Civil War Lesson

11th Grade

By: Tony Dalton

Rationale

• It is important for 11th grade students to understand the causes of, and impact of the Civil War.

Objectives of the Lesson

• Identify the causes of the war, as well as the sides that each of the states took during the war

• Identify the leaders of the North and the South

• Locates the major battles on a map; tell who won the battle as well as discuss the importance of and impact of each battle

Objectives continued:

• Discuss the historical importance of the outcome of the Civil War

• The students will demonstrate that they understand the roles of the people or battles in the war by doing a research paper on a person, place, or event in the war and presenting it to the class

The Civil War Website

• URL: http://www.civilwar.com– this site is full of information about the Civil

War. Mostly the facts. You can get a time line, info on the battles, music from the period, and visit other Civil War links.

The Civil War Home Page

• URL: http://www.civil-war.net/main.html– students can find battle reports, letters, diaries,

documents, photos, and look at a calendar of events that took place this very week during the civil war.

The Civil War Virtual Battlefield Tours

• URL: http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/bunker/8757/cwvirtual.html– this site takes the students on a virtual tour of

each battlefield in the civil war

The American Civil War “Naval War”

• URL:http://www.civilwarhome.com/navalwar.html– this site gives the students a brief insight on the

naval part of the war. It tells of both the Federal and Confederate Navies and how they played a vital part in the war.

Thomas B. Reeves, Civil War Officer, Andersonville Prisoner

• URL: http://www.rapidnet.com/~greg/Tom– this site tells about the life of a Union Officer

who was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison

– it also tells of how the Andersonville Prison was built and gives a map of how it looked at the time of the war

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

• URL: http://www.suvcw.org/– this site gives the students info on how to

research their family history to see if they had any relatives in the Union Army

Sons of confederate Veterans home page

• URL: http://www.scv.org/– this site shows how students can research their

family history to see if they had any relatives in the Confederate Army

– it also gives the latest information on the Confederate Flag issues

Andersonville Civil War Prison--a historical background

• URL: http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/histback.html– this site shows an aerial view of the prison, as

well as shows how the prisoners were divided amongst themselves

– it also shows how it was built as well as why it was built where it was

Ohio in the Civil War

• URL: http://www.my.ohio.voyager.net/~lstevens/a/civil.html– it allows the students to research their home

state to see if their hometown had any volunteers

Civil War Interactive--an online magazine

• URL: http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/– this is a magazine that tells what happened

during the civil war that particular day– there are several cookbooks in this magazine– it also gives info on current civil war

reinactments

Civil War books and media

• URL: http://www.civilwarbooksandmedia.com/– this site gives info on virtually every book

published about the civil war as well as games to play

– there are also ways to find information for a research project on this site

Activities

• 1. During the Civil War unit the students will play the Civil War Game on the computer, where they will get to choose a side and recruit their own army. They will save the game and continue everyday where they left off. At the end of the unit they will present their outcome of their game.

Activities

• 2. The students will use the websites listed to do their research paper on person, place, or event during the Civil War.

• 3. For further reading, the students can read the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Activities

• 4. We will as a class watch the Time Life Theater movies of the Civil War

• 5. The students will use the learning center to do the crossword puzzle, and the word search for reviewing the chapter.

Activities

• 6. The students must look at the Civil War Almanac to do their research project

• 7. The students will choose sides, either the North or South and debate their reasons for secession and for going to war

Activities

• 8. After reading the chapter the students will debate why many white southerners felt that slavery was essential.

• 9. The students will discuss the events that took place during each President’s term at the time of the Civil War and tell how effective they were as leaders

Activities

• 10. Given a map of the United States during the late 1800’s, the students will label the states, the Mason-Dixon Line, and at least five important battles that took place

Conclusion

• Unit culminating experiences: we will wrap up the unit by listening to each student’s research paper that they chose. Then we will discuss anything that they might not understand and then take the multiple choice and one essay question exam.

• After the exam is graded we will go over it so I can see how to change my teaching strategies for this unit next year.