Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Start with something students summarize every week without thinking about it.

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "A friend missed Saturday's game and asks what happened. One teammate gives her every play in order. Another says, 'We were down by ten at halftime, switched to a zone defense, and came back to win by two.' Which answer tells her more? What did the second teammate keep, and what did she leave out?"

   Collect answers. Name what the second teammate did: she kept the starting situation (down by ten), the turning point (the switch to a zone) and the outcome (a win by two), and she dropped the plays that did not change the story. Tell students that RH.9-10.2 asks for exactly this with a historical source: find its central idea and summarize how the key events or ideas develop, accurately and without opinions.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: Three terms. Put three definitions on the board and keep them up all period.

   Topic, central idea and summary

   Term	What it answers	Length
   Topic	What is the source about?	A few words: "Grant meets Lee"
   Central idea	What does the author show or claim about the topic?	One sentence
   Summary	How do the key events or ideas develop from start to end?	A short paragraph, in order, with no opinions

   A summary is accurate when every statement in it can be traced to the text, the events stay in the text's order (or the order is stated), causes are stated only when the text gives them, and the summary says whose account it is ("Grant says ..."). It leaves out the reader's opinions and outside facts.

   Part 2: Model with Grant. Grant wrote his memoirs about twenty years after the events, and he was one of the two people at the center of them. Read T1 aloud. Students mark each place where the meeting changes direction. Work examples 1, 2 and 4 with T1; example 3 previews T2.

   1I was conducted at once to where Sheridan was located with his troops drawn up in line of battle facing the Confederate army near by. They were very much excited, and expressed their view that this was all a ruse employed to enable the Confederates to get away. They said they believed that Johnston was marching up from North Carolina now, and Lee was moving to join him; and they would whip the rebels where they now were in five minutes if I would only let them go in. But I had no doubt about the good faith of Lee, and pretty soon was conducted to where he was. I found him at the house of a Mr. McLean, at Appomattox Court House, with Colonel Marshall, one of his staff officers, awaiting my arrival. The head of his column was occupying a hill, on a portion of which was an apple orchard, beyond a little valley which separated it from that on the crest of which Sheridan's forces were drawn up in line of battle to the south.

   [...]

   2What General Lee's feelings were I do not know. As he was a man of much dignity, with an impassible face, it was impossible to say whether he felt inwardly glad that the end had finally come, or felt sad over the result, and was too manly to show it. Whatever his feelings, they were entirely concealed from my observation; but my own feelings, which had been quite jubilant on the receipt of his letter, were sad and depressed. I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse. I do not question, however, the sincerity of the great mass of those who were opposed to us.

   [...]

   3We soon fell into a conversation about old army times. He remarked that he remembered me very well in the old army; and I told him that as a matter of course I remembered him perfectly, but from the difference in our rank and years (there being about sixteen years' difference in our ages), I had thought it very likely that I had not attracted his attention sufficiently to be remembered by him after such a long interval. Our conversation grew so pleasant that I almost forgot the object of our meeting. After the conversation had run on in this style for some time, General Lee called my attention to the object of our meeting, and said that he had asked for this interview for the purpose of getting from me the terms I proposed to give his army. I said that I meant merely that his army should lay down their arms, not to take them up again during the continuance of the war unless duly and properly exchanged. He said that he had so understood my letter.

   4Then we gradually fell off again into conversation about matters foreign to the subject which had brought us together. This continued for some little time, when General Lee again interrupted the course of the conversation by suggesting that the terms I proposed to give his army ought to be written out. I called to General Parker, secretary on my staff, for writing materials, and commenced writing out the following terms:

   • Topic versus central idea (T1)

     Topic: Grant meets Lee at the McLean house. That names what T1 is about, not what Grant shows about it.

     Result: Central idea: Grant presents a meeting that opens in suspicion and settles into courtesy, with Lee, not Grant, steering the talk toward surrender. The evidence is at both ends: Sheridan's men believed "this was all a ruse" (paragraph 1), and later "General Lee again interrupted the course of the conversation" to ask for written terms (paragraph 4).

   • Tracking how events develop (T1)

     Mark where the text starts, where it shifts and where it ends. Each mark gets a paragraph number.

     Result: Start: Union troops want to attack, but Grant "had no doubt about the good faith of Lee" (paragraph 1). Shift: the talk drifts to old army days and becomes "so pleasant that I almost forgot the object of our meeting" (paragraph 3). End: Lee brings the talk back twice, and Grant calls for "writing materials" (paragraph 4). The development runs from distrust, to friendly talk, to business.

   • A turning point inside the terms (T2, paragraph 1)

     "As I wrote on, the thought occurred to me that the officers had their own private horses and effects."

     Result: The terms change while Grant writes: officers will keep their side arms, horses and private property, because taking them would be "an unnecessary humiliation." An accurate summary reports this as Grant's own idea; paragraph 2 adds that "No conversation, not one word" about it passed between the two generals.

   • A model summary of T1 (53 words)

     Task: summarize T1 in 60 words or fewer, in the order events happen, with no opinions.

     Result: Grant reaches Appomattox Court House, where Sheridan's troops suspect a trick, but he trusts Lee and meets him at Mr. McLean's house. The two generals talk about their old army days until Lee turns the conversation to the surrender terms. Lee then asks that the terms be written out, and Grant begins writing. (The summary keeps the order of T1, names the turning point, and leaves out the apple orchard and Colonel Marshall.)

   Show Diagram 1, and point out that the turning points (boxes 3 and 5) are the places where the meeting starts to be about something new.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read T2 together. Students work in pairs to build an event chain for it (four or five boxes, each with a paragraph number) and then write a three-sentence summary. Stop after paragraph 3 and ask: Did Lee get what he asked for? What do the written terms say?

   1When I put my pen to the paper I did not know the first word that I should make use of in writing the terms. I only knew what was in my mind, and I wished to express it clearly, so that there could be no mistaking it. As I wrote on, the thought occurred to me that the officers had their own private horses and effects, which were important to them, but of no value to us; also that it would be an unnecessary humiliation to call upon them to deliver their side arms.

   2No conversation, not one word, passed between General Lee and myself, either about private property, side arms, or kindred subjects. He appeared to have no objections to the terms first proposed; or if he had a point to make against them he wished to wait until they were in writing to make it. When he read over that part of the terms about side arms, horses and private property of the officers, he remarked, with some feeling, I thought, that this would have a happy effect upon his army.

   3Then, after a little further conversation, General Lee remarked to me again that their army was organized a little differently from the army of the United States (still maintaining by implication that we were two countries); that in their army the cavalrymen and artillerists owned their own horses; and he asked if he was to understand that the men who so owned their horses were to be permitted to retain them. I told him that as the terms were written they would not; that only the officers were permitted to take their private property. He then, after reading over the terms a second time, remarked that that was clear.

   4I then said to him that I thought this would be about the last battle of the war--I sincerely hoped so; and I said further I took it that most of the men in the ranks were small farmers. The whole country had been so raided by the two armies that it was doubtful whether they would be able to put in a crop to carry themselves and their families through the next winter without the aid of the horses they were then riding. The United States did not want them and I would, therefore, instruct the officers I left behind to receive the paroles of his troops to let every man of the Confederate army who claimed to own a horse or mule take the animal to his home. Lee remarked again that this would have a happy effect.

   [...]

   5General Lee, after all was completed and before taking his leave, remarked that his army was in a very bad condition for want of food, and that they were without forage; that his men had been living for some days on parched corn exclusively, and that he would have to ask me for rations and forage. I told him "certainly," and asked for how many men he wanted rations. His answer was "about twenty-five thousand;" and I authorized him to send his own commissary and quartermaster to Appomattox Station, two or three miles away, where he could have, out of the trains we had stopped, all the provisions wanted. As for forage, we had ourselves depended almost entirely upon the country for that.

   Teacher model for the pair summary: While writing, Grant decides on his own that officers may keep their side arms, horses and private property, and Lee says this will have a happy effect. Lee then asks whether his cavalrymen and artillerists may keep their horses. The written terms do not allow it, but Grant decides to let every man who claims a horse or mule take it home. Before leaving, Lee asks for rations, and Grant supplies them.

   Compare the model with two pair summaries under a document camera. Ask which details each pair kept, and use Diagram 2 to sort details into three levels: all details, key events and the central idea.

   Practice summary for Activity 2. The passage below was written for this page and contains deliberate errors. Pairs will test it against T1 and T2.

   On April 9, 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant met General Robert E. Lee at a house in Appomattox Court House, Virginia. As soon as they sat down, Lee asked for the terms of surrender in writing, and only afterward did the two men talk pleasantly about their years in the old army.

   Grant, the greatest general of the war, then wrote out generous terms. Lee handed Grant his sword, and Grant handed it back. Lee demanded that every Confederate soldier be allowed to keep his horse, and Grant had to agree.

   Before leaving, Lee asked for food for about fifteen thousand men, and Grant sent rations. The meeting shows that the war ended in a spirit of respect on both sides.

4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes

   Students read T3 on their own. Its author, Captain Robert E. Lee, was the general's youngest son and a Confederate soldier; he published this memoir in 1904. It tells the same days from the other side, far from the McLean house. Students mark the moments where the author's understanding changes, then take the quiz, which uses T3 together with T1 and T2.

   1As I was riding toward Appomattox on the 9th, I met a body of our cavalry with General T. H. Rosser at the head. He told me that General Lee and his army had surrendered, and that this force had made its way out, and was marching back to Lynchburg, expecting thence to reach General Johnston’s army. To say that I was surprised does not express my feelings. I had never heard the word “surrender” mentioned, nor even a suggested, in connection with our general or our army. I could not believe it, and did not until I was positively assured by all my friends who were with Rosser’s column that it was absolutely so. Very sadly I turned back and went to Lynchburg along with them. There I found some wagons from our headquarters which had been sent back, and with them the horses and servants of the staff. These I got together, not believing for an instant that our struggle was over, and, with several officers from our command and others, we made our way to Greensboro, North Carolina. There I found Mr. Davis and his cabinet and representatives of the Confederate departments from Richmond. There was a great diversity of opinion amongst all present as to what we should do. After waiting a couple of days, looking over the situation from every point of view, consulting with my uncle, Commodore S. S. Lee, of the Confederate Navy, and with many others, old friends of my father and staunch adherents of the Southern cause, it was determined to go back to Virginia to get our paroles, go home, and go to work.

   2While at Greensboro I went to see President Davis, just before he proceeded on his way further south. He was calm and dignified, and, in his conversation with several officers of rank who were there, seemed to think, and so expressed himself, that our cause was not lost, though sorely stricken, and that we could rally our forces west of the Mississippi and make good our fight. While I was in the room, Mr. Davis received the first official communication from General Lee of his surrender. Colonel John Taylor Woods, his aide-de-camp, had taken me in to see the President, and he and I were standing by him when the despatch from General Lee was brought to him. After reading it, he handed it without comment to us; then, turning away, he silently wept bitter tears. He seemed quite broken at the moment by this tangible evidence of the loss of his army and the misfortune of its general. All of us, respecting his great grief, silently withdrew, leaving him with Colonel Wood. I never saw him again.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: On an index card, write one sentence that states the central idea of T1 and T2 read together, and one sentence that names the turning point you think matters most, with its paragraph number.

   Teacher note on language and point of view: The sources are quoted exactly as published. Grant, the Union commander, reports that his troops wanted to "whip the rebels," and he calls the Confederate cause "one of the worst for which a people ever fought" while saying he does not question the sincerity of those who fought for it. Captain Lee writes as a Confederate officer and a son, almost forty years later, and speaks admiringly of Davis and of "the Southern cause"; his memoir belongs to a period when many Southern writers remembered the Confederacy sympathetically (the "Lost Cause" tradition), and this passage says nothing about slavery, the central issue of secession. T3 does not say who the "servants of the staff" were. Servants with Confederate armies were often enslaved Black men, and elsewhere in the same memoir the word "servants" is used for people held in slavery on the Custis family estates, so these servants may well have been enslaved; the passage alone does not settle it. In T4, the dispatches Grant received were partly wrong: Secretary of State Seward was badly wounded but survived, and no attack on Vice President Johnson was carried out. Grant's view of Johnson is his own judgment, written twenty years later. Tell students that an accurate summary reports each author's framing as the author's ("Grant writes ...", "Lee's son recalls ...") and does not adopt it.

   Homework passage. Grant's account of the night of April 14, 1865, used for the homework problems.

   1While in Washington I was very busy for a time in preparing the necessary orders for the new state of affairs; communicating with my different commanders of separate departments, bodies of troops, etc. But by the 14th I was pretty well through with this work, so as to be able to visit my children, who were then in Burlington, New Jersey, attending school. Mrs. Grant was with me in Washington at the time, and we were invited by President and Mrs. Lincoln to accompany them to the theatre on the evening of that day. I replied to the President's verbal invitation to the effect, that if we were in the city we would take great pleasure in accompanying them; but that I was very anxious to get away and visit my children, and if I could get through my work during the day I should do so. I did get through and started by the evening train on the 14th, sending Mr. Lincoln word, of course, that I would not be at the theatre.

   2At that time the railroad to New York entered Philadelphia on Broad Street; passengers were conveyed in ambulances to the Delaware River, and then ferried to Camden, at which point they took the cars again. When I reached the ferry, on the east side of the City of Philadelphia, I found people awaiting my arrival there; and also dispatches informing me of the assassination of the President and Mr. Seward, and of the probable assassination of the Vice President, Mr. Johnson, and requesting my immediate return.

   3It would be impossible for me to describe the feeling that overcame me at the news of these assassinations, more especially the assassination of the President. I knew his goodness of heart, his generosity, his yielding disposition, his desire to have everybody happy, and above all his desire to see all the people of the United States enter again upon the full privileges of citizenship with equality among all. I knew also the feeling that Mr. Johnson had expressed in speeches and conversation against the Southern people, and I feared that his course towards them would be such as to repel, and make them unwilling citizens; and if they became such they would remain so for a long while. I felt that reconstruction had been set back, no telling how far.

   4I immediately arranged for getting a train to take me back to Washington City; but Mrs. Grant was with me; it was after midnight and Burlington was but an hour away. Finding that I could accompany her to our house and return about as soon as they would be ready to take me from the Philadelphia station, I went up with her and returned immediately by the same special train. The joy that I had witnessed among the people in the street and in public places in Washington when I left there, had been turned to grief; the city was in reality a city of mourning. I have stated what I believed then the effect of this would be, and my judgment now is that I was right. I believe the South would have been saved from very much of the hardness of feeling that was engendered by Mr. Johnson's course towards them during the first few months of his administration. Be this as it may, Mr. Lincoln's assassination was particularly unfortunate for the entire nation.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1 of T3, how does the author first learn that his father's army has surrendered?

   AHe reads General Lee's official dispatch at Greensboro BGeneral Rosser, leading a body of cavalry, tells him CHis uncle, Commodore S. S. Lee, writes to him DUnion cavalry who stop him on the road tell him

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How does the author's belief develop over paragraph 1 of T3?

   AHe accepts the news at once and then doubts it in Lynchburg BHe believes the war is over as soon as Rosser speaks CHe never learns whether the report of the surrender is true DHe doubts the news until friends confirm it, yet still thinks the war goes on

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which words from paragraph 1 of T3 mark the end point of the development in that paragraph?

   A"Very sadly I turned back and went to Lynchburg along with them" B"There was a great diversity of opinion amongst all present" C"it was determined to go back to Virginia to get our paroles, go home, and go to work" D"These I got together, not believing for an instant that our struggle was over"

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1 of T3, what does "not believing for an instant that our struggle was over" show about that stage of the events?

   AHe accepts that the army surrendered, but not that the war has ended BHe thinks Rosser lied to him about the surrender CHe has already decided to go home and go to work DHe is reporting President Davis's opinion

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to paragraph 2 of T3, what did President Davis believe before the dispatch arrived?

   AThat Lee had been captured and his army destroyed BThat the war should end at once with a peace treaty CThat forces rallied west of the Mississippi could carry on the fight DThat the officers should go back to Virginia for their paroles

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 2 of T3, what do the author and the other officers do after Davis reads the dispatch?

   AThey urge Davis to rally the forces west of the Mississippi BThey carry Davis's reply back to General Lee CThey stay to plan the trip home to Virginia with him DThey leave the room in silence and leave Davis with Colonel Wood

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Paragraph 2 of T3 calls the dispatch "tangible evidence" of the loss. Why does this phrase matter to how the events develop?

   AOfficial written word made real a loss that talk had denied BDavis distrusted the author and wanted written proof CThe dispatch contained new plans for fighting in the west DThe author suspected that the dispatch was a forgery

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement is the best central idea of T3?

   AConfederate soldiers were eager to return home and start working BFor the author and for Davis, the surrender became real in stages CGeneral Rosser disobeyed orders by leading his men away from Appomattox DDavis was a calm leader who never lost hope for the Confederacy

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which detail from T3 could a short summary leave out without becoming inaccurate?

   ADavis wept after reading Lee's dispatch BRosser told the author about the surrender CThe officers decided to return to Virginia for paroles DColonel John Taylor Woods had taken the author in to see Davis

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In what order does the author travel in T3?

    AToward Appomattox, then to Lynchburg, then to Greensboro BTo Appomattox, then to Greensboro, then to Lynchburg CTo Lynchburg, then to Appomattox, then to Greensboro DTo Greensboro, then to Lynchburg, then to Richmond

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which sentence is an accurate summary statement about paragraph 2 of T3?

    AThe author led Rosser's cavalry to Greensboro to protect Davis. BDavis ordered the officers to rally their forces west of the Mississippi. CDavis handed the officers Lee's dispatch without comment and then wept. DEveryone at Greensboro agreed that the fight should go on.

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 2 of T1, how do Grant's own feelings develop?

    AFrom sad at Lee's letter to jubilant at the meeting BFrom jubilant at Lee's letter to sad and depressed at the meeting CFrom fear of a trick to anger at Lee DThey stay hidden, just as Lee's do

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to paragraph 4 of T2, why does Grant let Confederate soldiers take their horses and mules home?

    ALee refused to accept the terms without that change BThe Union army had more horses than it could feed CThe men were mostly small farmers who would need them for a crop DThe written terms already allowed every soldier to keep his horse

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    T1 and T3 describe the same days from two sides. Which statement about how the two texts develop is accurate?

    ABoth end with the author learning of the surrender by letter BT1 moves from courtesy to anger; T3 moves from grief to hope CBoth are told by a person who was inside the McLean house DT1 moves toward writing the terms; T3 moves from disbelief to going home

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write one sentence that states the central idea of T3. Then quote the detail from paragraph 2 that best supports it.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Summarize T3 in 60-80 words. Keep the events in order and show how both the author and Davis change.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Trace how Davis's outlook develops in paragraph 2 of T3. Quote one phrase from early in the paragraph and one from late in it, and name the event that comes between them.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Name two details from T3 that you would leave out of a summary, and explain why leaving them out does not make the summary inaccurate.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    T3 was published in 1904. How many years after April 1865 is that? Explain why an accurate summary should say "the author recalls" or "Lee's son writes" instead of stating his feelings as plain fact.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    A student wrote: "Rosser's cavalry escaped from Appomattox, so the author bravely led them to Greensboro, where everyone agreed to keep fighting until Davis finally gave up." Name three inaccuracies, then rewrite the sentence so that it is accurate.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RH.9-10.2: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.