Myth and Truth: The Gettysburg Address

Materials and Technology

Student Interactives

Printouts

Websites

Preparation

 

MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

• General classroom supplies (paper, pens or pencils, chart paper or board, and so forth)
  
  
• Gettysburg Address Books and other related reference material

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STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Writing & Publishing Prose

Printing Press

The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers.

 

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PRINTOUTS

• The Gettysburg Address
  
  
• Speech Analysis Questions
  
  
• Common Myths about the Gettysburg Address
  
  
• Gettysburg Address Web Resources
  
  
• Myths and Truths Presentation Rubric

 

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WEBSITES

• The Gettysburg Address
• Gettysburg Address Web Resources
• C-SPAN video resources on Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address
  
  • Newspaper reactions on Nov 20
  • Did Lincoln realize the power of what he was saying?
  • What is Lincoln saying in opening of the address and how do his words express this?
  • Where did Lincoln deliver his speech? Was the cemetery complete?
  • Description of actual environment around the time of the speech

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PREPARATION

• Arrange for Internet access to the speech, or prepare print copies. Links to the speech are included in the Gettysburg Address Web Resources. The piece is also available in most American literature anthologies and history books as well as in the encyclopedia.
  
  
• Gather reference material for the lesson. Choose fewer resources if time is limited, or more to allow students more time for research and exploration.
  
  
  • Gather library resources such as reference books, encyclopedias, and specific texts, examples of which appear in the Gettysburg Address Booklist. Provide a copy of books for each group if resources allow. Groups may have slightly different reference resources (for instance, encyclopedias from different publishers), but all groups should have relatively the same collection of materials on hand. Naturally, you can encourage sharing among groups in the case of scarcer resources.
    
    
  • If Internet access is limited, provide Internet printouts of relevant sites from the Gettysburg Address Web Resources. Because students will work in small groups, create a copy of the printouts for each group if computer access is not available.
    
    
• Make copies of the Common Myths about the Gettysburg Address and the Myths and Truths Presentation Rubric for all students or prepare overheads or chart paper with the information.
  
  
• Choose an introduction to the Gettysburg Address from one of the Web Resources or one of the books you have collected. You might also use the introduction in your class textbook.
  
  
• If students will use the tools to prepare their presentations, test the ReadWriteThink Printing Press on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

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