Chasing Lincoln’s Killer – A Close Read

This lesson is designed to be sandwiched between two other two-to-three-week lessons. The first lesson is an overview of the Civil War. The focus is big picture using readings and a lecture/discussion format with a standard comprehensive assessment at its conclusion. The final lesson is an in-depth research project on the assassination with a paper and presentation at its conclusion. The goal of the Chasing Lincoln’s Killer (CLK) lesson is twofold: first to create a baseline of knowledge on the Lincoln Assassination; second spend a portion of each class period wrestling as a group with artifacts and primary sources connected to the assassination prior to the individual research project.

The CLK lesson itself will begin with a short exploration of an artifact or document connected to the Lincoln assassination. Students will view the object and discuss its connection to the assassination and its importance historically. The remainder of the class would be devoted to listening to, and discussing the book. This lesson is designed to be interdisciplinary with the English class, using the skills they are developing as they read fiction in English, to analyze a secondary source.

Guiding Questions

• How do certain artifacts play a role in historical events?
• How can we use texts to learn more?

Objectives

• Understand the events surrounding the Lincoln assassination
• Understand the events surrounding John Wilkes Booth’s escape, manhunt and death
• Understand how to analyze artifacts and primary source documents
• Understand and discuss the impact of Lincoln’s death on the country
• Read and discuss a non-fiction text on a historically significant event
• Analyze different and sometimes competing sources to determine accuracy, bias and how they connect to a historically significant event

Standards

Procedure

• Students analyze and connect online artifacts to Lincoln’s Assassination

• Have students close read along with an audio book of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer

• Visually create a question board so students can post questions regarding reading

• Each day of the close read, select one of two objects from Remembering Lincoln and analyze the image, item, or document for the first five minutes of the class period
• Use Visual Thinking Strategies and/or primary source analysis protocols to explore each item and why it’s important to the Lincoln Assassination

• Play the audiobook and have students follow along in their books using a note card. Have the students use the note card to identify words that are new to them, words/phrases that they find interesting or unusual and any questions they think of while reading
  • New words, put a “?”
  • Interesting or unusual words/phrases, put an “!”
  • Most chapters have a “Big Picture Question.” Make a “Big Picture” board out of butcher paper or an oversized post-it note. Place this board somewhere in the classroom
  • Have students transfer each word, phrase, or question from their note card onto their own post-it notes
    • New words, put a “?”
    • Interesting or unusual words/phrases, put an “!”

    Materials

    • Unit Plan (.pdf)
    • Supplemental Information: Abstract (.pdf)

    External Resources

    • Ford’s Theatre: Museum Artifacts
    • Library of Congress
    • National Archives