LESSON PLAN 1: The Emancipation Proclamation and Close Reading Demonstration
Materials:
CCSS ELA Literacy W 11-12.1, CCSS ELA Literacy RI 11-12.1, CCSS ELA Literacy SL 11-12.1
Aim:
How did Abraham Lincoln’s views on emancipation evolve over the course of the Civil War?
Objectives:
Review textbook notes to determine how the author depicts Lincoln’s motives for drafting the Emancipation Proclamation and prepare a short statement on the author’s explanation of the causes of the Civil War.
Mini-Lesson/Modeling:
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was formally drafted January 1, 1863 and represented a changed strategy from gradual emancipation at the state level to presidential exercise of power as Commander in Chief to set the stage for an eventual end to slavery in America that would not violate the Constitution.
Instructor performs a careful close reading and models “Reading Like a Historian” skills of sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization using the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Guiding Questions:
As the instructor performs the close reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, students will complete a worksheet with guiding questions to help them understand the language and the context of the document.
Students will read two excerpts on Lincoln’s motives for drafting the Emancipation Proclamation. They will complete a Short Answer Question (SAQ) style set of prompts to summarize and contrast the two sources, and then they will share their findings with a partner to rehearse for whole class discussion.
Multiple Access for ELLS and SWD:
After completing the individual analysis of the two secondary source excerpts, students will pair-share with their partner to discuss their findings before whole group share-out.
Grouping:
Students should work with a partner to share findings on contrasting secondary sources.
Questions to Assess Understanding (SAQ Practice):
Exit Ticket: Which of the two historical arguments is more persuasive to you and why?
Summary-Exit:
Students will submit a blog entry on the Weebly site. In one paragraph (75 words), students should explain which of the two historical arguments was more persuasive and why. After that, they should also respond to at least one other peer’s blog entry.
- Lesson Plan 1: The Emancipation Proclamation and Close Reading Demonstration: click link
- Devices (computer lab or personal devices) to access the “Abraham Lincoln: Motivation and the Emancipation Proclamation” website: http://emancipationandlincoln.weebly.com
- The Emancipation Proclamation: Close Reading handout: click link
- The Short Answer Question (SAQ): Historians’ Perspectives handout: click link
- Historical Period 5 “Civil War and Reconstruction, 1844 - 1877”
- Historical Concept: 5.3,I.B
- Theme: POL 2.0
- Skills: Historical Interpretation (Secondary Sources), Comparison, Contextualization, and Historical Argumentation
CCSS ELA Literacy W 11-12.1, CCSS ELA Literacy RI 11-12.1, CCSS ELA Literacy SL 11-12.1
Aim:
How did Abraham Lincoln’s views on emancipation evolve over the course of the Civil War?
Objectives:
- Analyze the final Emancipation Proclamation using “reading like a historian” skills (sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization)
- Describe Lincoln’s views on slavery and emancipation and how they changed over time and/or remained the same.
Review textbook notes to determine how the author depicts Lincoln’s motives for drafting the Emancipation Proclamation and prepare a short statement on the author’s explanation of the causes of the Civil War.
Mini-Lesson/Modeling:
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was formally drafted January 1, 1863 and represented a changed strategy from gradual emancipation at the state level to presidential exercise of power as Commander in Chief to set the stage for an eventual end to slavery in America that would not violate the Constitution.
Instructor performs a careful close reading and models “Reading Like a Historian” skills of sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization using the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Guiding Questions:
- Why do you think Lincoln used such formal, legal language in the document?
- How would you describe the Union war effort at this point in time (January 1863)?
- How would you describe the tone of this document?
- Why do you think Lincoln agreed to allow African American men to join the military?
- How did the Emancipation Proclamation change the situation facing slaveholders, escaped slaves and free African Americans, and the Union Army?
- Did the proclamation make the war to save the Union a crusade against slavery?
- Why do you think there is a historical debate over Lincoln’s motives in crafting this document?
As the instructor performs the close reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, students will complete a worksheet with guiding questions to help them understand the language and the context of the document.
Students will read two excerpts on Lincoln’s motives for drafting the Emancipation Proclamation. They will complete a Short Answer Question (SAQ) style set of prompts to summarize and contrast the two sources, and then they will share their findings with a partner to rehearse for whole class discussion.
Multiple Access for ELLS and SWD:
- Students will be given both verbal and visual directions for all work.
- Students will have both text and visual pictures to gain student understanding.
- Students will have access to dictionaries to look up words they do not understand.
- Activity materials will be modified for different reading levels.
- Students will have access to graphic organizers to guide their thought process.
After completing the individual analysis of the two secondary source excerpts, students will pair-share with their partner to discuss their findings before whole group share-out.
Grouping:
Students should work with a partner to share findings on contrasting secondary sources.
Questions to Assess Understanding (SAQ Practice):
- What is Lerone Bennett’s main point in Excerpt 1? What specific evidence not provided in the excerpt would support this argument?
- What is Michael Burlingame’s main point in Excerpt 2? What specific evidence not provided in the excerpt would support this argument?
- In what ways do the two historians’ main points differ?
Exit Ticket: Which of the two historical arguments is more persuasive to you and why?
Summary-Exit:
Students will submit a blog entry on the Weebly site. In one paragraph (75 words), students should explain which of the two historical arguments was more persuasive and why. After that, they should also respond to at least one other peer’s blog entry.