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Abraham Lincoln, the Boy Who Loved Books
| Author: Kay Winters Illustrator: Nancy Carpenter ISBN:1416912681 Summary: The engaging narrative emphasizes Lincoln's love of books and reading, which flourished despite his lack of formal education. |
Unit by Tammy Maddox, Lapbook by Wende
Young Abe Lincoln the Frontier days 1809-1837, C. Harness
In Lincoln’s Footsteps, D. Davenprt
Lincoln’s Birthday, D. B. Fradin
Abe Lincoln’s Hat, M. Brenner
True Stories about Abraham Lincoln, R. B Gross
Everyone Counts, E. Grodin
Abraham Lincoln by Ingri& Edger Parin k’Aulaire
Abraham Lincoln: A New Birth of Freedom by Janet & Geoff Benge
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln Illustrated by Michael McCurdy
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Where in the United States did Abraham Lincoln Live? Shutterfold |
Slavery- How did the Israelites get to freedom? Read the story of Moses and the Exodus to your children. Use Bible verses that show God’s promise and his faithfulness to his children.
Honesty - Abe Lincoln earned the nickname “Honest Abe”. What is honesty? Why is honesty important? What Bible verses would back this up? Possible verses to use: Exodus 20;16, Proverbs 12;22, or 1 Corinthians 13:6. Complete Honesty Tri Flap if desired.
Use Timeline Accordion Fold for older children or Timeline Booklet for younger children.
1809 Abe is born in Hodgerville, Ky. on Feb 12
1811 Age two, the Lincolns move to a farm on Knob Creek
1815 Abe attends school for a short time
1816 Abe attends school until December
1816 the Lincolns cross the Ohio River to move to Indiana, they moved near Little Pigeon Creek. One reason for this move, Kentucky was a slave state and Indiana was not.
1817 Abe shoots a wild turkey and suffers great remorse over this.
1818 Abe is kicked in head by a horse and thought to be dead. Oct 5th, at age 9 his mother, Nancy died of milk sickness. (Cows eat poisonous white snakeroot and this makes their milk bad, people would drink this milk, get ill, and die).
1819 Abe’s father goes back to Kentucky and returns home married to Sarah Bush Johnson (Sally). He married her Dec 12th; she was also a widow with 3 children of her own, Sarah Elizabeth, Matilda, and John.
1820 Abe attends school for a short period of time
1822 Abe attends school for a short period of time
1828 Abe’s sister, Sarah died while giving birth to her child.
1830 Abe moves with his family to Illinois along the Sangamon River near Decatur. He gave his first political speech aimed at improving navigation. *During this time he and a friend were hired to sail a flatboat down the Ohio River. He saw slaves for sale on an action block. This sight profoundly changed his life.
1831 Abe settles in New Salem and works in a general store. He is pressured into wrestling a man named Jack Armstrong, Lincoln wins the match, gets up, shakes Armstrong’s hand and from that day forward they are friends. He once walked 6 miles after work to return a few cents to a customer that had overpaid him. Stories such as this gave him the reputation and the nickname “Honest Abe”.
1832 Abe lost the vote for the General assembly. The store he worked in closed, he opened a store with a partner, which also failed, his partner died leaving Abe with unpaid bills. Abe being honest eventually paid everyone back, thus adding to his reputation. During this time period he held several jobs including postmaster, surveyor and chopped trees and made fence rails.
1834 Abe won the General assembly vote.
1836 Abe became a lawyer in Springfield, Ill.
1842 Abe married Mary Todd in November. Together, they had four boys, Robert, Eddie, Willie and Tad. Eddie died at the age of four and Willie died in childhood in 1862.
1847 Abe moved to Washington D.C. to began a two year term in Congress.
1858 Abe ran for and lost the Senate seat twice.
1860 Abe became the 16th US president.
1861 A little girl named Grace Bedell wrote Abe a letter saying that he would look better with a beard, so he grew one. When he stopped in her hometown, Westfield, New York, to give a speech he was sure to address her and thank her for the idea.
1861 The Civil War began.
1863 Abe issued the Emancipation of Proclamation (declaring slaves in the areas of the Confederacy that were still in rebellion to be free). November 19th he gave the Gettysburg Address.
1865 April 14th he was shot in the head while at the Ford’s theater. April 15th he died.
Slavery – You may want to delve into the issue of slavery with your older students. What is slavery? How could a slave become free? You could delve into the Underground Railroad, Grandma Moses, the drinking gourd, etc. Field trip idea- do you have any “safe houses” near you? Map a slave route from the southern states to a free state, how would a slave get to freedom? Who would help them etc.
Geography (Life map) - Using the above information, create a map of the different places Abe Lincoln lived. If you have not already done so, you can introduce cardinal direction, if you have, use this as an opportunity to have your child discern what direction he moved (i.e. He moved North from Kentucky to Indiana, West from Indiana to Illinois etc). Complete Where in the United States did Abraham Lincoln Live? Shutterfold.
Family Relationships - Although Abe was not able to attend school for long periods of time, how did his parents (including his stepmother) foster his love of learning? His mother read him Bible stories, his father spun yarns (told stories) and told jokes, his stepmother, Sarah, owned books and encouraged Abe to read when he was done working for the day. Talking and reading together were integrated into their family life. What are some other ways to build family relationships? Write about it on Family Relationships Compressed Triangle.
Government - There are three branches of the government:
Executive: makes sure the constitution is being followed. The president is the head of this branch.
Legislative: this is congress, which includes the House of Representative (number depends on the population of each state) and the Senate (100 people, 2 from each state) they make the laws.
Judicial: includes the Supreme Court (9 judges), which guards the constitution and makes sure the laws are followed.
These three branches were created to ensure that no one individual would have too much power. Each branch has the power to act as a check and balance of the other two branches. Therefore creating a balanced form of government.
Jobs of the president - The President is the head of the executive branch and plays a large role in making America’s laws. His job is to approve the laws that Congress creates. When the Senate and the House approve a bill, they send it to the President. If he agrees with the law, he signs it and the law goes into effect. He serves as the American Head of State, meaning that he meets with the leaders of other countries and can make treaties with them. Also, the President is the official head of the U.S. military. He can authorize the use of troops overseas without declaring war. To officially declare war, though, he must get the approval of the Congress. Of course, the president has many other jobs and duties to perform.
Who can be president? - One must be at least 35 years old the candidate must be a natural-born U.S. citizen and have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years. When elected, the President serves a term of four years. The most terms one President can serve are two terms, for a total of eight years.
I Can Become President If… Tri Flap
Art –
Whittling - Abe whittled pegs to put into his mother’s coffin. If your child is old enough, he could, with supervision, try his hand at whittling. A soft wood such as pine is a good starter or even use a bar of soap.
Quill pen drawing - Use a feather found at your local hobby store and either make ink or purchase to write with. Discuss what it is like to write like this. Is it more time consuming, what do you do when the ink runs out, what if the ink spills?
Make a log cabin -
Construction ideas:
Pretzel (either large or small) sticks and icing for the “chinking”
Drinking straws held together with clay
Or use the traditional Lincoln logs
Language Arts:
Alliteration - Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables such as: “Cold cooked corn pone” or “Peddlers pioneers politicians”. Can you create your own alliteration based on Abe Lincoln? Record them in Alliteration Simple Fold.
Parallel Construction - The balance of two or more similar words or phrases such as:
Bears growled, wolves howled, panthers screamed, Abe shivered, his ideas stretched, his questions rose, his dreams were stirred. Now make your own in Parallel Construction Shape Book.
Genres – Genre is a French word that is often used as a synonym for “type” or “form” when referring to literature. There are many genres of literature. Discuss different genres with your child. What is a biography? What is an autobiography? What is a tall tale? Can you find one at your local library? A biography is a story of a person’s life that is written by another person. While much of the story is usually true, the author sometimes fictionalizes parts of it to add excitement to the story. Your child may be familiar with the FIAR biographies Cowboy Charlie by Jeanette Winter, Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, or The Glorious Flight by Alice and Martin Provensen, all stories about real people. Abraham Lincoln the Boy Who Loved Books is a biography. Complete Genres Flap Book.
Capitalization - When is the word president to be capitalized? Official titles should be capitalized, such as “President Lincoln”, but when “president” is all by itself it would not be capitalized. Review this capitalization rule using Cards and Pocket.
Vocabulary – Discuss these words and definitions with your child and have him use them in a sentence to show meaning.
Kin- someone you are related to
Brawn- strong
Spun yarns- told stories
Milk sickness- a disease cows get by eating poisonous grass
Math –
How many states did Abraham Lincoln live in by age 21? (3)
When he was eight years old he shot a wild turkey. How much older/younger than you was he when he did this?
He was born February 12, 1809; how much older than you is he?
He became the 16th president in 1860. He was born in 1809. How old was he when he became president? (51)
If he were still alive today, how old would he be?
Miscellaneous –
Cooking -
Make corn pone
Egg less cornbread that is shaped into small ovals and fried or baked.
2 cups white corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
11/2 cups cold water (or enough to make a soft mixture that can be spooned like pancake batter)
4 tablespoon vegetable oil
1. Preheat oven to 475F
2. Mix corn meal, salt and water
3. Heat oil in a 9-inch round iron skillet in the hot oven until hot
4. Carefully spread mixture evenly in hot skillet and spoon some of the fat that comes to the edges up on top of the batter.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Boil for the last 2-3 minutes to make it extra golden brown and crispy around the edges.
Have older
students:
Research milk sickness/pasteurization
Write a report on either the Emancipation Proclamation or the Gettysburg Address. They could also memorize the Gettysburg Address, dress as Lincoln and deliver this speech to the people (family).
Field Trip idea:
Do you live near Abe Lincoln’s home and could visit a log cabin he lived in? Is there a log cabin near your home that you could visit so that your child could get an idea of what life was like in this time?
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