Teaching Lincoln: Legacies and Classroom Strategies(6 Teaching Critical Themes in American History)

Understanding the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln is often considered central to understanding American history: this anthology guides elementary, middle, and high school teachers in preparing lessons that help students understand Lincoln’s significance in American history. This book is a unique combination of thought-provoking essays by historians exploring various aspects of Lincoln’s presidency and valuable pedagogical essays by teachers offering teaching tips and lesson plans on how they have taught Lincoln. More than just a resource for teaching Lincoln, the book also helps teachers use his life to explore the fundamental themes of American nationalism and identity, leadership and power, emancipation and race, and the conflicting meanings of freedom.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Michael Burlingame: Abraham Lincoln – Michael Perman: Making Sense of the American Civil War – Iver Bernstein: Lincoln and the Traumatic Violence of Slavery and the Civil War: A Brief for Expanding Historical Imagination – Stephen L. Hansen: Abraham Lincoln and American Mythology – John Ryan/Susan Teson: Lesson Plan - Not Just for History Class Anymore: Lincoln’s Rightful Place in an Eleventh-Grade American Literature Course – Janice M. Smith: Lesson Plan - Abraham Lincoln and the Wild Boar: Aesop’s Influence on the President’s Politics, Conduct, and Writing – Mary Wigton: Ideas for Teaching - Civil War Elections - Student Newscasts – Robyn Lee: Ideas for Teaching - Creating Campaigns for the Election of 1860 – Elizabeth A. DeCourcey: Ideas for Teaching - The Election of 1860 – Amy Siebert: Ideas for Teaching - Abraham Lincoln and a Virtual Field Trip – Carol Jackson: Ideas for Teaching - Letter Writing Can Change History – Stephen L. Hansen: Lincoln and the Problem of Leadership During the Secession Crisis – Louis S. Gerteis: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties During the American Civil War – Michelle Stacy: Lesson Plan -Teaching the Beginning of the Civil War Through Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address – Silvio Quintas: Lesson Plan - Teaching Lincoln and the Writ of Habeas Corpus – Scott E. Burgess: Lesson Plan - Lincoln and the Factors of Successful Presidential Leadership – Joel Latman: Lesson Plan - Abraham Lincoln: A Politician’s Politician – Christopher Gagnon: Ideas for Teaching - Abraham Lincoln and Leadership – Julia A. George: Ideas for Teaching - A Look into Lincoln’s Leadership and His Character: What Would You Put in Lincoln’s Hat? – Chandria Howard: Ideas for Teaching - Lincoln, Leadership, and Technology in the Civil War Era – Sairee Knabe: Ideas for Teaching - Teaching Lincoln and the Civil War Through Student-Centered Learning – Sowande’ Mustakeem: Breaking the Chains: Un-Silencing the American Slaving Past – Stephen L. Hansen: Lincoln’s Political Road to the Emancipation Proclamation – Kathryn A. Clark: Lesson Plan - Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation – Diane R. Elliott: Lesson Plan - Teaching the Role of Free Blacks in the Lincoln Era – Donna Reed: Ideas for Teaching - Life Aboard a Slave Ship – Jason D. Hill: Ideas for Teaching - Slavery and the Census of 1860 – Caroline Knoff: Ideas for Teaching - The Emancipation Proclamation – Mike Larsen: Ideas for Teaching - Lincoln’s Evolution Position on the Emancipation Proclamation – Mike Larsen: Ideas for Teaching - What About Us? Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Border States – Mike Larsen: Ideas for Teaching - Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Political Cartoons – David Monaco: Ideas for Teaching - Teaching Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation: Student Newscasts – Bob Frey: Ideas for Teaching - Abraham Lincoln: Great Emancipator or Racist? – Jason Stacy: Whitman, Lincoln, and a Forgotten Form of Freedom – Stephen L. Hansen: Lincoln’s Legacy of Faith in Democracy – Jeffrey J. Boogaard: Lesson Plan - Lincoln’s Word: Analyzing Integrity and Power in Key Speeches – Linda Bellizzi/ Eleanor Neagley: Ideas for Teaching - The Gettysburg Address: Why Is It a Literary Masterpiece? – Julie George/Julie Doan/Kathy Ford/Kenneth Williams: Ideas for Teaching - Lincoln and New Salem Village: Flatboat Captain and Innovation-Leadership – Janice M. Smith: Ideas for Teaching - Whitman’s «The Wound-Dresser» – Caroline R. Pryor: Pedagogies of Teaching Lincoln – Laura Milsk Fowler: Teaching Lincoln Through Museums:

About the Author :
Caroline R. Pryor is Associate Professor of Secondary Education and Curriculum at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She is editor of Learning for Democracy: An International Journal of Thought and Practice and a Wye Fellow of the Aspen Institute. Dr. Pryor is author or co-author of six previous books, and has received six annual National Endowment for the Humanities awards for her workshop for school teachers on Abraham Lincoln. Stephen L. Hansen is Professor and Dean Emeritus at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He has authored several books, book chapters, and articles on topics in higher education and in history, including The Making of the Third Party System: Voters and Parties in Illinois, 1850–1876 (1980). His articles and essays have appeared in Academic Leadership Journal, Research Management Review, Illinois Historical Journal, and the Lincoln Herald.

Review :
"This volume is long overdue. The centrality of the Civil War and the Lincoln presidency in our history is acknowledged by all, and finally a cadre of eminent scholars and teachers address the best ways to bring it alive to K-12 students today. Topics from political cartoons, to literature, to the border states, to leadership and civil rights and nationalism and race are all covered skilfully. Strongly recommended." (James M. Cornelius, PhD, Curator, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum) "As Dr. Fritz Fischer has noted, we live in age where public figures and policy makers work to create the 'memory hole,' where the past is obscured or consciously forgotten. This book offers a valuable tool to fill that hole with accurate, valuable information about a pivotal American historical figure. Accurate content and a range of primary materials and effective teaching strategies combine to promote students' understanding and ability to contribute to the process of social decision-making. An important work for today's teachers." (Thomas M. McGowan, Professor, Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln)