The Gettysburg Address: Primary Source Analysis

In November of 1863, a ceremony was held to dedicate a cemetery in Gettysburg to honor the great battle. The first speaker was Edward Everett, who gave an impassioned two-hour speech. After Everett, Abraham Lincoln rose and spoke for little more than two minutes. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was, in many ways, a summation of why the war was being fought and the meaning of the sacrifices made by the men who fought in the battle. At the end of Lincoln’s speech, Edward Everett, the man who had spoken prior to Lincoln, said, “I wish I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes." This product will help bring the speech alive to your students. This product is aligned to excerpts read directly from the speech. Excellent for struggling readers and audio learners.

This product breaks down the speech into chunked text for students. After each section, students are asked some simple processing questions that will help them comprehend what they have read. I have also include time stamps so that students can listen to the speech while they follow along.

Clipart and Product Clipart Credit: by Dandy Doodles

PDF

Teacher key

Student version

Time stamps