American Civil War Literature Immersion Unit
8th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies
Project Description
Students of the Saoi (see) Program of Waynesville Middle School worked in small groups exploring a variety of literary genres including primary and secondary sources and connecting them to North Carolina's role in the conflict between the states. Because a component of the Saoi Program is to provide hands-on experiences that emphasize our culture and the way history has influenced it, students also planned and scheduled field trips, guest speakers, and story tellers for the team to supplement their reading. To facilitate the use of technology, students were provided with digital cameras, scanners, Internet, and Power Point from which they constructed multimedia presentations to demonstrate what they had learned. These Power Point presentations have been converted to web pages for ease of online viewing.
Addy Learns a Lesson A School Story The American Girls Collection
Length of Project
Because we did not work on this project every day, it evolved over a period of approximately six weeks. Some of the lessons were completed in one class period while others, for example, "Roots," took more time and were spread literally throughout the course of the year.
Activities
Lesson 1-Introduction KWL chart-This lesson is meant to introduce the unit and serve as an assessment of beginning student knowledge. It takes one class period in the beginning and may be used as often as needed to monitor student progress; it requires only a way to record and display student responses (chart paper, overhead projector, chalk board, etc...)
* Keeping it displayed throughout the unit reinforces concepts mastered and helps retain focus. *
Lesson 2-"Roots"-Slavery was introduced to Carolina in the early 1600's and continues to be an influence in southern culture. Therefore, volumes of the motion picture "Roots" were shown intermittently throughout the year. Students kept a response log and after each episode, responded to three main questions: What did you learn? What did you not understand? What thoughts or comments do you have after watching this episode? Each episode is approximately an hour and a half in length. Another half hour should be set aside for journaling and discussion.
Lesson 3-"The Blue and the Gray"-In order to help students understand how the war dominated the lives of all concerned-soldiers, families, and politicians, students watched the motion picture "The Blue and the Gray" over a period of one week. Being historical fiction, this movie allowed students the opportunity to examine every aspect of the war in an age-appropriate manner. The movie can be finished showing an hour and a half a day for 4-5 days. Allow another 20 minutes for discussion. Students will also need another hour to research and prepare for paradoxical teaching activities.
Lesson 4-"The Salt Raid" and "The Killing"-This true account of desperation as portrayed in Bushwhackers: The Civil War in North Carolina, The Mountains provides students with a detailed account of how mountain people were divided by the war and how they struggled to come to terms with their situations. This lesson takes one class period to complete, but can easily be carried over into two. Great discussions always emerge from the retelling of this historical atrocity.
Trotter, William R., Bushwhackers!
The Civil War in
Lesson 5-"Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier"-This lesson is designed to give students practice accessing the digital resources of the Library of Congress through the American Memory Historical Collections for the National Digital Library. This Confederate soldier's account of the war gave students the opportunity to examine a primary document and analyze its contents. Students were able to identify with the soldier and compare his blight to that of soldiers of modern times. This lesson takes one class period to conduct. Resources needed: access to the internet.
Lesson 6-"Oh Captain, My Captain"-This lesson is designed to give students practice accessing the digital resources of the Library of Congress through the American Memory Historical Collections for the National Digital Library. Students access the American Memory site of the Library of Congress to view this reproduction of Walt Whitman's "O' Captain, My Captain." By analyzing this poem, students were able to explore the use of symbolism in literature. This lesson takes one class period to complete. Resources needed: access to the internet.
Lesson 7-"The Scaffold"- This lesson is designed to give students practice accessing the digital resources of the Library of Congress through the American Memory Historical Collections for the National Digital Library.This compelling black and white photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress allows students to visualize the finality of the war and the beginning of Abraham Lincoln's legacy. This lesson takes one class period to conduct. Resources needed: access to the internet.
The first seven lessons of this unit were designed to give background and perspective and were conducted in whole group settings. The remainder of the lessons were conducted in small literature circles based on books each group chose to read for its project.
Literature Circles-Students were divided into small groups of 5-6 people.They were given an opportunity to peruse books from the library that pertained to the Civil War and then chose the book they wanted to read. (Books were purchased with money from a grant.) Students were given class time Monday through Thursday to complete their assigned readings and roles for the discussions on Friday. Dr. Victoria Faircloth from Western Carolina University, Brian Pesci,WCU student, Debbie Davis, lead teacher, Crystal McCracken, media center coordinator, Kathleen Naillon, grandparent, Sally Hundley, my teammate, and myself facilitated the discussions for each group on Friday. Students were given one month to complete the book, design a Power Point presentation and plan an "extra" event for the team.
North Carolina Standard Course of Study Competency Goals Met in this Unit
Page Author Micky Cope
Page last updated 12/10/03