Goals and Objectives
Students will describe ways in which soldiers, women, and slaves lived during and after the war.
Students will explore how citizens contributed to the effort of a nation at war.
Students will understand how everyone suffered terrible hardships and faced new challenges.
Students will appreciate how many women took on new responsibilities during the war.
Students will explore how citizens contributed to the effort of a nation at war.
Students will understand how everyone suffered terrible hardships and faced new challenges.
Students will appreciate how many women took on new responsibilities during the war.
California State Content Standards
8.10.7 Explain how the war affected combatants, civilians, the physical environment, and future warfare.
Common Core Literacy Standards
CCSS.ELA.Literacy.RH. 6-8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. RH. 6-8.6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. RH. 6-8.6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
Driving Historical Question
What was life like for slaves during the Civil War? For North and South citizens?
Lesson Introduction ‖ Time: 10
I will begin this lesson by setting students up in a specific scenario. I will have them pretend they are in a place where they cannot see their families, they are homesick, they can barely communicate with the ones they love, they are working hard day and night, they have bad food, uncomfortable conditions, and a huge lack of supply for things they need in their everyday life. I will then pose the question, “Do these seem like motivating conditions that you would want to live under?” I will then segue into asking them, “How are the lives of military spouses affected today when their husbands or wives are away on active duty? Are the challenges they face similar to or different from those of the Civil War women?” This activity will force the students to compare and contrast with prior knowledge and build a bridge between life today during the war and life in the late 1800s. The activity will be a think-pair-share and whole group discussion about the conditions and predicting how life may have been during the Civil War. This introduction will also serve as the pre-reading section for this lesson allowing students to use prior knowledge and set the stage of the lesson topic.
Vocabulary ‖ Time: Throughout Lesson
Students will receive a list of new vocabulary words for this lesson. They will then be required to use their new terms in the foldable activity or journal entry homework assignment. Vocabulary words for this lesson include:
· Draft
· Inflation
· Casualties
· Shortage
· Draft
· Inflation
· Casualties
· Shortage
Content Delivery ‖ Time: 40
This lesson will focus on life during the Civil War in the eyes of many different groups of people. The pre-reading section will be focused mostly within our group conversation to get students thinking about what life may have been like in comparison to our world that we are currently living in. I will then provide two readings for the students to go over. The first will be a firsthand account women arguing for additional rights with the Civil War just around the corner. It gives insight into what they were fighting for before the war and during. The second will be multiple primary sources of letters being written to loved ones, including a letter from Robert E Lee to his wife! Once they have completed those readings they will partake in the foldable activity to combine all aspects of their learning and reading strategies. A more in-depth description of all activities is listed below in Student Engagement.
Student Engagement ‖ Time: 35-40
After our introduction conversation I will have six pictures placed around the room to set up a gallery walk. Students will walk around the room to each picture and critically think about what is going on in each. They will take note on what they see, who/what is represented, how/why are they represented, why was this picture taken, and what does this picture mean to you. This activity will help students understand the content being presented in the reading assignment. I will then have students organize their notes from the gallery walk during the reading portion of the lesson. Students will create a foldable to organize the information from the text and gallery walk. The foldable will require students to choose three different perspectives to focus on and list the significance of each. After the foldable activity, students will integrate what they have learned with their existing knowledge. Students will have the choice to write a journal entry in the voice of a soldier, woman, or slave during the Civil War. Students will use their notes and activities from this class period to construct an accurate depiction of the perspective in which they chose to write. This journal entry will be due the following class period. This lesson is highly based on student engagement. Students will be participating throughout the whole class and working on their activities. They will be critically discussing answers in the beginning of class, taking part in the gallery walk to analyze images, and collaborating with one another when completing their foldables.
Lesson Closure ‖ Time: 5
I will close the lesson by having students take part in a Whip Around activity. Students will state something that they learned from the lesson or that may have surprised them. I will go around the classroom and each student will share their answer.
Assessments
Formative: The Anticipatory Set and group discussion will serve as a formative assessment for this lesson. Students will show the teacher what connections they are able to make from previous lessons and offer their ideas for what is about to come.
Summative: In this lesson there will be two forms of a summative assessment. The students foldable activity will be collected and graded. This assessment will allow me to gauge whether students were able to use the information from the reading and apply it into their activity. The second will be the journal entry that they will turn in the next day. At that point, I will be able to see if they were able to evaluate and analyze the diverse perspectives that were discussed in class.
Summative: In this lesson there will be two forms of a summative assessment. The students foldable activity will be collected and graded. This assessment will allow me to gauge whether students were able to use the information from the reading and apply it into their activity. The second will be the journal entry that they will turn in the next day. At that point, I will be able to see if they were able to evaluate and analyze the diverse perspectives that were discussed in class.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs
The foldable activity is an accommodation for English learners, striving readers, and students with special needs. It allows students to organize the information given to them through texts and makes it more visual for them to understand. Additionally, working collaboratively with groups will allow these students to pick up on the content in a less stressful environment, and also assist them in understanding the vocabulary and being able to use it with one another in conversation. I have also set up a gallery walk to provide visuals for students to be able to freely explore and create bridges between the reading assignments and the visuals.
Resources
Glencoe, The American Journey (2012).
Images from Google
America Firsthand, Volume 1 Readings from Settlement to Reconstruction
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/#personal-correspondence
Images from Google
America Firsthand, Volume 1 Readings from Settlement to Reconstruction
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/#personal-correspondence