Robertson Lesson Plan 1
This lesson clearly shows all three components I think are key to being an
effective teacher (well-aligned objectives, instructional activities, and
assessments; students engagement; and a diversity of learning profiles
reached). Reading the lesson and comparing objective, instruction, and
assessment showcases that they flow well together and make sense. Student
engagement is forced through the notes sheet, the graphic organizer, and the
class discussion. Finally, I try to reach a diversity of learning profiles by
showing videos, doing a lecture, working in groups, doing a discussion, and
having individual assignments.
Course: VA/ US History
Age Group: 11th Grade
Time Allotted: 60 minutes
SOL(s) Covered: VUS 7.c “The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Civil
War and Reconstruction Era and their importance as major turning points in
American history by analyzing the significance of the importance of the principles
outlined in the Gettysburg Address.”
Objective(s): The student will organize and discuss the importance of the key
concepts of Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” such as his defined characteristics of
the United States, the final resting place of the fallen soldiers, his proposed new
birth of freedom, and the mission of the living.
Instruction: For an introduction, the students will be shown the YouTube video
“Civil War Battle of Gettysburg: Culp’s Hill” (found at hyperlink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD6mbdrpl6w). This will transition into the
lecture topic of the day which is the Battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s
“Gettysburg Address.” The students will listen to a 10 minute lecture about the
logistics and importance of the Battle of Gettysburg while filling in a lecture notes
sheet. Then the students will do an introductory activity before the reading of “The
Gettysburg Address.” This will be an imagery activity during which the students
will close their eyes, and the teacher will create the context in which Lincoln
delivered “The Gettysburg Address” according to the questions below:
Robertson Lesson Plan 2
Imagine you’re on the field at Gettysburg for the ceremony honoring the
fallen after the historic battle:
 It’s the middle of the November, so what’s the weather like? What
are you wearing?
 What are your senses telling you about your surroundings? What do
you see? Smell? Hear?
 Why are you going to the ceremony? Did you lose a loved one or are
you just a bystander?
 What do you expect the president to say in his address?
Once this activity is complete, the students will individually read the Gettysburg
Address and fill in the graphic organizer as a constructing activity. When they’ve
completed this, we will regroup as a class and recreate the graphic organizer on a
large sheet of poster paper. We will fill this in as we discuss the students’ answers.
To close the day’s lesson, the students will watch the YouTube video: “Abraham
Lincoln, Gettysburg Address from the movie ‘Saving Lincoln’” (found at
hyperlink http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2a-S3rjDBw). This clip ends by
hinting at the dissatisfaction with Lincoln’s speech at the timeframe. This
dissatisfaction will be the topic of the homework. For homework students will
complete a one page response to the question “Do you think that Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address was appropriate for the ceremony at Gettysburg? Why or why
not? Use examples from your lecture notes and the Gettysburg Address graphic
organizer to support your opinion.” As an exit slip, the students will show the
teacher their lecture notes sheet and their graphic organizer for a participation
grade.
Materials Needed: Both YouTube videos pulled up and loaded on a computer
connected to a projector, Battle of Gettysburg PowerPoint, lecture notes for
teacher, lecture handout for students, copies of the Gettysburg Address for every
student, Gettysburg Address graphic organizer for every student, and a large sheet
of poster paper for the class graphic organizer.
Assessment: Participation in the class discussion and creation of the graphic
organizer will allow the teacher to assess student understanding on a broad scale.
The exit slip will help ensure that the students complete the lecture notes sheet and
the graphic organizer while serving as a formative assessment. Finally, the
Robertson Lesson Plan 3
response paper for homework will be the graded activity associated with the
objective that ensures that the students both grasped the concepts of the lesson and
can apply them to a larger question (in this case the appropriateness of Lincoln’s
speech).
Lecture Notes (Teacher Copy)
Battle of Gettysburg (Slide 1): set the stage for the battle by giving the
context of nearly constant Confederate victory with a deterred Union
morale.
Logistics (Slide 2): July 1-3, 1863; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; First
move of the Confederate forces into Union Territory; Lee’s objective
was to encounter and destroy the Union army.
Sequence of Events Slide 3): Day 1: Lee attacks the Union army and
sends them retreating into the town and nearby hills; Day 2: Union army
receives reinforcements and is able to hold lines despite attacks at
Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill(tie this to introductory video); Day 3:
Fighting resumes at the two hills, and Pickett’s Charge devastates and
defeats the Confederate army.
Outcomes (Slide 4): Union victory; read statistics of causalities and
wounded soldiers; explain chart
Robertson Lesson Plan 4
Battle of Gettysburg Ceremony (Slide 5): November 19, 1863; Lincoln
calls the ceremony to honor the fallen Union soldiers; Also uses the
ceremony as an opportunity to re-motivate the people (transition to
Gettysburg Address reading).
The Battle of Gettysburg
Fill in the following according to the lecture about the Battle of Gettysburg.
Logistics:
Date:
Location:
Brief Description:
Sequence of Events (briefly describe each):
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Outcomes:
Victor:
Casualties in the North:
Casualties in the South:
Significance:
Battle of Gettysburg Ceremony:
Robertson Lesson Plan 5
Date:
Purpose:
Ulterior Motive:
The Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether
that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that
war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a
final resting place for those who here gave their lives that
that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper
that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not
consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say
here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us
the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the
Robertson Lesson Plan 6
great task remaining before us -- that from these honored
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which
they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom -- and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Gettysburg Address Graphic Organizer
Fill in this graphic organizer as you read Abraham Lincoln’s “The Gettysburg
Address.” Fill it out completely and accurately as it will be used in a class
activity and be checked at the end of the period.
==
The Final Resting Place:
Characteristics of the USA
1)
1)
2)
2)
3)
3)
Abraham Lincoln’s
“The Gettysburg
Address”
Mission of the Living:
New Birth of Freedom:
1)
1)
2)
2)
3)
3)