Lincoln Lesson Idea: Lincoln.....In Pictures

Level - Middle School - High School
Subjects - Social Studies, History, Art

Objectives:

Students will examine the role if photographic and other images in the life of people during the 1860s and in their understanding of the war.

Activity:

Share the TeachersFirst resource Civil War@Smithsonian. This site shares some amazing pieces of artwork. It is an excellent addition to a unit on slavery, the Civil War, or an art class. In honor of Lincoln’s 200th birthday, share the pictures with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students write captions for the pictures.

Challenge students to create blog entries based on the pictures and from the perspectives of Lincoln, a slave, Mathew Brady, or someone else that is shown in the pictures. What were they thinking? Why did they do what they did?

How would life have been different if the Internet was around during the Civil War? What would Lincoln say in email to Mathew Brady?

Tips:

This site would offer a great team-teaching experience for art and history teachers.

Web Resources

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