Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Student Page

Introduction

This webquest was designed as a fifth grade lesson on developing and interpreting historical timelines. It was designed to be part of a unit on the civil war. The assassination of Lincoln was one of the culminating acts of violence associated with brutal conflict.

This lesson as designed to to give students a deeper understanding of the historical events leading up to an d after the assassination. Students work as a team to research historical websites that will give them the information they need to construct their timeline. Once they find the information they need the students then have to synthesize their information. They do this by deciding as a group what the three most important events that they discovered. This lesson calls on students to work collaboratively in small groups, to develop their research skills and to present what they found.

Learners 

This lesson is anchored in fifth grade social studies and involves art to a lesser extent. This lesson can be easily extended to to other grades and this style can have be used in many different ways. Students will need to be able to use computers for their web research. Students are encouraged to represent their timeline in any for that they feel will be the most convincing. They may need help to bring some of their creative ideas to fruition.

Standards

1. 1.Interpret data and chronological relationships presented in timelines and narratives. (Social Studies)
   

2. 2.Create and present works of art. (Art)
   

This lesson develops the student’s ability to interpret and synthesize information. /this lesson also requires the students to agree as a group on the most crucial information to present to the class. The presentation encourages them to use their artistic creativity.

Process

This lesson will need to be divided into three different parts. it may be easier to do this lesson over three days. Each part of the lesson will take approximately 30-45 minutes. The first two days will be spent researching, deciding on information, creating presentations. The final day will be for refining their work and then presenting to the class. Depending on how long it takes groups to present another day of class may be needed to complete the lesson.

As the teacher you may need to help the students and facilitate the research process. The hard part will be locating the information needed to tell the story. An outline of the possible events might be useful to help the students get started. It is recommended that you are there to help them with this process and encourage them to be creative in their presentation.

1. 1.You will be divided into prosecution teams of 4-5 students. (Groups can be assigned randomly or ability grouping might be desired depending on the class)
   

2. 2.You are encouraged to work collaboratively to gather five to seven pieces of information that you feel are the most important for the construction of your case.(Students can choose their own groups or they can be assigned depending on the structure of the class)
   

3. 3.Here are the links that you will be using. Look for the most concrete information that you can find, and have fun exploring. (These are the links for the project. You may want to look through them and become familiar with the information that the students will be discovering. This will also be useful if you need to assist students in finsing information.)
   

    http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/books/kauffman.htm

    http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/books/kauffman2.htm

    http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln.html

   

    http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0414.html#article 

    http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/lincolnconspiracy.html

    http://civilwarstudies.org/tours.shtm

    http://www.somd.lib.md.us/MUSEUMS/Mudd.htm

    http://www.surratt.org/

    http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/education/aplaces.htm

Part 2: Presentation

1. 1.Now that you have gathered the information that is most relevant as a group choose what you think are the three most important to your case. (Scaffolding may be needed to help the groups synthesize the information that they found.)
   

2. 2.Create a timeline of events that organizes your information chronologically and will tell the jury what happened. (An example of a timeline of events may be useful to help give the students an idea of what they are trying to accomplish).
   

3. 3.Your timeline must be a visual representation of the evidence. You are encouraged to use pictures you have found for this assignment. There is paper of different colors, markers, scissors, and paint for your visual representations. You may also want to create a skit that represents your timeline. Use what ever method you think will be most convincing to the jury. (There are many different directions this part of the lesson could take depending on the creativity of the students. You may want to make sure you have as many artistic supplies available to your class. Encourage the students to create a skit and act out the action.)
   

4. 4.Each prosecuting team will have five minutes to present their timelines as a visual or physical representation to the class/jury. The teacher is the judge ensuring that each group has equal time for their presentation. Each member of the group is expected to contribute to the final product. (More time may be needed for this part of the lesson depending on each presentation. You may want to allocate more time if needed.)
   

Resources Needed

Resources needed to complete this lesson include:

1. 1.Enough laptop computer for each group to use to complete their research. You may need as many as ten laptops. If you do not have access to laptops then an computer lab can be used.
   

2. 2.Paper of different colors, markers, scissors, and paint so students can create their visual representations.
   

3. 3.Printer available for printing images
   

4. 4.A copy of a timeline to use as an example during the introduction.
   

Students are encouraged to be as creative as possible during this lesson. There may be some other material that I have not mentioned that you may want to include. Supervision of the students during their internet research in essential. There will be some groups with limited computer skills. If you need to use the computer lab make sure that there is enough time reserved, it may take 25- 45 minutes for this.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated on their individual contributions and group participation. This rubric will be used to evaluate them in these areas. As the teacher you can do the evaluating or the students can use the rubric to evaluate their work.

Information for Timeline:

5. 5.Gathered seven important pieces of information that clearly, accurately, and chronologically informs other classmates of the events that led to the assassination of President Lincoln. Chose the three most convincing to present to the class.
   

3. 3.Gathered three to five pieces of information that accurately, and chronologically informs other classmates of the events that led to the assassination of President Lincoln. Chose the three most convincing to present to the class.
   

1. 1.Gathered information about the of the events that led to the assassination of President Lincoln but it dose not clearly, accurately, and chronologically inform other classmates.
   

Small Group Work:

5. 5.Students worked together collaboratively as a team. Each member contributed during the project and disagreements were resolved thoughtfully.
   

3. 3.Students worked well together. Most of the group members contributed during the project with few disagreements.
   

1. 1.Students did not work together as a team or collaborate on decisions. Each member did their own work independently.
   

Navigation of appropriate websites for the purpose of gathering needed information:

5. 5.All of the listed websites were used to gather information for this project.
   

3. 3.Five or six of the websites were used to gather information for this project.
   

1. One or two websites were used to gather information. 

Creation of Historical Timeline:

5. 5.Students demonstrated the ability to synthesize important historical information by creating a timeline of events that is chronologically organized. The three events chosen as the most important inform others of exactly what happened during this historical event.
   

3. 3.Students identify relevant historical information and create a timeline but the sequencing is not exactly accurate. The three events chosen as the most important gives others an idea of what happened during this historical event.
   

1. 1.Timeline of events contains little relevant information with no organization. The three events chosen as most important does not inform others what happened during this historical event.
   

Presentation: 

5. 5.Three important events were visually or physically represented in a clear and concise format and were understood by others with all group members contributing equally during the final presentation.
   

3. 3.Three events were presented visually or physically some of the information was unclear and not understood by others with most group members contributing during the final presentation.
   

1. 1.Three events were not visually or physically represented and few of the group members contributed during the final presentation.
   

Conclusion

This lesson is a great way for students to develop their synthesizing skills as well as many others. They will work with others while using their creative abilities to create their presentation. During the presentation public speaking skills as well as cooperation are needed.  This lesson also cultivates computer and internet searching abilities. Students will be engaged in the lesson as it gives them many different avenues to express themselves depending on their own personal preferences.

Credits and References

Image of Lincoln Memorial found at:

Smithsonian Office of Imaging - http://smithsonianimages.si.edu/siphoto/siphoto.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=home