Name: Clark, Pamela
E-mail: jdclark@bscn.com
Topic: Too Young to Die

Grade: 5th
Time: One to two periods

Ark. Hist. Framework: W.1.13, LSV1.1, LSV1.12, LSV.1.13, TCC.2.4

Objective: Students will learn the story of Arkansas's Civil War Hero, 
David O. Dodd and learn the concept of what it takes to be a hero.

Set: Ask the class "what a hero is"?  List repsonses on board or overhead.  
Today  I am going to tell you the story of one of  our own heroes from the 
Civil War period.

Materials: Story as told by William W. O'Donnell in The civil War Quadrennium 
and pictures of David O. Dodd

Key Terms: Hero, Union, Confererate, Morse Code, Arsenal, Gallows

Key Facts: This is a brief overview of the story.  David O. Dodd, age 17, began 
an adventure in 1863 that ended in tragedy but made him a hero!  David grew up 
in Little Rock.  As a teenager he worked in a telegraph office, where he learned 
Morse Code.  When General Steele's Union troops occupied Little Rock in 1863, 
David's father a loyal Confederate, moved his family to Camden, Arkansas.  David 
was only 17 at the time.  David's father had neglected an important business 
matter; so he secured a pass for young David to return to Little Rock and take 
care of this business.  David arrived in Little Rock on Christmas Eve.  After 
finishing his business he spent several days visiting friends, including his high 
school sweetheart.  On December 31, 1863 David started back home to Camden.  
Union soldiers stopped him for a routine search.  They found secret information 
about Union plans hidden in the sole of his shoe.  David was tried and convicted 
for spying.  He was sentenced to hang!

As David stood at the gallows, General Steele gave him one last chance to reveal 
his source.  David's reply "I can die, but I cannot betray a friend.  Thus in a 
grusome hanging David O. Dodd died on January 8, 1864.  (Elaborate about the 
hanging from the book here)  He was buried in Mt. Holly Cemetery in Little Rock, 
Arkansas.  Dodd Elementary School in Little Rock was named in his honor.

Activities: Divide students in groups and ask them to research and find at least 
two more people who were heroes and explain why are they were considered heroes?

Closure: Orally ask the students why David O. Dodd was a hero.  What makes a 
person a hero? Ask for as many responses as possible.

Assessment: Students will write a summary and retell the David O. Dodd story in 
their own words explaining why he was Arkansas's Civil War Hero.  Paper will be 
scored wth a rubric.

Resources: The Civil War Quadrennnium by William W. O'Donnell.  Published by 
Civil War Round Table of Arkansas.  Adventure Tales of Arkansas, A Cartoon 
History of a Spirited People.  Published by Signal Media Corp. Little Rock, 
Arkansas.

Pass out the sections of script (Figure 4.) of George Hunter's journal