Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: An American Studies Approach for
Middle School
Lesson Plan
A resource developed through the Longfellow and the Forging of American Identity program
Authors: Judith Donahue, Language Arts Teacher, 7th and 8th grades, and Pamela
Goucher, Librarian, Freeport Middle School, Freeport, Maine
Suggested Grade Level: 6-12
Subject Area: Language Arts, Social Studies
Time Required:
This unit can be completed in four weeks.
Learning Results:
English Language Arts
I. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Poetry: Giving students a biographical
background
Process of Reading: A2, A7, A11
Informational Text: D2, D3, D4, D5, D6
Processes of Writing and Speaking: E1, E2, E3
II. Introducing Longfellow’s Paul Revere: Instructions for teachers
Literature and Culture: B2, B3
Informational Texts: D5, D6, D7
III. American Studies Analysis and Discussion: Transition to Contextual Analysis of
Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride”
Process of Reading: A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10
Literature and Culture: B3, B6, B7
Learning Objectives:
To place Longfellow’s poetry in the context of his life and times.
Lesson Outline with Materials Required:
Materials are listed by lesson plan document packet:
I. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Poetry: Giving students a biographical
background
(document packet includes):
A. Teacher instructions
B. An American Bard Assignment Sheet
C. Biography outline for An American Bard
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: An American Studies Approach for Middle School
Created by Judith Donahue and Pamela Goucher
©2006 Maine Memory Network
Page 1 of 5
II. Introducing Longfellow’s Paul Revere: Instructions for teachers
(document packet includes):
A. Reading Activities
1. Pre-reading map work
a. Maps (list of labels included in teacher's instructions)
2. Read-aloud materials
a. Poem w/ line numbers
3. Labeling Revere's and Dawes' routes
4. Reading Comprehension
a. “Paul Revere’s Ride” Fact Retrieval
b. “Paul Revere’s Ride” Fact Retrieval Answer Key
5. The language of the poem
a. The Mood of “Paul Revere’s Ride”
b. The Mood of “Paul Revere’s Ride” – Answer Key
c. Longfellow’s Message in “Paul Revere’s Ride”
d. Longfellow’s Message/Answer Key
B. Historical Context
1. link to a map showing the routes of Revere, Dawes and the British
2. Paul Revere’s testimony of his midnight ride to Lexington
III. American Studies Analysis and Discussion: Transition to Contextual Analysis of
Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride” (document packet includes):
A. Discussion of 1860 date
B. Creation of a hero
1. A brief biographical sketch of Paul Revere
2. “The Midnight Ride of William Dawes”
C. Connections to Longfellow’s past: Longfellow’s Inspiration
1. General Peleg Wadsworth: Revolutionary War Hero
2. George Washington/Craigie House Background
D. Viewing Longfellow's Civil War poetry
1. Biography of Charles Sumner
2. Longfellow’s anti-slavery poetry
a. “The Slave's Dream”
b. A request from Charles Sumner for slavery poems
c. Additional anti-slavery poems (optional)
d. “Paul Revere's Ride”
E. Longfellow’s personal connection with the Civil War
1. “Christmas Bells”
2. Longfellow's personal life
a. Civil War Casualties
b. Son Charley's Civil War experiences, from Longfellow: A Rediscovered
Life
c. Labeled “Christmas Bells”
F. Closing discussion of importance of American Studies approach - How is poem
changed?
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: An American Studies Approach for Middle School
Created by Judith Donahue and Pamela Goucher
©2006 Maine Memory Network
Page 2 of 5
Introduction:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was truly a man of his time and of his nation; this native
of Portland, Maine and graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine became an
American icon. Lines from his poems intersperse our daily speech and the characters of
his long narrative poems have become part of American myth. Longfellow’s fame was
international; scholars, politicians, heads-of-state and everyday people read and
memorized his poems. Our goal is to show that just as Longfellow reacted to and
participated in his times, so his poetry participated in shaping and defining American
culture and literature.
The following unit plan introduces and demonstrates an American Studies approach to
the life and work of Longfellow. Because the collaborative work that forms the basis for
this unit was partially responsible for leading the two of us to complete the American &
New England Studies Masters program at University of Southern Maine, we returned
there for a working definition of “American Studies approach” as it applies to the grade
level classroom. Joe Conforti, who was director at the time we both went through the
program, offered some useful clarifying comments and explanation. He reminded us that
such a focus provides a holistic approach to the life and work of an author. It sets a work
of literature in a broad cultural and historical context as well as in the context of the
poet’s life. The aim of an American Studies approach is to “broaden the context of a
work to illuminate the American past” (Conforti) for your students.
We have found this approach to have multiple benefits at the classroom and research
level. It brings the poems and the poet alive for students and connects with other
curricular work, especially social studies. When linked with a Maine history unit, it helps
to place Portland and Maine in an historical and cultural context. It also provides an
inviting atmosphere for the in-depth study of the mechanics of Longfellow’s poetry.
What follows is a set of lesson plans that form a unit of study. The biographical “anchor”
that we have used for this unit is an out-of-print biography An American Bard: The story
of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, by Ruth Langland Holberg, Thomas Y. Crowell &
Company, c1963. Permission has been requested to make this work available as a
downloadable file off this web page, but in the meantime, used copies are readily and
cheaply available from various vendors. The poem we have chosen to demonstrate our
approach is “Paul Revere’s Ride.” The worksheets were developed by Judy Donahue,
the explanatory essays researched and written by the two of us, and our sources are cited
below. We have also included a list of helpful links. When possible we have included
helpful material in text format, or have supplied site links. Our complete unit includes
other Longfellow poems with the same approach, but in the interest of time and space,
they are not included. Please feel free to contact us with questions and comments.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: An American Studies Approach for Middle School
Created by Judith Donahue and Pamela Goucher
©2006 Maine Memory Network
Page 3 of 5
Bibliography
Calhoun, Charles. Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life. Boston: Beacon Press,
2004.
Conforti, Joseph. Interview with Pamela Goucher. 7/26/2004.
Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere’s Ride. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1994.
Holberg, Ruth Langland. An American Bard: The Story of Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Company, 1963.
Kennedy, Robert C. "Charles Sumner.” Finding Precedent: The
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson. 1998. HarpWeek. <http://www.impeachandrewjohnson.com/11BiographiesKeyIndividuals/CharlesSumner.htm>.
Mitchell, Robert. “The House Which ‘Washington has rendered sacred’.”
Longfellow House Bulletin June 2000: 4:1.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: An American Studies Approach for Middle School
Created by Judith Donahue and Pamela Goucher
©2006 Maine Memory Network
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List of Useful Links
http://www.nps.gov/long/
Longfellow National Historic Site
http://imaginemaine.com/mainestories/Wadsworth.html
For a complete account of Peleg Wadsworth’s bravery in action
www.theotherpages.org/poems/poem-kl.html
Poets’ Corner: text of poems
http://ahp.gatech.edu/midnight_ride_1775.html
Paul Revere’s testimony about his ride.
http://www.paulreverehouse.org/ride/
Summary and map of the midnight rides of Revere, Dawes and the British.
http://www.harpweek.com
The “Free Features” provide a look at some of the important issues of Longfellow’s times
using text, illustrations, and cartoons taken from Harper’s Weekly magazine.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: An American Studies Approach for Middle School
Created by Judith Donahue and Pamela Goucher
©2006 Maine Memory Network
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