2003 Lesson Plans
Grades 4 Through 6

1:  The Life of Lincoln
Based on the Illinois quarter reverse

Objective
Students will describe the social and political life of Abraham Lincoln with a focus on his contributions and how they changed the United States of America.

Materials
•	Cents (pennies), 1 per student
•	Magnifying device
•	1 overhead projector (optional)
•	1 overhead transparency (or photocopy) of the Illinois quarter reverse
•	1 class map of the United States of America
•	Multiple copies of age-appropriate texts that outline the contributions of Abraham Lincoln and his life, such as:
–	Lincoln:  A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
–	Abraham Lincoln:  In Their Own Words by George Sullivan
–	America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln:  The Story of Our Nation by Sally Senzell Isaacs
•	Classroom Social Studies text
•	Chart paper
•	Copies of the “Lincoln’s Life” timeline
•	Roll of large paper

Preparations
•	Make an overhead transparency (or photocopy) of the Illinois quarter reverse.
•	Locate a text that outlines Abraham Lincoln and his life (see examples under “Materials”).
•	Divide the chart paper into two columns labeled “Date” and “Event”.
•	Make copies of the “Lincoln’s Life” timeline (1 per group).
•	Arrange for the school librarian or media specialist to coordinate a set of appropriate reference materials which detail the life of Abraham Lincoln.
•	Bookmark appropriate Web sites, on classroom or computer lab computers, which describe events in Abraham Lincoln’s life.

Groupings
•	Whole group
•	Individual work

Class Time
Three 45- to 60-minute sessions 

Connections
•	Social Studies
•	Language Arts
•	Technology

Terms and Concepts
•	Abraham Lincoln	•	Penny	•	Sequential order
•	Civil War	•	Circulating coins

Background Knowledge
Students should have a basic knowledge of: 
•	Internet and textual research 
•	Referencing Internet and text resources

Steps
Session 1 
1.	Describe the 50 State Quarters® Program for background information, if necessary, using the example of your own state, if available.  Then display the transparency or photocopy of the Illinois quarter reverse (with “The Land of Lincoln” motto obscured).  Select a student to locate Illinois on a classroom map.  Note its position in relation to your school’s location.
2.	Point out the Illinois state outline, as well as both the rural and urban scenes.  Discuss the words “21st State/Century” and what this means to Illinois as a state.  (Illinois was the 21st state to join the Union and the quarter commemorates it as a state for the 21st century with the modern Chicago skyline depicted.)
3.	Ask the students if they know who the man is pictured on the coin.  Take suggestions and prompt students to consider how he is dressed and what he is holding, etc.
4.	Reveal “The Land of Lincoln” motto for students.  Ask if they can surmise what this might mean to Illinois.
5.	After students have concluded that the man pictured is Abraham Lincoln and that he had some important connection to the state of Illinois, share with them that this president of the United States came to consider Illinois his home state.  When discussing Lincoln, relate his rise to the presidency to how he is depicted on the coin:  dressed as a farm hand, setting aside his farm tools in favor of a law book.
Note: Depending on your students’ background knowledge, you may need to explain that although President Lincoln was born in Kentucky and raised in Indiana, Lincoln moved to Illinois at the age of 21 where he studied and later became a lawyer.  It is there that he rose to greatness and later was buried.  Also describe how Lincoln began as a farm hand and laborer but then became a lawyer and later the President.  
6.	Ask the students to name another circulating (everyday) coin on which Lincoln appears, soliciting the correct response.
7.	Distribute a penny to each student.
8.	Explain that the Lincoln penny was the first U.S. coin to feature a historic (real life) figure.  President Abraham Lincoln has been on the penny since 1909, the 100th anniversary of his birth.  (Later the coin was redesigned to depict the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse).
9.	Ask students which side of the coin Lincoln appears on—heads (called the obverse) or tails (also called the reverse).  
10.	Tell the students that Lincoln actually appears on both sides.  Using a magnifying device, have students locate Lincoln on the reverse.  Tell the students that the Lincoln Memorial was added to the reverse of the one-cent coin in 1959 to mark Lincoln’s 150th birthday.  If they inspect it carefully, they will see the statue of Lincoln inside the Memorial.  With the release of the Illinois quarter, Lincoln is the first person to be pictured on two circulating coins at the same time:  the penny and the quarter (with Illinois reverse).
11.	As this information is being shared with the students, write the dates and their corresponding events on a piece of chart paper divided into 2 columns titled “Date” and “Event.”
12.	Tell the students that they are going to learn more about this important man in future sessions.

Session 2
1.	Break students into groups of about four.  Distribute a “Lincoln’s Life” timeline and an appropriate text to each group.
2.	Have each group read the selected text that chronicles Lincoln’s life.  
3.	While reading this text, direct the students to raise their hands to stop the story when an important date or historical event is mentioned.  The group should record their comments throughout the reading in the appropriate column (“Date” or “Event”).  Each date should have an event and vice versa. 
4.	Tell the students that they are going to create a class timeline based on the life of Abraham Lincoln.  

Session 3
Before session 3:  Prepare a timeline on large paper that shows the years from 1800 to 2002.  The timeline segments should be measured in increments that are proportionate across the entire timeline.  Display the timeline in class.  
1.	Put the students in the same groups as session 2.  Each group should have its “Lincoln’s Life” timeline.
2.	Working a decade at a time, ask the class if any group has an entry.   
3.	Discuss the dates and events and pick a student to record their group entry on the class timeline.
4.	Repeat this process until the class timeline is complete.

Enrichment/Extensions
•	Once students have completed the class timeline, invite them to create a timeline of their own life, citing dates and events that have been important to them.
•	Allow students to create a computer presentation based on the information they learned during this activity.

Differentiated Learning Option
Have students create a quiz game based on the information they learned.  Use the questions they developed as a review at the activity’s completion.

HPC Connection
The Civil War played a large role in the Lincoln presidency, but during the war there were shortages of many items, even coins!  Visit the April 2001 Coin of the Month, in the “Coin News” section of HPC, to review some of ways our currency changed during this turbulent time.  (http://www.usmint.gov/kids/index.cfm?FileContents=/kids/coinnews/cotm/cotm0401.cfm)

Student Worksheet
Lincoln’s Life
Lined sheet with two columns, one headed “Date” and one headed “Event.”

Student Worksheet
Illinois Quarter Reverse
Enlarged outline.