Dear Mr. President

  Classroom Resource Information  

Title:

 Dear Mr. President

URL:

 https://amhistory.si.edu/ourstory/pdf/lincoln/dear_president.pdf

Content Source:

 Smithsonian
Type: Learning Activity

Overview:

In this learning activity, students analyze a letter written by Grace Bedell to President Abraham Lincoln. Students will then write and send their own letter to the president of the United States.

Content Standard(s):
Social Studies
SS2010 (2010)
Grade: 5
United States Studies: Beginnings to the Industrial Revolution
11 ) Identify causes of the Civil War, including states' rights and the issue of slavery.

•  Describing the importance of the Missouri Compromise, Nat Turner's insurrection, the Compromise of 1850, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's rebellion, and the election of 1860
•  Recognizing key Northern and Southern personalities, including Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Joseph Wheeler (Alabama)
•  Describing social, economic, and political conditions that affected citizens during the Civil War
•  Identifying Alabama's role in the Civil War (Alabama)
Examples: Montgomery as the first capital of the Confederacy, Winston County's opposition to Alabama's secession (Alabama)

•  Locating on a map sites important to the Civil War
Examples: Mason-Dixon Line, Fort Sumter, Appomattox, Gettysburg, Confederate states, Union states (Alabama)

•  Explaining events that led to the conclusion of the Civil War
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SS.AAS.5.11 Define civil war; recognize one or more key figures of the Civil War, including Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis; label a map of the United States with Southern and Northern states involved in the Civil War.
SS.AAS.5.11a - Identifying Alabama's role in the Civil War. Example: Montgomery was the first Confederate capitol.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 5
36. Write an argument to persuade the reader to take an action or adopt a position, stating a claim, supporting the claim with relevant evidence from sources, using connectives to link ideas, and presenting a strong conclusion.

Examples: first, as a result, therefore, in addition
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Grace Bedell, persuasive writing, presidents
License Type: Custom Permission Type
See Terms: https://www.si.edu/termsofuse/
For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
https://creativecommons.org/licenses
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  This resource provided by:  
Author: Ginger Boyd