Little Town on the Prairie - Week 4

ABRAHAM LINCOLN:

(16th President; 1861-65)

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States of America. He served as President from March 4, 1861, until April 15, 1865 (he was re-elected in 1864). Lincoln's Vice-President was Andrew Johnson (1808-1875).

Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He had very little formal schooling and was mostly self-educated. He eventually became a lawyer and a Republican politician; he earned the nickname "Honest Abe." Lincoln married Mary Todd in 1842; they had four sons, but only one (Robert) survived childhood.

Lincoln was elected President in 1860. During Lincoln's presidency, the Southern states seceded from (left) the Union because Lincoln and the Northern states were against slavery. Six weeks after becoming President, the Civil War began. In this war, the Northern states (which stayed in the Union) fought the Southern states (called the Confederacy). The Civil War lasted from 1861 until 1865.

On Jan. 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which eventually led to the freeing of all slaves in the USA. During the Civil War, Lincoln gave many speeches, including the Gettysburg Address (Nov. 1863), a short speech in which he stated how a country must be dedicated to human freedom in order to survive.

Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864 (defeating Democrat George B. McClellan).

General Robert E. Lee (from the Confederacy) surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant (from the Union) on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Civil War.

President Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth (an actor). Lincoln had been attending a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Lincoln died the next morning. He was the first US president ever assassinated. Andrew Johnson (Lincoln's Vice-President) became the next US President.

Abraham Lincoln Lesson Plans and Activities By...

A to Z Teacher Stuff

Enchanted Learning

Mr. Donn

Pro Teacher

The Teacher's Corner

ANDREW JOHNSON:

(17th President; 1865-69)

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) was the 17th president of the United States. Johnson was born on December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was Abraham Lincoln's vice-president, and became president after Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. Johnson was the only US president who never went to school; he was self-taught. During the Civil War, Andrew Johnson was the only Southern senator who remained loyal to the Union. During his presidency, Johnson authorized the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Johnson died on July 31, 1875, at Carter Station, Tennessee.


ULYSSES S. GRANT:
(18th President; 1869-77)

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) was the 18th president of the United States. Grant was born on April 22, 1822 in Port Pleasant, Ohio. He was a popular commander of the Union Army in the Civil War. The transcontinental railroad (the east-west railroad across the USA) was completed during Grant's term. Grant's two terms (1869-1877) were littered with scandals that involved some of the under-qualified people that Grant had put in high offices; Grant declined to run for a third term. Grant died on July 23, 1885, in Mount McGregor, New York.





RUTHERFORD B. HAYES:
(19th President; 1877-81)

Rutherford Hayes (1822-1893) was the 19th president of the United States. Hayes was born on October 4, 1822, in Delaware, Ohio. Hayes ended the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War. During his term as president (1877-1881) the country became more prosperous, but Hayes did not run for a second term. He died on January 17, 1893, in Fremont, Ohio.


JAMES GARFIELD:
(20th President; 1881)

James Garfield (1831-1881) was the 20th president of the United States. Garfield was born on November 19, 1831 in Orange, Ohio. In 1881, four months after becoming president, Garfield was shot and fatally wounded by a person who had wanted, but was not given, a government job by Garfield. Garfield died on September 19, 1881, in Elberon, New Jersey.


CHESTER A. ARTHUR:
(21st President; 1881-85)

Chester Arthur (Oct. 5, 1829-Nov. 18, 1886) was the 21st President of the USA (serving from 1881-1885). Before he was President, Arthur had been the Vice-President of the USA, serving under President James A. Garfield. After Garfield was assassinated, Arthur was elected President. During his term as President, tried to reform the civil service system. Early in his career, Arthur worked as a lawyer and as the customs collector for the Port of New York City (but Arthur was ousted from that office for doing political favors for his party supporters).


CLARA BARTON:

THE PROCESS OF IMPEACHMENT:

Congress for Kids

A Kid's Guide to Impeachment

Helping Kids Understand Impeachment

BATTLE AT LITTLE BIGHORN:

Little Bighorn on Discovery Education

U.S. History Blog

Awesome Stories about the Battle at Little Bighorn (warning: some graphic video, may not be appropriate for young audiences)

Little Town on the Prairie - Week 3

* You can take a quiz about "The Little Town on the Prairie" here!


JAMES POLK:

(11th President; 1845-49)

James K. Polk (1795-1849) was the eleventh president of the United States. Polk was born on November 2, 1795, near Pineville, North Carolina. Serving as US President from 1845 until 1849, Polk was the first president who decided not to seek a second term in office. In 1845, Polk convinced Congress to declare war on Mexico to continue the expansion of the US westward (the Mexican War lasted from 1846-1848). During his term, much of the Southwest and California became part of the United States. Polk died on June 15, 1849, in Nashville, Tennessee, only three months after leaving office.

ZACHARY TAYLOR:

(12th President; 1848-50)

Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, near Barboursville, Virginia. Taylor was a military hero in the War of 1812, the Indian Wars, and in the Mexican War. He served as US president from 1848 until 1850 (only 16 months). He died suddenly in office on July 6, 1850, in Washington, D.C.

MILLARD FILLMORE:

(13th President; 1850-53)

Fillmore was born on January 7, 1800 in Locke, New York. Fillmore was Vice President under Zachary Taylor, but became president after Taylor died in office. Although Fillmore was against slavery, he approved of the Compromise of 1850, which allowed more new slave states to be entered into the Union and harshly penalized people who helped runaway slaves; because of this, Fillmore lost much of his support from the North. One of Fillmore's achievements was opening up trade with Japan (Fillmore sent Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan). Fillmore was president from 1850 until 1853, and died on March 8, 1874 in Buffalo, New York.

FRANKLIN PIERCE:

(14th President; 1853-57)

Pierce was born on November 23, 1804, in Hillsboro, New Hampshire. During his term (1853-1857) his greatest accomplishment was the Gadsden Purchase (1853), this added parts of northern of Mexico to the United States (now parts of southern Arizona and New Mexico). President Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which repealed the Missouri Compromise, creating two new teritories, Kansas and Nebraska, and let the new settlers decide whether they would have slavery in the new territories. Pierce died on October 8, 1869, in Concord, New Hampshire.

JAMES BUCHANAN:

(15th President; 1857-61)

Educated as a lawyer, Buchanan had worked as a Pennsylvania state legislator, Representative, minister to Russia, US Senator, Secretary of State (to President James K. Polk), and minister to Great Britain. After he was elected President, Buchanan fought to preserve the Union (the North and the South were heading towards war over the issue of slavery). Although he was against slavery, Buchanan let Kansas (a slave state) join the Union - this angered the anti-slavery North. Buchanan's support of the outcome of the Dred Scott court case (in which it was ruled that Scott, a black man could not obtain his freedom because he was not a US citizen) also decreased support in the North. Lincoln became President in 1861 after Buchanan left office.

MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR:

Mexican-American War With Dr. Donn

U.S. - Mexican War on PBS

The U.S. - Mexican War on ProTeacher

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850:

VANITY (from the 1828 Webster's Dictionary):

1. Emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty; inanity.

Vanity of vanities, said the preacher; all is vanity. Eccles. 1.

2. Fruitless desire or endeavor.

Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the certainty of things to come.

3. Trifling labor that produces no good.

4. Emptiness; untruth

Here I may well show the vanity of what is reported in the story of Walsingham.

5. Empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment.

Sin with vanity had fill'd the works of men.

Think not when woman's transient breath is fled, that all her vanities at once are dead; succeeding vanities she still regards.

6. Ostentation; arrogance.

7. Inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride, inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations. Fops cannot be cured of their vanity.

Vanity is the food of fools.

No man sympathizes with the sorrows of vanity.

JOHN BROWN:

SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND:

THE DRED SCOTT DECISION:

ELECTRICITY:

HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE TELEGRAPH USING AN ELECTROMAGNET:

Directions from Professor Tom

How to Build a Simple Telegraph Set from Energizer

Got the Message? (from Scholastic)

INDULGENCE (from the 1828 Webster's Dictionary):

1. The act of indulging or humoring; the quality of being indulgent; forbearance of restrain or control.
If I were a judge, that word indulgence should never issue from my lips. Tooke.

They err, that through indulgence to others, or fondness to any sin in themselves, substitute for repentance anything less. Hammond.

2. An indulgent act; favor granted; gratification.
If all these gracious indulgences are without any effect on us, we must perish in our own folly. Rogers.

3. Remission of the temporal punishment due to sins, after the guilt of sin has been remitted by sincere repentance; absolution from the censures and public penances of the church. It is a payment of the debt of justice to God by the application of the merits of Christ and his saints to the contrite soul through the church. It is therefore believed to diminish or destroy for sins the punishment of purgatory.

4. To grant an indulgence to.

Little Town on the Prairie - Week 2

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS:

(6th president; 1825-1829)

ANDREW JACKSON:

(7th President; 1829-1837)

MARTIN VAN BUREN:

(8th President; 1837-1841)

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON:

(9th President; March 4, 1841 - April 4, 1841)

Harrison on the History Channel

JOHN TYLER:

(10th President; 1841-1845)

John Tyler on the History Channel

WAR OF 1812:

War of 1812 Lesson Plans

SPANISH NEEDLE GRASS:

BLACK BIRD PIE RECIPE:
(Do not worry - we will NOT be trying this recipe!)

3 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup very warm water (almost hot)

Mix little biscuit dough. Knead 'til tough and dry - roll with rolling pin 'til very thin and cut into 2-inch strips.

(Clean birds according to information posted under recipe)

BIRDS:
25 black birds well covered with water
3/4 lb. sausage (link) - optional

Cook until tender (at least 2 hours or 1 hour for chicken). Salt and pepper to taste. When black birds are tender, keep broth at a rolling boil and drop in pastry - piece by piece, shaking pot constantly to keep pastry pieces separated. When all is in pot, place cover on and let cook for approximately 10 minutes. Let set for about ten more minutes. Then eat.

If you are unfamiliar with making pastry from scratch, you can substitute canned biscuits (roll individually with rolling pin). Or buy frozen pastry from bakery. If you use canned biscuits, let set for one-half hour and roll or flatten again to thinness desired.

ALFRED LORD TENNYSON:

Alfred Lord Tennyson - Crossing The Bar from Stewart MacGregor on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday, Laura Ingalls Wilder!

February 7, 1867
Laura would be turning 143 years old!
Here's a few pictures of her growing up...

And here are a few pics and videos from a Birthday Celebration my girls attended at Owasso Library this weekend:

How To Spin Yarn...


"M" Learning How to Spin Yarn...


"A" Learning How to Spin Yarn...

Little Town on the Prairie - Week 1

Little Town on the Prairie Lapbook:

U.S. Presidents:

Free Presidents Lapbook (from Homeschool Share)

Lapbooks, Printables and More (from Squido)

List of President Lapbooks for Sale (from CurrClick)

The Presidents (from the WhiteHouse.gov)

U.S. Presidents (from Biography.com)

American Presidents (from MrDonn.org)

American President Resources (from C-SPAN in the Classroom)

President Day Activities (from Education World)

Activities, Worksheets and Crafts for President's Day (Enchanted Learning)
The Presidents (on Disney's Educational Channel on youtube)

GEORGE WASHINGTON:

JOHN ADAMS:

THOMAS JEFFERSON:

JAMES MADISON:

JAMES MONROE:

MILKING A COW:

SHEEP SORRELS:

Sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella) is a tall herb that is found in grasslands, prairies, meadows, fields, pastures, and roadsides of Europe, Asia, and North America. This perennial plant from the buckwheat (Polygonaceae) family was originally from Eurasia, but is now naturalized throughout Canada and the United States. Sheep sorrel is also known as field sorrel, red top sorrel, sour grass, common sorrel, and dog-eared sorrel. The plant is related to other highly acidic members of the Rumex genus, including French or garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa). You can read more here.

TAKING CARE OF CHICKENS:

LOUISIANA PURCHASE:

HOW TO MAKE LEMONADE:

Tour of Our Little House Log Cabin

The girls looove to play "Little House" and have turned our upstairs loft area into their "log cabin". They decorated it like it was back in the pioneer days complete with lace, simple table settings and quilts. "M" is the responsible, older sister, Mary, and "A" is the spirited, younger sister, Laura, who apparently is currently sick with Scarlett Fever :-O "Little House" music is playing in the background from our "Prairie Primer" blog and they are having so much fun! Here's a tour of their "work"...

The Long Winter - Week 4

Fascinator - A woman's head scarf made of net or lace

WIND:

PSALM 61:1-2
Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

PHILIPPIANS 4:11, 13 and 19
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

PSALM 146:7
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free...

PSALM 37:25
I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

MATTHEW 6:8-13
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. "This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.