How to Make an Abraham Lincoln Timeline and Write a Short Speech
February is Abraham Lincoln's birthday month. It is a great time to teach children about events and happenings in his life by designing a history timeline. Children learn facts better when they have to use them in writing. A timeline is a good exercise for this. Later you will have them write a short speech similar to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
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Instructions
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This lesson is designed for children in 3rd through 5th grades. It can be adapted to older children by making it more complex. First read a book about Abraham Lincoln aloud or read some sections of a book with the class. Some books you might consider are "Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House" by Sterling North, "Abraham Lincoln for Kids His Life and Times with 21 Activities" by Janis Herbert and "Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator" by Augusta Stevenson. After you've read the book with the class, discuss it, talking about interesting events or happenings in Lincoln's life.
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A horizontal timeline is a good way to have children learn about some of the events in Lincoln's life. Pass out two pieces of paper and pencils to the students--one for research notes and the other for constructing the timeline. Use books and Internet sources for the timeline. Tell the children to pick one aspect of Lincoln's life, childhood, growing up, early politics or presidency.
The timeline should include seven events with dates and the events and descriptions following the dates. The timeline should have a title such as Lincoln's Childhood Timeline. Use books in your library or classroom and websites (see Resources) to gather information for the timeline. -
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Tell students to make notes for each event in their own words. Each note should include the day, month and year followed by a description and summary of the event. After the research, students should write the horizontal timeline with seven events that took place in Lincoln's life. They can use a ruler to line the paper and make a neat readable timeline to share with the class. When finished, read some of the timelines aloud or hang them on the bulletin board.
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Read the Gettysburg Address aloud (see Resources). You can type it out and hand it to the children to read if you like. After reading the speech, discuss its meaning with the class. Then discuss the children writing short speeches of their own. Hand out paper again. The topic will be What Freedom of Speech Means to Me. Some pointers are keeping the speech short. It should be no more than two paragraphs. Get to the main issue or point of your speech. The speech should have a purpose or message. Give some examples to the class that speak to the audience they want to reach.
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Tell students to use vivid images or ideas when they describe something in the speech. Tell them to end the speech with a powerful message. Give the children a half hour to write the speeches. Give them a 10-minute break. Then tell them to rewrite their speeches again for 15 minutes. Read some of the speeches aloud. Discuss some of the ideas about freedom of speech.
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