In the days of the Civil War, times in Gettysburg were very hard. Many people lost their lives. Abraham Lincoln had a lot of changes to make in the lives of many people. How would you think the President was going to handle the issue of changing the lives of Americans forever?

President Abraham Lincoln is one of the most well known presidents in the history of the United States of America. He fought for equal rights among all men, regardless of the color of their skin. Mr. Lincoln founded many important documents such as the Gettysburg address, which is noted for its dedication of slain soldiers on the battlefield at Gettysburg and the Emancipation Proclamation which abolished slavery. He truly changed the lives of Americans forever!

Your task is to pretend you are on a journey back into the 1860’s. Try to put yourself in the time of the days of slavery.

How were things in the town of Gettysburg at the time of President Lincoln’s arrival?

Would you do things differently than that of President Lincoln?

How did his issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation affect Black Americans?

Roles: African American Slave Soldier on the battle front

Townspeople in Gettysburg Members of President Lincoln’s

cabinet President Lincoln

To accomplish the tasks students have been assigned to complete, they will need to be put into groups of four to work together on the role of their group’s choice.

Each group will research their choice role and then give a small role play for the entire class.

Here are the steps needed for students to complete the task:

1. Each group will chose a role and the do the appropriate research by using the provided websites and books related to they subject they have chosen.

2. After each group has completed their research, they will present a small role play of the character of choice for the class.

*(Resources will be listed at the end of the slide presentation.)

The Lincoln Pioneer Village-located in Rockport, Indiana.

Lincoln Boyhood Memorial- located in Lincoln City Indiana.

Springfield, Illinois tour sites : http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/sites/springfd.htm

After the students have completed this assignment they will have an understanding of the life and times of Americans during the Civil War. Students should also have a better understanding of why and how the Gettysburg address was created. The role play was designed to help students place themselves in this particular time period and gain a better understanding of how Americans survived these trying times in history. The role play should help students to develop a higher level of thinking.

Standards   3.1.6 Read fiction and nonfiction stories to identify the qualities of leaders, such as

community leaders, soldiers, presidents, teachers, and inventors. 3.2.2 Identify fundamental democratic principles and ideals in American songs,

stories, and symbols. Example: Songs and stories may emphasize freedom and equality.

Symbols, such as the flag, emphasize unity and other ideals.3.1.1 Know and use more difficult word families (-ight) when reading unfamiliar

words. 3.1.2 Read words with several syllables. 3.2.1 Use titles, tables of contents, chapter headings, a glossary, or an index to locate

information in text.3.2.9 Identify text that uses sequence or other logical order (alphabetical, time,

categorical).3.1.6 Use sentence and word context to find the meaning of unknown words. 3.1.7 Use a dictionary to learn the meaning and pronunciation of unknown words

http://www.edhelper.com/PresidentsStoryStarter1.htm http://education.iupui.edu/webquests/socialstudiesgov.htm http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html http://en.wikipedhttp://innovativeclassroom.com/

Lesson_Plans/ les sonplans.asp?id=24 http://ia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln2.html http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/alincoln.html http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/lincoln/  

Borden, Louise A. Lincoln and Me Ted Lewin, il Scholastic, 1999. 0590457152 paper grades k-3.

Brenner, Martha Abe Lincoln’s Hat Donald Cook, il (Step into Reading) Random, 1994 0679849777 grades k-3.

Burleigh, Robert Abraham Lincoln Comes Home Wendell Minor, il Henry Holt, 2008 978-0-8050-7529-8 grades 2-4.

Cohn, Amy L. and Suzy Schmidt Abraham Lincoln David A. Johnson, il Scholastic, 2002 0590935666 grades 2-5.

Fritz, Jean Just a Few Words Mr. Lincoln: The Story Of The Gettysburg Address Charles Robinson ,il (All Aboard Reading) Grosset and Dunlap, 1993 0448401703 paper grades 2-4.

Lincoln, Abraham The Gettysburg Address Michael McCurdy, il Houghton, 1995 9780807501238 paper grades 3-5.

Nobelman, Marc Tyler The Lincoln Memorial (Let’s See Library) Compass Point, 2004 0756506182.

Rappaport, Doreen Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln Kadir Nelson, il Hyperion, 2008 9781423104087 grades 2-4.