Making Curriculum Pop

Making the Civil War Pop

My name is Haile Christofferson and I am working on a Civil War unit for 8th graders.
I want my students to be able to understand the causes and impacts of the war,
key figures and their roles, and the importance of some of the key battles such
as Gettysburg and Antietam. Also, I want to find a way to use primary sources,
such as pictures and documents, from the time period and have the students
analyze them. Ideally the students would also be able to understand how aspects
of the war related to the Constitution, and how the Constitution was changed
after the war ended. So far I’ve found a few links to images of soldiers and
political cartoons, and the Internet History sourcebook has some great primary
documents the students may be able to analyze. I have found some great resources on the Ning and elsewhere, but I would love any suggestions for anything else I might be able to use.

Thanks! 

Haile

Here's what I've found so far...

 Ning Resources

Resources and Archives: Photography Looking at Images, Primary Sources + LIfe.com 

Views: 58

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tim Albert on February 24, 2010 at 7:14am
Hi Haile,

In the past I have taught high school U.S. in the summer which translates to a lot of kids that had failed and 41/2 hour classes! Since these components do not pair well with lots of direct instruction, I had the students create their own movie maker films of individual battles of the Civil War. When the films come together, they create something of a mini documentary. Students use lots of time period photos and sometimes address letters the troops wrote to give the film some dramatic flair. To make them POP, students can use modern music as long as it connects to the overall "feeling" of their battle. It's possible you could use this technique with several of your desired outcomes (films about causes, battles or changes to our country in general) depending on your school/student's technological wizardry level. This activity turns some of the discovery portion over to the students and gives them a greater ownership level in their learning. I even use Ryan's "Peer Feedback Fun Slips" to help keep everyone on task while we are watching the films. Good luck out there!
Permalink Reply by Haile Christofferson on March 2, 2010 at 9:39am
Thank you so much for the suggestions. I drafted my final assessment and Ryan actually told me that I need to incorporate a visual piece to differentiate my assessment even further. This is an awesome idea and I will definitely incorporate these ideas into my unit!

Thanks again!
Permalink Reply by Frank W. Baker on March 1, 2010 at 7:31am
You may be interested in using the Alexander Gardner photo "Home of Rebel Sharpshooter's Den" to teach visual literacy, critical thinking and critical viewing. I use it in all of my workshops. Here is a lesson plan I wrote for the SC State Department of Education:

target="_blank">http://www.frankwbaker.com/civilwarlessonplan.htm
Let me know what you think. Frank Baker
Permalink Reply by Haile Christofferson on March 2, 2010 at 9:43am
This lesson plan is amazing! The main goal of my unit is to incorporate primary sources and have the students analyze them, but I never thought about having them analyze the truth behind the photos as well. I will definitely use this idea and incorporate it into my unit. For the final assessment, one of the options is to analyze a series of primary sources (pictures, documents, or political cartoons) and this would be a great way for students to further analyze the actual pictures.

Thank you for the suggestion!
Permalink Reply by Ryan Goble on March 11, 2010 at 4:32pm
Here are some good comics resources on the Ning for the Civil War - esp A House Divided
Permalink Reply by Ryan Goble on March 15, 2010 at 8:20am
You might also check out COMICS: American & World History Ink

RRG:)

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