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Andersonville National Historic Site
Students describe the conditions of a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War. They analyze ways in whcih the soldiers dealt with prison life. They identify the location of any nearby prisoner of war camps.
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Historical Episodes
Students choose a historical book set in the Civil War. They create a flow chart of the steps involved in producing a film. They select one scene and prepare props, costumes and setting for the scene.
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The Reunion
Learners dramatize a postwar reunion between people who held opposing views during the U.S. Civil War.
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Civil War Through a Child's Eye
Students examine and interpret primary source images of Civil War era Students. Then, students reveal their understanding of a child's perspective in a literary portrait by creating a lieterary portrait of the Civl War era.
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Slavery and the Legal Status of Free Blacks
High schoolers examine the status of free blacks in Illinois and slavery in the U.S. They read and analyze primary source documents, answer and discuss questions, participate in a group discussion, and present the group's findings to the...
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You Ain't Whistling Dixie
Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on the Civil War. They identify the factors that led to the Civil War, develop and perform a skit, research and write a report, or create a replica of art from Civil War period.
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Cotton Journey
Students use "Cotton Journey-A Field Trip In A Box" kit to relate the significance of cotton to the Civil War period and to study the cotton industry in general.
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Bull Run by Paul Fleischman, a Young Adult Novel
Students read and discuss Bull Run by Paul Fleischman. In groups, they select a character and re-write or act out that character's story and share it with the rest of the class.
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Across Five Aprils/Civil War
Eighth graders study the Civil War novel, Across Five Aprils, by Irene Hunt. They review vocabulary and literary elements and write a "Brother Against Brother" essay about coming face to face with a brother in one of the battles of the...
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Women in the Civil War
Students study the Civil War era in the US with a concentration on women during this time through literature and biographies. They create a timeline or multimedia presentation as one product of this series of lessons.
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Underground Railroad Role Play
Students experience what the Underground Railroad was really like by role-playing as escaping slaves. They must travel to the North Star until they cross an imaginary line into Canada.
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History Biographies
Students explore the life and the contributions of five people from U.S. history in the five lessons of this unit. james Madison, Dolly Madison, Sequoyah, Harriet Tubman, and Clara Barton are presented to students for exploration and...
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Need for Reconstruction: Devasation and Liberation in the South
Eighth graders examine the amount of destruction in the South following the Civil War. They explore the reasons why Reconstruction was needed.
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The Literature of Upheaval
In groups, 8th graders read different documents and answer questions on the Civil War period. Students read documents by Thoreau, Stowe and Frederick Douglas.
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Westward Expansion Unit
Eighth graders investigate the importance of Westward Expansion in the history of the United States in this unit of lessons.
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Using Art to Study the Past: Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation - 1863
Fifth graders analyze artwork as historical artifact and recognize that the Emancipation Proclamation was a major turning point in the Civil War.
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The Civil War through a Child's Eye
Students read Paul Fleischman's Bull Run in Readers Theater format. Next, students examine and interpret primary source images of Civil War era students and reveal their understanding of a child's perspective in a literary portrait.
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FOCUSING ON CIVIL WAR HISTORY & INFORMATION SEEKING
Students use a Web resource to obtain information on a specific subject; study the nature of naval warfare and commerce raiding during the Civil War; and assume the identity of a participant and viewing the events of the era from that...
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What Happened to Slaves When their Owners Died?
Young scholars analyze last and testaments of former slaveowners to identify and explain economic, social and cultural differences between the North and the South leading up to the Civil War.
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Unionism versus Secessionism in Virginia
Eleventh graders, in groups, analyze newspaper articles and then debate and discuss if Virginia should succeed from the Union or not.
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Letters, Telegrams, and Photographs Illustrating
Students research the factors that are important in winning a battle in the Civil War. In a second activity they are assigned the role of a specific type of person during the Civil War and asked to describe what it's like being that person.
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Early America
Fifth graders, in groups, study the differences between the 13 Original Colonies, then explore the relationship between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.
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Southern Support During the Civil War
Students investigate primary documents to help them answer the question of whether of southern soldiers and citizens abandoned the Confederate cause as the war progressed.