Today’s Walking Classroom podcast discusses Walt Whitman’s poem, “O Captain! My Captain!”. Walt Whitman, a loyal supporter of Abraham Lincoln, wrote “O Captain! My Captain!” in 1865 following Lincoln’s assassination as a memorial to Lincoln. The poem is an example of extended metaphor where the “ship” represents the country, the “fearful trip” represents the Civil War, and the “captain” is President Lincoln.
Character Value: Admiration
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Common Core
L–Language | SL–Speaking and Listening | RI–Reading: Informational | RL–Reading: Literature | W–Writing | RH–6-8 Literacy in History/Social Studies | RST–6-8 Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects Elementary School:RL.3.1, RL.3.4, RL.3.5, L.3.5, SL.3.1, SL.3.4
RL.4.1, RL.4.2, RL.4.4, RL.4.5, L.4.5, SL.4.1, SL.4.4
RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.4, RL.5.5, L.5.5, SL.5.1, SL.5.4
Middle School:
RL.6.1, RL.6.2, RL.6.4, RL.6.5, L.6.5, SL.6.1, SL.6.4
RL.7.1, RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, L.7.5, SL.7.1, SL.7.4
RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.4, RL.8.5, L.8.5, SL.8.1, SL.8.4
Supplemental Resource Links and Downloads
Quiz: (Make sure you're already logged into your Gmail account, then click to copy this Google form to your Google Drive. Quiz keys are here.)
“O Captain! My Captain!” Google Quiz
Slide Deck:
“O Captain! My Captain!” Slide Deck
Has a reading of “O Captain My Captain” by Seth Hunter Perkins.
Describes Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work for equality and an end to racial segregation.
Explore the Ford’s Theatre virtual map of Lincoln’s Funeral Train with witness testimonies and photographs from each stop.
After reading “O Captain! My Captain!,” choose another historical figure you admire and compose a short elegy in this activity.
Reflect deeper on Whitman’s poem through completing this teacher-created reading guide.
Analyze the responses of foreign nations to President Lincoln’s death, and annotate the map with a summary of their responses according to their geographical location in this activity from Ford’s Theatre.
See More Podcasts in Subject Area: Social Studies
See More Themed Groupings that Contain this Podcast: Civil War & Reconstruction, Poets and Poetry, Songs and Poems