Lesson Plans
Integrating portraiture into the classroom provides exciting opportunities to connect students with history, biography, and visual art. The portraits found in "One Life: The Mask of Lincoln" have incredibly useful classroom application as your students study Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Below are five lesson plans that can be used in conjunction with this exhibition (either in the classroom or while visiting the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery). All lessons are designed for grades 4–12 in United States history classes.
Smithsonian Education held a live online conference about Abraham Lincoln, on February 4 and 5, 2009—you can view the archived recordings here. And see their website for additional lesson plans. In addition, the National Portrait Gallery partnered with Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) to produce a portfolio version of the exhibition, available here.
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Lincoln and Photography: A Closer Look |
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Abraham Lincoln, February 27, 1860 |
Materials: Lincoln by Mathew Brady, Lincoln by Alexander Gardner |
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Lincoln in Richmond |
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Richmond, Virginia, April 1865 |
Materials: Lincoln in Richmond by Lambert Hollis |
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The Life Masks of Lincoln |
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Abraham Lincoln, 1865 |
Materials: Lincoln by Leonard Volk, Lincoln by Clark Mills |
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First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation |
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First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation |
Materials: Engraving by Alexander Hay Ritchie |
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Whitman and Lincoln |
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Abraham Lincoln, 1865 |
See the PDF for materials. This lesson was created in collaboration with The Choral Arts Society of Washington |
