How Abraham Lincoln Lost His Birthday Holiday (1230L)

How AbrahamVale MiddleLincoln School Lost R eadingHis Birthday Article Holiday How Abraham Lincoln Lost His Birthday Holiday (1230L)

Instructions: COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS AND MARGIN NOTES

Read the following article carefully and make notes in the margin as you read. Your notes should include: o Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main idea of important sections may serve this purpose.) o Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read. o Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion. o Observations about how the writer’s strategies (organization, word choice, perspective, support) and choices affect the article.

Your margin notes are part of your score for this assessment. Answer the questions carefully in complete sentences unless otherwise instructed.

Student ______Class Period______

How Abraham Lincoln lost his birthday Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I holiday read:

It’s Abraham Lincoln’s 204th birthday on February 12, 2013, but you wouldn’t know it by watching the number of states that observe the day as a paid holiday. Currently, the Lincoln holiday is celebrated unofficially nationwide, as part of what many states call Presidents Day, which falls on Monday, February 18 this year. Only four states remain that celebrate the actual Lincoln birthday on its date.

Technically, the federal Presidents Day commemorates George Washington’s observed birthday: There is no national holiday called Presidents Day. The third Monday in February is the date designated for the federal Washington’s Birthday holiday under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971.

So on February 12, Lincoln’s real birthday, there are a handful of celebrations on a state level, along with a ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. There is also a wreath ceremony at Lincoln’s birthplace in Kentucky. Lincoln really was born in a one-room log cabin, on Sinking Spring Farm near present-day Hodgenville, Kentucky. (The original cabin was destroyed by the time of Lincoln’s death in 1865.)

There were efforts right after Lincoln’s death to get this birthday recognized as a holiday, but there has never been a federal Lincoln-birthday holiday. By 1990, Lincoln’s birthday was observed as a paid holiday in 10 states. According to one blog that tracks the holiday, in 1940, 24 states and the District of Columbia observed Lincoln’s Birthday. Now, after the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was passed and states moved toward considering the federal Washington-birthday holiday as

Bomboy, S. How Abraham Lincoln lost his birthday holiday. Constitution Daily. February 12, 2013.

How AbrahamVale MiddleLincoln School Lost R eadingHis Birthday Article Holiday How AbrahamHow Abra Lincolnham Lincoln Lost Lost His Birthday His Holiday Birthday (1230L)

Presidents Day, there are just a handful of states that honor Lincoln directly. Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I The states that currently have Lincoln-birthday holidays on February 12 include read: Illinois (Lincoln’s adopted home state), Connecticut, Missouri, and New York. According to the National Constitution Center, the real challenge is sorting through the varying punctuation of “presidents” –it’s enough to make any copy editor dizzy. In 17 states it’s Presidents’ Day (plural possessive), in five states it’s Presidents Day (plural), and in four states it’s President’s Day (singular possessive). Much to the chagrin of copy editors, there is nothing close to national consensus on the pseudo- holiday’s name.

In 2009, California decided to end its official paid Lincoln-birthday holiday for state employees. (It also cut Columbus Day.) Indiana also recognizes Lincoln’s birthday but observes it on the day after Thanksgiving. New Jersey has phased out the Lincoln holiday as a cost-cutting measure. There have been several attempts in Congress to get Lincoln his own national holiday, but none have succeeded.

Now, more states celebrate Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) than Lincoln’s birthday. In fact, 18 states, not including Indiana, have days off for state employees for Black Friday. Another 10 states give their employees the day off for Good Friday, and five states recognize December 26 as a holiday.

Only 10 states include language in their holiday laws that include Lincoln’s birthday as part of what is called Presidents Day or another name for that holiday on the third Monday in February. And, although it may seem odd that Indiana, and also New Mexico, honor Lincoln on the day after Thanksgiving, it was President Lincoln who issued the proclamation in 1863 that officially set the precedent for America’s national day of Thanksgiving.

Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Bomboy, S. How Abraham Lincoln lost his birthday holiday. Constitution Daily. February 12, 2013.

How Abraham Lincoln Lost His Birthday Holiday How AbrahamVale Middle Lincoln School Lost Reading His Birthday Article How Abraham Lincoln Lost His Birthday Holiday (1230L)

C omprehension questions – answers may be in phrases.

1. What state is Lincoln’s home state? What state is considered Lincoln’s adoptive home state?

2. In what year did Abraham Lincoln issue the proclamation that designated a national day of Thanksgiving?

3. On what date and year was Abraham Lincoln born?

4. What two holidays did California eliminate as paid holidays in 2009?

5. Precisely, what act designated Washington’s Birthday as a national holiday? Include the full name

and year in your answer.

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2. Answer each question in one or more complete sentences.

How is Black Friday typically recognized?

According to the article, what day is designated the federal Washington’s Birthday holiday each year in the United States?

List three other holidays, aside from any Presidents Day holidays, that are mentioned as paid holidays for state employees in various states?

1. 2. 3.

7/8.RL 1,2,4

Bomboy, S. How Abraham Lincoln lost his birthday holiday. Constitution Daily. February 12, 2013.

How Abraham Lincoln Lost His Birthday Holiday Vale Middle School Reading Article How Abraham Lincoln Lost His Birthday Holiday (1230L)

3. Paragraph five mentions punctuation rules for the use of the Presidential holiday. Define plural possessive , plural, and singular possessive. Create your own fictitious holiday; use each method of punctuation in a sentence with your holiday as an example.

(

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4. What was the author’s main purpose in writing this article? Cite evidence from the text to provide supporting ideas, and write an objective summary of the article.

7/8.RL.2

Bomboy, S. How Abraham Lincoln lost his birthday holiday. Constitution Daily. February 12, 2013.