Text Type:
Nonfiction / Biography

Word Count:
2,004

Pages:
26 

Text Summary
This book tells of the life of Abraham Lincoln, including his humble childhood, his political career, and the troubled times of the nation he led. The book clearly illustrates how Lincoln's simple values of equality and freedom led the U.S. through its Civil War and made him one of the nation's greatest presidents. 

Reproducibles
Worksheet 1—KWL chart
Worksheet 2— Descriptive vocabulary 

Lesson Objectives

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as students work to understand the text, for example, students could discuss the character of Abraham Lincoln and evaluate his actions. The targeted comprehension strategy for this lesson is: locating information and organizing it on a chart .

Word Work

Content Vocabulary
abolitionist movement
eloquence
homespun
orator
popular sovereignty

Dictionary Skills
Use the dictionary to supplement vocabulary words listed in the glossary

Descriptive Language
Identify adjectives and the words they describe 

Before Reading

Build Background
Involve students in a discussion about what they know about slavery and Abraham Lincoln.
Ask: What do you know about Abraham Lincoln? What are some of the things he is known for? How did America come to have slaves? What are your thoughts on slavery? 

Introduce the Book
Introduce the book by showing students the front cover and reading the title.
Ask: What do you see on the cover? What can you tell about Lincoln from this picture? Why do you think the title calls Lincoln a "leader for freedom"? 

Give students worksheet 1. Have them think about what they know, or think they know, about Lincoln, and write this in the first column. Then have them think of questions they have about Lincoln and write these in the second column. Have students share their questions. 

Give students their copies of the book, and have them turn to the contents page.
Ask: What do you think you might read about in the first chapter? Looking at the chapter headings, do you think that any of your questions might be answered? Which ones? In which chapter do you think you might find the answer?

Skim and Scan
Have students skim the book, previewing the photos and illustrations. Point out the bold-faced words in the text. Explain to students that often they can use the context of the sentence or paragraph to figure out the meaning of the word. Point out that they can find these words in the glossary at the end of the book. 

During Reading

Set the Purpose
Tell students that you want them to read about Lincoln to see if the book answers any of their questions about him. 

After Reading

Building Comprehension
Review students’ KWL charts and discuss which questions the text answered.
Say and ask: Look at the questions you listed before reading. Are there any questions on the list that the book answered? Read your question, and then show us where the text answers this question. Did you learn other things about Lincoln that you didn’t know before? Let’s take the time now to write down this new information in the third column of your chart. 

Have students share their completed charts. Discuss how doing a KWL chart can help them set a purpose for reading. Ask whether having a purpose helps them focus on the text information.
Have students point out any questions they had that were not answered by reading the text. Talk about places where they can go to find further information on Lincoln. Refer to the Explore More feature on page 25.

Discuss other aspects of the text.
Ask and say: How do you think the author feels about Abraham Lincoln? How do you know? Show me examples in the text that give you this understanding. How do you think people in the South might have felt about Lincoln at this time? How do you feel about Lincoln? What do you think might have happened if Lincoln had not been elected president?  

Word Work

Descriptive Language
Discuss how Lincoln was known for his great speeches. Explain that to be a great orator, you need to use language well. If possible, read the Gettysburg Address with students and discuss the language Lincoln used in it. 

Have students analyze the language of the author of this book. Have them turn to page 5 and read the description of Lincoln. Highlight words such as tall, lanky, solemn, and eloquent as examples of descriptive language. Point out that the first three words describe Lincoln, while the word eloquent describes his speeches. 

Give students worksheet 2. Tell them you want them to find examples of good descriptive language in the book. Have them record the words they select in column one, the page number where it was found in column two, and what the words describe in column 3. 

Dictionary Skills
Have students turn to the glossary and note how the words are organized by alphabetical order. Explain that the glossary serves as an aide for readers to help them understand unfamiliar words. Select a word from the glossary and have students find it in their dictionaries. Discuss how the dictionary provides other information about the word, such as word origin, pronunciation, and part of speech. Show students how to find this information. Then assign a word from the glossary to a pair of students and have them use a dictionary to provide this extra information for their word. 

Writing Connection
Have students write a speech arguing for something they are interested in or feel strongly about. Help them brainstorm ideas for their speeches. After they have written a rough draft of their speeches, have them analyze the language they have used to decide whether other word choices would make their speeches more eloquent. You might want to have students work in pairs to analyze their speeches together. When students are satisfied with their speeches, have them present them to the group. 

Assessment

• Review students’ KWL charts to determine if they can ask relevant questions about the topic. Note if they are able to locate information in the text that answers some or all of their questions. Note if they can record relevant information about what they learned on the chart.
• Review completed worksheet 2 to assess if students can identify descriptive vocabulary in the text and what it describes.
• Note if students can use effective language to create a speech.