Teacher: Sharon Purcell
Washington, D.C.
DC Public Schools
Grade 8 Course Title:
US History and
Geography; Growth and
Conflict
Unit:
Civil War and
Reconstruction 18301877
Lesson Title:
The First Lady’s Table
Essential Question?
Do events shape people
or people shape events?
A. Introduction:
Students are reminded
of the unit focus, and
standards. In How to
write a letter, a previous
lesson, students invited
First Lady Michelle
Obama to have tea and
desert. A class photo
was included in the
invite.
C. Objective:
Your mission as event
planners is to design a
table placemat
illustrating events that
affected the First Family
and the country.
1.
D. Materials:
F. New Information
View Imovie Part 2
Discuss how people
meet today. Abe
Lincoln met Mary Todd
at a ball in Illinois. If
they had not met The
Sangamo Journal an
Illinois newspaper was
available. You are a
Sangamo Journal Social
Editor. Collect
F. New Information
Content Standard:
8.11.4
Describe Lincoln’s
Presidency and his
significant writings and
speeches and their
relationship to the
Declaration of
Independence (e.g.,
House Divided 1858 &
The Emancipation 1863
8.11.6
Describe African
American involvement
in the Union army
including the 54th
Regiment led by Colonel
Robert Shaw.
H. Guided and
Independent Practice
In pairs students modify
their homework and
update Lincoln
Comparison Graphic
Organizer.
In groups of four,
students discuss and
record Abe and Mary’s
similarities and
differences on large
sheets of paper.
Performance Standard:
Students summarize the
causes and
consequences of the
Civil War
Essential Skills:
Students understand
and distinguish cause,
effect, sequence, and
correlation in historical
events, including the
short-term cause or
sparks rim long-term
causes.
Performance Standard:
Students analyze the
multiple causes, key
events, and complex
consequences of the
Civil War
Geographic Skills:
Students explain the
causes and effects of
settlement patterns,
including the effect of
rural-to-urban
migrations.
Special Education, ESL,
and 504,
Accommodations:
-Write often
-Assign a scribe
-Graphic Organizer
-Constant repetition
-Small groups
-Subdivide work
-Monitor organization,
especially handouts
-Use of different
learning styles: tactile,
I. Summarization and
Closure:
Students will share
table setting placemats
using the rubric and
explain events that
affected the first family
and nation.
Students will answer
one of the following
Brief Constructive
Responses, (BCR)
B. Warm-up
Ask students to list as
many words as possible
found in the
“Declaration of
Independence”
(order of letters can
not be changed)
Share the lists. --Discuss
definitions of the smaller
words formed. The
student with the longest
list may win points, or
the key to the sugar
cabinet…
President Lincoln was
known for his writings
and speeches. Several
are related to the
Declaration of
Independence. View
Imovie: 1st lady’s Table
activity
Kathleen Jensen and Mr.
Lincoln welcome
.
2.
Plates (paper,
styrofoam, or picplates)
Markers, paper, pens,
pencils, & colored
pencils,
Lincoln’s Table (Donna
D. McCreary)
Computers w/ Internet
access
White House tour
tickets
Laminate (placemat
preservation)
Envelopes
Key
E. Worksheets:
1. Abraham & Mary
Lincoln Date Survey
2. Lincoln Comparison
Graphic Organizer
3. Everyday Dinning
Etiquette
4. Coat of Arms
Placemat Directions &
Rubric
5. How to write a letter.
information on the
Abraham & Mary
Lincoln Date Survey to
aid in your matchmaking.
Search the Lincoln
virtual web site to
complete your survey.
G. Homework:
Organize the data on
the Lincoln Comparison
Graphic Organizer.
H. Guided and
Independent Practice
Groups share merged
information with the
class.
View Imovie Part 3 With
a focus on food, have
students view
Everyday Dinning
Etiquette
1. Draw and label a
table place setting.
2. Explain the
placement of table
place settings
3. Demonstrate and
explain the rules of
etiquette
Discuss how students
and Mary Todd
Lincoln’s dinning habits
were similar and
different. Given what
you know about the
First Lady and President
Lincoln, create a Family
Coat of Arms Placemat.
Include:
(*) The emergence of
Abraham Lincoln as a
national political figure
and
I. Summarization and
Closure:
1. Describe one of
Lincoln’s speeches.
Compare and contrast
the speech and The
Declaration of
Independence. Give
evidence of your
detailed examples.
2. Provide evidence that
supports the idea that
African American troop
involvement in the Civil
War was both an
advantage and a
disadvantage to the
Union. What would
you have decided?
Why?
3. As Sangamo Journal
Social Editor should
Abe Lincoln and Mary
Todd date? Justify your
decision with evidence.
auditory…
Resources:
-The Mary Todd Lincoln
House dinning room
-MAKIT®, MAKE A
PLATE $7 or
-PicPlates (if funded)
-Replacements, LTD.
Greensboro/
Burlington, NC
-Lincoln's Table by
Donna D.McCreary
-Historic Communities
Classroom Games by
Bobbie Kalman &
Heather Levigne
-National Park Service
Ranger Stephen Brown
-Todd House, Eric
Thomason, courtesy of
Blue Grass Trust for
Historic Preservation
-Sangamo Journal
Newspaper
-Buffalo Run Farm
Indiana
-Elements of a Coat of
Arms Wikipedia Free
Encyclopedia
-Fleue-de-lis Designs
-Kathleen Jensen, Mrs.
Lincoln and Mr. Lincoln
H. Guided and
Independent Practice
(*) Choose Lincoln’s
House Divided speech
H. or The Emancipation
and give your
interpretation for both
Abe and Mary
(*) The role of Union
African American troops
in the war.
Use the Coat of Arms
Placemat Directions and
Rubric as a guide.
3.
Notes to the teacher:
Vocabulary to be
developed:
J. Assessments:
1. Analyze and connect
Lincoln’s House Divided
or Emancipation speech
to his values and
Declaration of
Independence.
2. Illustration two roles
of Union African
American troops in the
Civil War.
3. Design a coat of arms
place setting to
represent influences on
the first family’s
decision making.
4. Demonstrate table
etiquette.
5 Write and send
persuasive letters to the
White House.
6. Research and collect
data on Lincoln via the
Internet.
Still a work in progress!