104 Presidents and American Symbols: Supplemental Guide 6A | Abraham Lincoln
Presenting the Read-Aloud 10 minutes
Abraham Lincoln
Show image 6A-1: Lincoln and his hat
[Invite a student to point to Lincoln’s tall hat.]
If I asked you what was under Abraham Lincoln’s hat, you might laugh
and say, “His head, of course!”You may have seen pictures of a tall, bearded man wearing a tall,
black hat. This is Abraham Lincoln. Today you will hear about
something important he kept under his hat while he was president.But first we will hear about young Abe. Show image 5A-1: Abe Lincoln chops wood
Abe Lincoln’s family lived in a little log cabin far out in the country.
Abe’s family was poor, and he had to work hard every day to help
his father with the farm. Abe planted seeds, plowed the field, and
chopped wood. He spent the whole day working on the farm. Abe
had so many chores to do, that he had to work all day long. He did
not have time to go to school. Show image 5A-2: Abe Lincoln reading by fire
But Abe still loved learning and wanted to learn all kinds of things.
So every night, even though he was tired, he stayed awake, teaching
himself to read. In those days, no one had electric lights that you
could turn on after dark. So in order to read, Abe Lincoln sat beside
the fireplace. The light from the fire helped him see the words on the
pages of the books that he was reading.
As Abe got older, he continued to work very hard, helping on the farm
during the day and studying at night. He read as many books as he
could find, but his family did not have many books of their own. Show image 5A-3: Abe Lincoln holding up book
So Abe borrowed a book from a neighbor. It rained that night, and the
roof of his family’s log cabin leaked. The neighbor’s book got all wet!
It was ruined.[Ask: “What do you think Abe should do?”]