For Grade School Teachers and Beyond
Teachers are advised to visit the sites below before deciding which exercises and lessons are appropriate or adaptable for the grade levels they are working with. These resources feature links to the materials to be analyzed and to a very rich array of complementary materials. This list is adapted from the Gettysburg College "Forever Free" Website.
Planning A Visit With Your Class
If you'd like to bring your class to the library (Capen Hall, North Campus, University at Buffalo ) to view the exhibit, please e-mail etc@buffalo.edu or call 645-7700. Be sure to mention "Forever Free."
Forever Free Teacher Resource Packet
Decatur Public Library
http://decatur.lib.il.us/lincoln/resources_for_educators.htm
This resource offers a visit activity sheet, a vocabulary list to facilitate understanding the panels, and exercises for use with each panel accompanied by an answer sheet.
Slave Narratives: Constructing U.S. History through Primary Sources
National Endowment for the Humanities
http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=364
Grades 3-5. This resource guides students in interpreting oral documents, guides students in summarizing the narratives of former slaves, and helps them to appreciate life during and after slavery as well as the strengths and limitations of oral evidence.
We Must Not Be Enemies: Lincoln 's First Inaugural Address
National Endowment for the Humanities
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=246
Grades 3-5. As students work their way through these lessons they will become able to state the requirements for inauguration and the oath of office, identify pivotal events associated with the address, and interpret selected archival materials.
African-American Communities in the North before the Civil War
National Endowment for the Humanities
http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=453
Grades 6-8. As students work through these lessons they will name and locate on a map African-American communities and they will describe everyday life in one or more of those communities.
Before Brother Fought Brother
National Endowment for the Humanities
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=484
Grades 6-8. Students are guided to an appreciation of the differences and similarities between North and South on the eve of the Civil War.
Lincoln : A Photobiography
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/linc/linctg.html
Grades 5-8. These exercises focus on writing reports on: a comparison of two presidents and the analysis of a campaign poster; the creation of a man behind the myth poster; and the development of a character map of Lincoln.
Small Planet's Civil War Lesson Plan
http://www.smplanet.com/civilwar/civilwar.html
Grades 5-8. This resource offers annotated bibliographies of historical fiction and biographies for young adults. See especially the section "Genre Study: Historical Fiction."
Using Art to Study the Past: Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation
White House Historical Association
http://www.whitehousehistory.org/04/subs/04_b_1863.html
Grades 6-8. This lesson uses Francis Bicknell Carpenter's famous depiction of Lincoln reading to his cabinet the draft of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Attitudes Towards Emancipation
National Endowment for the Humanities
http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=290
Grades 9-12. This lesson leads to an exploration of the origins of the Emancipation Proclamation and the range of opinion focusing on it and its consequences.
Families in Bondage
National Endowment for the Humanities
http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=280
Grade 9-12. This lesson leads to insight into the lives of the enslaved as well as freed blacks who had loved ones still enslaved, and it offers practice in using personal correspondence as a primary source.
Lincoln in the Classroom
Richard Schwartz, Coordinator, Social Studies
Whippany Park High School , New Jersey
http://www.alincolnassoc.com/classroom_materials.htm
Grades 9-12. The Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln 's relationship with his generals, and the assignment of a larger meaning to the war are considered through lessons that employ group work and the analysis of documents drawn from the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln.
Spirituals
National Endowment for the Humanities
http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=318
Grades 9-12. This lesson leads students in an exploration of the lyrics of specific spirituals. Students learn about the spiritual's role in history and religion, explore Harriet Tubman's use of them in her work, study their enduring power in the Civil Rights movement, and gain practice in the use of various types of historical evidence.
