Proclamation – Lincoln’s declaration freeing enslaved people in Confederate states. 
• Top 10 influential figures of the Civil War 
  • Example:  
    • Abraham Lincoln – President who led the nation through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. 
    • Ulysses S. Grant – Union general who played a crucial role in leading the North to victory. 
• Top 10 important concepts related to Lincoln’s presidency  
  • Example 
    • Rule of Law – Lincoln’s commitment to upholding the Constitution. 
    • Natural Rights – The fundamental rights Lincoln aimed to protect through the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Instruct students to write a brief explanation for each item on their list. Each explanation should include why the event, figure, or concept is significant and how it relates to the overall themes of the lesson. 

Once students have completed their lists, have them share their Top 10 lists with the class or in small groups. Discuss the similarities and differences in the items chosen by students and the reasons behind their selections. Encourage students to explain their reasoning and the significance of their choices.