Civil War 9-12
Secession in 1861 to the Surrender of the Confederacy in 1865
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The Civil War Begins
Matthew Woods
Description of Lesson: Students will begin by answering the question on the board- Bell Ringer. We will then discuss all possible answers to the Bell Ringer as it leads into the day's lesson- The Civil War Begins. Working in pairs, students will use the knowledge they have gained as well as their textbooks and examples of Civil War Newspaper headlines to create their own headlines about specific battles. Students will then work on bookwork for class work/ homework.
SC Nullification Crisis
Kristen Hewett
Description of Lesson: Students will discuss the growing divide between the North and the South and the continuing argument over state’s rights as they study the SC Nullification Crisis.
The Civil War: Secession
Daniella Stamm
Description of Lesson: Student will examine the immediate causes of the Civil War. They will then look at what option the North had…Should they let the southern states secede from the union or not? Students will then be presented with different viewpoints and read some primary documents. Students will then create a cartoon in which two characters will debate the question.
Comparing Constitutions: Similarities and Differences of the United States Constitution and Confederate Constitution
Daniel Sidor
Description of Lesson: Students will be divided in groups. Each group will receive an electronic version of the United States Constitution and Confederate Constitution. Groups will compare and contrast different aspects of both constitutions. First students will create a vein diagram to illustrate what they find to be different and or the same. Then students will look at the difference between state and federal government between both constitutions. They will have to explain how the federal and state government works with support by specific articles within both constitutions. They will fill out a constitution analysis sheet to help them with this. Students will then share results in classroom discussion followed by an exit ticket.
Civil War Jeopardy
Keith Walker
Description of Lesson: Students will compete for the most points in a jeopardy game.
The Role of Women During the Civil War
Kelly Jones
Description of Lesson: Students will be assigned a prominent woman from the Civil War era. They will read primary source documents and do a thorough research of the life and role of the assigned woman. They will portray the character in a round table discussion. They must bring a historical paper of the woman, a document, and a prop to represent the character. They will keep a journal from the perspective of the woman, outlining major battles and political decisions during the war. (4 entries)
The Civil War through Soldiers’ Eyes
Kevin Hamilton
Description of Lesson: This lesson is an extension to the Civil War unit, in which the learned is exposed to a broad spectrum of primary source documents that show a more intimate view of the Civil War. After learning about the major events, battles, and personalities of the war, this lesson now presents the darker side of the conflict and examines the life of a soldier separated from family for years on end and witnessing the horrors of the battlefield and the filth of the camps. Students finish the lesson with a reflective essay in which they compare the images of the Civil War as seen through the soldiers eyes with the view of the war from people not actually involved in the war.
The Role of Wilmington, NC in the Civil War
Dylan Dimock
Description of Lesson: Lesson begins with discussion of items in our local community that reflect Wilmington/New Hanover Counties’ involvement in the Civil War. We will then discuss the Anaconda plan and Wilmington’s role as a port city. We will also discuss the Union strengths and weaknesses at the outbreak of the War. We will then focus on the Cape Fear region using the Union blockade and confederate attempts to run the blockade as local examples.
Civil War Amendments
Keith Walter
Description of Lesson: Students will examine the “Civil War” amendments (13th, 14th and 15th) and what specific changes each brought about to the United States Constitution and the civil liberties of Americans.
Civil War Nursing and Hospitals
Hill Pearsall
Description of Lesson: Students will read\view one of the various documents that relate to nursing and hospitals in the Civil War and present them using either the assigned medium\project or other teacher approved medium.
Political Turning Points in the Civil War
Kevin Hamilton
Description of Lesson: The lesson will begin with a review of the issues leading up to the Civil War. Students will participate in a kinesthetic activity as a review. Students will then be placed in cooperative groups to analyze political documents to assess the significance of the different documents. The Students will end the lesson with a brief writing exercise to give them additional practice at synthesizing their ideas into a coherent written paragraph.
Stories of War
Allison Altvater
Description of Lesson: Students will look at various primary sources from those who experienced the Civil War as a soldier or civilian. Students will engage in a circle discussion summarizing their sources and field questions about how it reflects a person’s experiences in the Civil War. By the end of the class, students will have a deeper knowledge of how war affected many backed with stories and examples from the past.
Civil War Newspaper
Craig Underwood
Description of Lesson: Students will be broken into groups and given the task of creating a Civil War Newspaper as a review of the causes, strategies, and battles of the Civil War along with the key events of Reconstruction.
A Black Soldier's Story
Dianne Russell
Description of Lesson: Students will learn about African Americans military service in the Civil War through exploring the specific experience of a black soldier from North Carolina, William Henry Singleton.
The Native American Question during the Civil War
Dylan Dimock
Description of Lesson: Lesson begins with a review of Manifest Destiny and the west. We then turn to the native populations living in America during the Civil War and examine the decisions that were made by the native populations and the Union army during the war.
Civil War Solider Letter
Leigh Robertson
Description of Lesson: At the conclusion of our study of key Civil War battles and life on the homefront, students will read a series of letters from soldiers on both sides of the conflict as well as women who experienced the War on the homefront. Students will then write their own Civil War letter referencing battles, experiences during the war, and feelings about the war itself.
Civil War Photographs
Kristen Hewett
Description of Lesson: In small groups students will analyze selected photographs from the Civil War and use them to draw conclusions about the war.
African Americans in the Civil War
Larry Sampson
Description of Lesson: Through analysis of pictures, readings and video clips students will understand the role and the impact that African Americans had in the Civil War.
Civil War Battles
Matthew Woods
Description of Lesson: This lesson will consist of an overview of some of the most important and bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Students will take notes as I teach from a PowerPoint. Students will then label a map of the battles, including all major troop movements.
Difficulties of the Confederacy during the Civil War
Dianne Russell
Description of Lesson: Students will use their prior knowledge of the Civil War to further investigate the struggles the Confederacy faced in 1864.
Creating a Battle Timeline Using Primary Resources
Daniel Sidor
Description of Lesson: The teacher will review the anaconda plan with students. Students will then be divided into 8 groups. Each group will read a different letter/journal written by people’s experiences during a Civil War battle (some of the articles are long so I gave student a section out of the full article). The groups will discuss their reading and fill out a written document analysis worksheet on their reading. Then each student will research the battle that their letter takes place. Students will be responsible for filling out a battle analysis worksheet on that particular battle. Students will put the information from their battle analysis sheet on poster board so other groups will be able to gather their information. After each group has finished their analysis poster the class will create a timeline posting their posters in front of the classroom. Students then will take down information from each poster on their battle sheet. Then each student will then have to answer two questions about using their battle sheet. Question 1: Which battles were important turning points during the war and why? Question 2: Which battles are evidences of the North’s anaconda plan please explain? Students will be required to write at one to two paragraphs for each question.
- Lesson Plan
- Battle Sheet
- Battle Analysis Sheet
- Document Analysis Worksheet
- Letters of Amory K. Allen
- Letters of Privates Cook and Ball
- Diary of James Comfort Patten
- Excerpts about the Burning of Columbia, SC
- Account of the Battle of Bull Run
- Recollections of Private Warren Lee Goss
- Account of the Battle of Gettysburg
- Shiloh Letters of George W. Lennard
The True Meaning of the Emancipation Proclamation
Jonathan Grubbs
Description of Lesson: Students will begin with a KWL dealing with the Emancipation Proclamation to asses what they know, what they Want to know, and then what they learned. Students will then be reminded about previous lessons on the Civil War to refresh them on what was going on in the North and South leading up to the Proclamation. Teachers will do this with the aid of pictures of the civil war displayed on the overhead to help place students in the time era. Students will then receive a copy of the proclamation. They will read It individually and make their own interpretations on the document. Students will then underline within the document the evidence that will support their interpretation. Students will then read a professional interpretation and highlight in the emancipation Proclamation supporting evidence for the professional interpretation. The student will then compare and contrast the differences between their interpretations and the professional interpretation and write a reflection of their findings. Students will also be assigned homework. This assignment will ask students to write a short reflection of why this document was written when it was and also to finish their KWL.
Emancipation – Inquiry of A Turning Point
Allison Altvater
Description of Lesson: After gaining prior knowledge about the Emancipation Proclamation, students will be divided into three groups. One group will “translate” the Emancipation Proclamation for the class into modern terms and recite it to the class. One group will translate the celebration OF emancipation in the heart of the Confederacy and retell it to the class. The final group will analyze the Harper’s Weekly Emancipation Cartoon and describe it for the class. All groups will be responsible for coming up with three important effects of Emancipation (these can be positive or negative) as part of their presentations. The teacher will use these ideas for class discussion.
Bringing an End to slavery
Daniella Stamm
Description of Lesson: Students will examine the contributions made by both free and black slaves to determine what role they played in ending slavery.
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