Organize students into small groups of three or four students 

Distribute Handout One: Opening Quotes

Have students independently read the quotes and choose one that is most closely aligned with their own perspective.

As a large group, discuss:

*What do these quotes express about the importance of studying Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War?

*How do you think the events of that time relate to what is happening in our nation today?

Distribute and review Handout Two: Lincoln’s Dilemma Learning Log and give students a few minutes to record their thoughts.

Teacher Note: The filmmakers conducted over 25 interviews to produce Lincoln’s Dilemma. The full interviews are available in the Interview Archive. A selection of these interviews, edited together here to create Interview Threads and aligned to the specific lesson topic, are available for your students’ learning. 

Explain to students that they are going to continue learning about different perspectives on Lincoln’s administration through completing a jigsaw model using three Interview Threads as the “text” to study. Students can follow along and take notes using the transcripts available in Handouts Three, Four, and Five. 

Step One: Using a jigsaw model split students into groups of three. (Remember Jigsaw works best when you have the same number of students in each team.)

Thread One: The Second Inaugural and the Meaning of the Civil War
In this thread, historians discuss Lincoln’s second inaugural address and the impact it may have had on how we perceive the meaning of the Civil War, the pathway of Reconstruction, and their legacy today. 

Thread Two: The Complexity of Abraham Lincoln
Historians present different perspectives on why Lincoln took the positions he did, how he evolved over time, and the influences on his actions.

Thread Three: Why a Nuanced View of History Matters
In this thread, historians discuss how our perceptions of Lincoln have changed over time, and what the stories we tell about history reveal about who we are today. 

Step Two: Assign one student to an individual Interview Thread and distribute the relevant Interview Thread Transcript.

Step Three: Have students watch their Interview Thread underlining details that catch their attention, and jot down questions and insights that come to mind. 

Step Four: Have “Expert” groups get together to share what they learned from their historians. For example, all students who watched Thread One will come together and prepare a short presentation to share in the jigsaw group using these prompts:

*What was the main idea of your Interview Thread?

*What perspectives did the historians offer on Lincoln’s actions, administration, or legacy?

*In what ways did they suggest that Lincoln and this time period have relevance today?

Remind students the importance of expert groups preparing themselves well so that everyone can learn from all of the Threads. 

Step Five: Students return to their original Jigsaw group to share their presentation.

After completing the exercise, offer students time to record their thoughts and reflections in their Learning Log.

Teacher Note: Transition to sharing with students that they will be watching two clips from Episode Four of Lincoln’s Dilemma. Let students know that Episode Four chronicles the end of the Civil War, Lincoln’s re-election in 1864, the passage of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, and Lincoln’s assassination in 1865.

Remind students to use Handout Three: Film Clips Transcript to follow along, underlining or highlighting ideas, names, or concepts that stand out as important, or that spark curiosity.

At the end of both clips, have students use the discussion prompts in pairs or small groups.

Film Clip One:  A Welcoming Physical Geography (3:09)
This clip discusses the controversy around the creation and removal of Confederate monuments around the country. It also introduces the thinking behind the construction and meaning of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Film Clip Two: Remembering Our History (3:11)
This clip features different historians’ perspectives on how Lincoln could be remembered.

Divide the class into small group or pairs and have them discuss these questions:

*What did you notice or learn from these clips about historical monuments and memorials?

*Why do you think memorials matter in the landscape of a nation?

*What different perspectives did you hear about how Lincoln has been represented and remembered in our history?

Offer students time to record their thoughts in their Learning Log.

Have students collect their four Learning Logs and review their notes. 

After students have finished, explain the following:
(Sample Script)
“Congratulations class! You have been selected to be part of a committee tasked to create a new site of public memory in your city. Be creative and thoughtful – your memorial or monument can take any form and be located anywhere you like. It can be made of any material. . The only limitation is that it will be called “America’s Struggle for Freedom and Equality.” 

As a class, watch Thread Four: Memorializing the Struggle for Freedom and Equality. Students can follow along using the transcripts in Handout Six.  

Discuss:

*Share one monument, memorial or other structure that communicates something from history that you have visited? What makes it memorable?

*What is the purpose of public memorials, monuments, or other sites of public memory?

*When you think about creating your own such site of public memory to this era, what do you think is important to communicate?

*Is a memorial or a monument the only kind of physical structure that can be a site of public memory? What other structures can be created?

*Does the location of the physical structure matter? Why?

*What materials do you think are most evocative for such structures?

Have students return to their Learning Logs and review their notes once again. With this task before them, have students generate a proposal for their project.

Each proposal should include the following elements:

A description of the site of “America’s Struggle for Freedom and Equality,” This should include its subject (person/ people and/or event(s)), proposed location, and the materials you will use. (Students will be encouraged to draw or build a small model prototype to accompany their proposal.) 

Explain in one paragraph the narrative this site will honor and/or represent.

Have students present their proposals to the full class or in small groups.

Employ these suggestions for further engagement, using the students’ ideas: 

*Students present their proposals (in an oral presentation, in Google Slides, through a short video, etc.,) to one another and the class can collectivelydevelop and agree on one to build and place somewhere in the school.

*Students build models and host an exhibit for the school and community.

*Students collaborate with a local artist or community-based organization to build a prototype for their local community.