Lesson by Tim Bailey
Essay by Barbara A. Perry, University of Virginia
Grade Level: 3–5
Number of Class Periods: 3
About This Lesson Plan Unit
Over the course of three lessons, students will analyze quotations by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln—the four presidents immortalized on Mount Rushmore. The quotations will provide insight into what those presidents believed, in their own words.
Lesson Plan Author: Tim Bailey
Historical Background Essay by: Barbara A. Perry, University of Virginia
Additional Information About This Unit
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.8: Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
What things have presidents agreed are important?
What have presidents said was their most important responsibility?
What have presidents said was the most important responsibility for citizens?
Documents
Documents
Quotations from:
George Washington to Officers of the Army, March 15, 1783
George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, August 27, 1757
George Washington to Alexander Hamilton, August 28, 1788
Washington’s Sentiments on a Peace Establishment, May 1, 1783
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801
Thomas Jefferson to Edward Tiffin, February 2, 1807
Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, December 20, 1787
Theodore Roosevelt, New Nationalism Speech, August 31, 1910
Theodore Roosevelt, “The Strenuous Life,” April 10, 1899
Theodore Roosevelt to Henry L. Sprague, January 26, 1900
Theodore Roosevelt, At the Banquet of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, at New York, November 11, 1902
Abraham Lincoln, Speech at New Haven, Connecticut, March 6, 1860
Abraham Lincoln, “House Divided” Speech, June 16, 1858
Abraham Lincoln, Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment, March 17, 1865
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865