The Lincoln Memorial: America’s Gathering Place

Sara Jenkins

Arizona Geographic Alliance

Grade 3

1 class period

National Geography Standards

ELEMENT FOUR: Human Systems 10. The characteristics, distribution and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.

12. The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.

13. How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface.

Arizona Geography StandardsConcept 1: The World in Spatial Terms

PO 1. Identify that different types of maps (e.g., political, physical, thematic) serve various purposes.

Concept 4: Human Systems

PO 4. Describe elements of culture of a community or nation (e.g., food, clothing, housing, sports, customs, beliefs) in areas studied.

Arizona StandardsCivics/Government

Concept 1:  Foundations of Government

PO 1.  Describe national symbols and monuments that represent American democracy and values:

a.     Statue of Liberty

b.     Ellis Island

c.     Lincoln Memorial

d.     the Capitol

American History

Concept 1 Research Skills for History

PO 4. Retell stories to describe past events, people and places.

ELA Common Core Standards

Reading

Informational Text

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

3.RI.7 Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

Overview

The Lincoln Memorial has become a place for peaceable assembly, a right guaranteed in the First Amendment. A true story about the memorial shows students how things that happen to us as children can change our lives in unexpected ways.

Purpose

In this lesson students will learn The United States Constitution provides for “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” and the importance of the Lincoln Memorial as a symbol of American freedom.

Materials

• The Lincoln Memorial: America’s Gathering Place and Answer Key

• “The Lincoln Memorial: America’s Gathering Place” Power Point

• Computer, projection device, and internet

Objectives

The student will be able to:  

1. Describe the importance of the right of Americans to peaceably assemble.

2. Identify where the Lincoln Memorial is located and why it was designed and built.

Procedures

• Note: If you would like to include video segments to show the events mentioned in this lesson, insert them into the included Power Point before you start.

http://blog.usa.gov/post/20975163837/image-description-its-national-library-week

Procedures

1. During Read Aloud story time, gather students on the carpet and share the book, Sweet Land of Liberty by Deborah Hopkinson.

Procedures

2. Show the video segment of Marian Anderson singing at the Lincoln Memorial.

Procedures

3. Invite all students to sing the song.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.rbc.as.109070/default.html

Procedures

4. Return to desks and tell students they are going to learn just how special this memorial to Lincoln is to all Americans.

Procedures

5. Show PPT “The Lincoln Memorial: America’s Gathering Place”. The words in red will be in the Word Bank for the assessment so you may want to write these key words on the whiteboard with a description of how they apply to this lesson.

The Lincoln Memorial: America’s Gathering Place

Sara Jenkins

Arizona Geographic Alliance

Grade 3

Abraham Lincoln

• Life: 1809 to 1865• President: 1860 to

1865• Civil War• Gettysburg Address• Emancipation

Proclamation

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008680969/resource/

Lincoln Memorial

http://www.nps.gov/featurecontent/ncr/linc/interactive/deploy/index.htm#/panoramas

Lincoln Penny

Washington, D.C.

http://www.nps.gov/nama/planyourvisit/upload/NACCmap1.pdf

• Located on the National Mall in Washington, DC, the Lincoln Memorial honors Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln was President during the Civil War (1861-65). The memorial, which was built between 1914 and 1922, symbolizes his belief that all people should be free.

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/lincoln.html

• The theme of the building represents the Union or United States. The columns surrounding the walls stand for the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death. The names of the 48 states in the Union (when the memorial was completed in 1922) are carved on the walls along the outside of the memorial. A plaque honoring Alaska and Hawaii is in the approach plaza.

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/lincoln.html

• The chamber inside the memorial contains a statue of Lincoln seated, facing the Washington Monument and the Capitol. The statue of Lincoln is 19 feet high and weighs 175 tons. The chamber also houses two huge stone tables, one engraved with Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, and the other with the Gettysburg Address. Two murals represent the principles of freedom, justice, unity, brotherhood, and charity.

• http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/lincoln.html

First Amendment

• Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_downloads.html

Racial Equality

• Marian Anderson sings after not being allowed to perform at DAR Constitution Hall because she was a “singer of color”.

• April 1939• Sings “My Country

‘Tis of Thee” or “America”.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010651298/

Civil Rights

“And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee,

sweet land of liberty,

of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died,

land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside,

let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation,

this must be true.”

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” on August 28, 1963

http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=march+on+washington&fa=digitized%3Atrue&sp=1

Peace Marches

• Vietnam War Protest

• October 21, 1967

http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/civilian/1967b.htm

Anti-war Demonstrations

• Protesters against the war in Iraq

• March 17, 2007

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-03/18/content_5862349.htm

Reflection

• The Lincoln Memorial honors one of the United States’ greatest presidents. Lincoln believed in making life better and protecting the rights of the common man.

• This awe-inspiring memorial allows us to reflect on what it means to be an American.

Procedures

6. Use The Lincoln Memorial: America’s Gathering Place as an assessment.

Assessment

• Student learning will be assessed on the handout. There are 12 possible points. Mastery will be considered 9 points or higher.

Extensions

Have students read and discuss:

• “I Have a Dream” Speech

• “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” song

• Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”

Sources• Hankins, Chelsey. The Lincoln Memorial. New York: Chelsea Clubhouse, 2010.

• Hopkinson, Deborah. Sweet Land of Liberty. Atlanta: Peachtree, 2007.

• Library of Congress

• National Park Service

• US Government Printing Office

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAONYTMf2pk Marian Anderson Sings at Lincoln Memorial

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V57lotnKGF8 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speech (I Have a Dream)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8U6Oh9uSY8&feature=related Peter, Paul & Mary – Washington Peace March 1971.

Sources

• http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/anderson Penn Library/exhibitions:Marian Anderson: A Life in Song

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uLx9B5vbAYMarch on the Pentagon March 21, 2009 Anti-War demonstrators Iraq

• http://www.nps.gov/linc/index.htm

• http://www.nps.gov/featurecontent/ncr/linc/interactive/deploy/index.htm#/panoramas

• http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/lincoln.html

• http://www.nps.gov/nama/planyourvisit/maps.htm