Researching the Lincoln Assassination

Introduction

This lesson is designed to be the last of three two- to three-week lessons. The first lesson is an overview of the Civil War. The focus is big picture, using readings and a lecture/discussion format with a standard comprehensive assessment at its conclusion. The second lesson is a group reading of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer and its goal is twofold: first to create a knowledge base on the Lincoln Assassination; second spend a portion of each class period wrestling as a group on artifacts and primary sources connected to the assassination prior to the individual research project.

The research project is a continuation of the research students have been doing all year and is traditional research in its pedagogy. Students will evaluate and cite print and electronic sources looking for content, bias and suitability for research. Students will use a note card system for recording information based on their selected topic and subtopics. Finally, students will submit their findings in writing as well a present to their peers as part of a Crime Scene Investigation unit formed after the “tragic assassination of the 16th President.”

Objectives

Students will research a topic using acceptable research techniques and strategies
Students will convert note cards to outlines, and a draft of both a research paper and script
Students will formally present their findings on their topic in both writing as well as orally
Students will be able to evaluate the events surrounding the Lincoln assassination, and John Wilkes Booth’s escape, manhunt, and death
Students will be able to analyze artifacts and primary source documents in a manner similar to professional historians
Students will be able to display and discuss the impact of Lincoln’s death on the country

Standards

National Council for the Social Studies strands: Time, Continuity and Change; People, Places and Environments; Civic Ideals and Practices

Procedure

Lesson Activity One: Research, Writing, and Editing

Students begin to plan and prepare research for their Lincoln’s Assassination paper by using various primary source databases and previous research

Lesson Activity Two: Continue to Research, Write, and Edit

Students apply and analyze their research to form a coherent 3-4 Page essay

Lesson Activity Three: Presentation

Students, present abstracts of their papers to their class, defend their paper, and answer questions

Lesson Activity One: Research, Writing, and Editing

The teacher should lead a simple question and answer session exploring the progress (or a sample) of the other/fellow researchers in regards to the Lincoln Assassination.
Introduce students to the Remembering Lincoln website
- Pull an image from Remembering Lincoln and have a short analysis/discussion

(Note: Students will often come across a resource another student would find useful. If you have them chat at the beginning of the class, students could serve as their own research champions. )

Lesson Activity Two: Continue to Research, write, and edit

Students will use the resources listed above and from the Remembering Lincoln collection to produce research/annotated bibliography note cards on their particular subject, making sure to accurately cite each source used.
Once the research is completed and the note cards are sorted and ordered, students will write a 3 to 4 page paper on their topic, using correct MLA format and citations.
Have a place in the library for students to place questions or requests. They could be asking for people to leave suggestions for websites/books of a particular topic/subtopic (see supplemental handout #2). They could be general Lincoln Assassination questions they come up with as they research. Address these at the next day’s beginning.

Lesson Activity Three: Presentation

Students will condense their paper into a one paragraph abstract of no more than 10 – 12 sentences. Students will select one image/document/artifact connected to their research and present both of these during a “Lincoln Assassination” roundtable
The presentation will be conducted in a CSI format (see supplemental handout #3), using one wall of the classroom to place the abstracts, images and other items central to the assassination. Students will then open themselves up to questioning and feedback by their peers on the object and their research.
On each day (or the final day) of presentations, conduct a visual thinking strategy on the CSI wall (see supplemental handout #3).
- If you conduct this lesson with multiple classes in one year, students will not have heard or seen all of the presentations. What images are striking? What connections between people, places, and things do you notice? What do you still wonder about the assassination?

For grading rubrics, see Supplemental Handout #4