I do/We do/You do Reformulation Strategy: Gettysburg Address

     Welcome back.  I hope my post finds you safe and refreshed from yesterday's holiday.

      Today, I will walk through my Gettysburg Address reformulation.  This is what Leslie Roessing calls a focus lesson.  It is also called a mini-lesson.

I DO

In my reformulation, I underlined words or phrases that are in the Gettysburg Address.  My reformulation serves as a model. It shows creativity in action for the students to see.  It also shows that I was having fun.  Moreover, students learn how allusions work.  

Some of you will recognize the rhythm as being similar to "Casey at the Bat."  Indeed, I could segue into that poem later on and have students reformulate it back into prose.  That could be an additional assessment.

Below is my reformulation:

The outlook wasn't brilliant for Abraham Lincoln that day
After Edward Everett took two hours to prattle away
And so when finally Lincoln faced the crowd on that war field
A prickly silence fell revealing anguish unconcealed
But Lincoln spoke two minutes, too short to take a photo.
He said, "All men are created equal." The women thought, "Uh oh!"

He reminded that the civil war here that called for the occasion
Fitting and proper to dedicate here ground of great devotion
He said the living here cannot dedicate a field of sacrifice
Where brave men suffered here to pay here the final price.

Devotion measured out here so freely we here who suffer grief
For those brave men so dear who died, our hearts hold fast belief
That this nation, under God, whose government that day
Of the people, by the people, for the people...shall never go away.

I tell them how I wrote the poem.  I show them lines that I changed.  Some lines came quickly, some I had to puzzle over.  I show them how I worked meter out in one or two of the lines.  I might, depending on the class, explain how I count syllables and tried to match the beat counts and rhythm with "Casey at the Bat," and then ask where my rhythm shifted if no one mentions it.

WE DO

Next, I have students get into groups.  I pass out a copy of Rielle McConelly's poem below.  They underline the words and phrases that come from Lincoln's text.

Gettysburg: as a poem

eighty-seven years ago
America was made
to be a nation of freedom,
liberty,
equality
now in this war, we are shown
no nation with intentions so pure
can endure

in this field
we have dedicated a resting place
for the dead that had the hope
that America might endure

but in the bigger picture
we cannot truly dedicate
this ground
to the courageous soldiers
who died here
fighting for liberty, justice, freedom

for they have much more power than us
having fought bravely
they are the only ones
who can truly declare this ground blessed

the world won't remember what I said here
but no one will ever forget
everyone who died here fighting

now we must dedicate ourselves
to the task before us
to make sure these dead won't have died in vain
and this nation under God
will be rebirthed
to have freedom and liberty once more
by the government
by the people
for the dead will never truly die from our hearts.


You could use your own students' work here, of course, once you have gathered some.

YOU DO

Now, the students reformulate the text on their own.  It will be interesting and fun to see what the students create.

If you feel so inclined, write a reformulation now so you will have it should you decide to teach this speech.  Remember, it can be a play, a cartoon, or anything else.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope this is a strategy you can use or alter for your purposes.  I welcome any feedback or suggestions.

I will share another strategy or theory tomorrow.  I hope to see you here.  Teach on...