Title: Civil War - What Are We Fighting For?

Curriculum Area: Social Studies
Curriculum Connections: English/Language Arts, Math, Science
Grade Level: 5th Grade

Introduction: The purpose of this unit is for students to become aware of the turmoil the early United States had in unifying with common beliefs, the slavery issue, and how the Civil War changed the course of the United States.

Prerequisites:

Learning Expectations/Outcomes: ( Include IP2 Standards )
Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning:

1. Accesses information efficiently and effectively
Indicators 1,2,3,4, and 5
Suggested activities:

  • Identify prominent Americans, both Black and Caucasian, during the Civil War and their importance in playing a role in history.
  • Research to get an understanding of vocabulary words and laws that are representative of that time period. ( ex.. Freedman's Bureau, Jim Crow laws, Emancipation Proclamation, Abolitionist, and Dred Scott decision ).
  • Identify websites that have information about the Civil War.

2. Evaluates information critically and competently.
Indicators 1, 2, 3, and 4
Suggested activities:

  • Compare /contrast facts gathered from a historical fiction book written about that era.

3. Uses information effectively and creatively.
Indicators 1, 2, 3, and 4
Suggested activities:

  • Write a letter to a brother to persuade him to fight for the North or South.
  • Create a time line of events that are related to the Civil War.

4. Pursues information related to personal interests.
Indicator 1
Suggested activities:

  • Research careers or jobs during that time period and state which one you would have had and why.

5. Appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information.
Indicators 1,3
Suggested activities:

  • Develop a story of you in that particular career: "My life as a _________."
  • Present the story to the class (skit, poster, read).

6. Strive for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation.
Indicator 1
Suggested activity:

  • Student evaluates product and search strategy and revises the search to locate more information, or changes the end product format.

7. Recognize the importance of information to a democratic society.
Indicators 1, 2
Suggested activities:

  • Research using several sources and reporting those relevant sources to the class.

8. Practice ethical behavior in regard to information and information technology.
Indicators 2,3
Suggested activities:

  • Cite sources used in the final product.
  • Express the information in his / her own words.
  • Utilize technology in an appropriate way.

9. Participate effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.
Indicators 1,2, 3, and 4
Suggested activities:

  • Divide class into North and South and as a group debate the cause of the Civil War. Debate with each side stating their side and why it is " right." (Discuss how climate and temperature played a part in winning and losing battles, why slavery was so important to the South, etc.).

Social Studies Standards:

  • C-1D-M2: Identify the rights and responsibilities of citizens and explain their importance to the individual and to society.
  • H-1A-M2: Demonstrate historical perspective through the political, social, and economic context in which an event or idea occurred.
  • H-1B-M10: Analyze the changes and regional tensions by Jacksonian democracy, the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement.
  • H-1B-M11: Explain and give examples of the reform movements that occurred during the antebellum period and evaluate their impact on American society.
  • H-1B-M12: Describe the causes and course of the Civil War and examine the impact of the War on the American people.
  • H-1B-M13: Compare and evaluate various reconstruction plans of the post Civil War era.

English/Language Arts Standards:

  • ELA-1-M1: Use knowledge of word meaning and develop basic and technical vocabulary using various strategies.
  • ELA-2-M1: Write a composition that clearly implies a central idea with supporting details in logical, sequential order.
  • ELA-2-M2: Use language, concepts, and ideas that show an awareness of the intended audience and/or purpose in developing complex composition.
  • ELA-2-M3: Apply the steps of the writing process.
  • ELA-3-M1: Write legibly.
  • ELA-3-M2: Demonstrate use of punctuation, capitalization, and abbreviations.
  • ELA-3-M3: Demonstrate standard English structure and usage.
  • ELA-3-M4: Demonstrate understanding of the parts of speech to make choices of writing.
  • ELA-3-M5: Spell accurately using strategies and resources when necessary.
  • ELA-5-M1: Recognize and use organizational features of printed text, other media, and electronic information.
  • ELA-5-M2: Locate and evaluate information sources.
  • ELA-5-M3: Locate, gather, and seek information using graphic organizers, outlining, note taking, summarizing, interviewing, and surveying to produce documented texts and graphics.
  • ELA-5-M5: Cite references using various formats.
  • ELA-5-M6: Interpret graphic organizers.
  • ELA-6-M1: Identify, compare, and respond to United States and World literature that represents the experiences and the traditions of diverse ethnic groups.
  • ELA-7-M1: Use comprehension strategies in contexts.
  • ELA-7-M2: Problem solve by using reasoning skills, life experiences, accumulated knowledge, and relevant available information.
  • ELA-7-M3: Analyze the effects of an author's purpose and point of view.
  • ELA-7-M4: Distinguish fact from opinion and probability, skim and scan for facts, determine cause and effect, inductive and deductive reasoning, generate inquiry, and make connections with real life situations across texts.

Science Standards:

  • S1-M-A3: Use mathematics and appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
  • S1-M-A4: Develop descriptions, explanations, and graphs using data.

Math:

  • N-08: Demonstrate an understanding of the basic concepts of fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals.

Materials/Sources Needed:

  • Reference books, non-fiction books, and historical fiction books
  • Computers, internet access, appropriate research software, and word processing software

Strategies:

This unit is for one or two weeks, depending on the depth of research involved. The teacher and the librarian should collaborate to decide what are the responsibilities of each, the information required from the students, and the best approach to achieve the results. The teacher should have introduced the unit and described what is expected of the students. Whether the students are working as individuals or as a group will depend on the activity in which they are engaged.

Prior to the class visitation to the library media center, the school library media specialist (SLMS) will

  • ensure the needed reference books, non-fiction books, and historical fiction books are available. He/she will obtain other materials from different sources if needed;
  • locate and bookmark suitable Internet resources;
  • identify some search terms and search strategies that may be helpful for the students and teacher.

On the first day to the library, the SLMS will instruct the students on the available resources and how to extract information from them. (Example: review the index, table of contents in a book, how to use the OPAC, how to use the Internet, which CDs are available and how to use them, and how to use the word processing software.)

Model questions for this unit:

  • Who is a prominent American during the Civil War and his/her contribution to history?
  • What are some problems faced by slaves before and after the Civil War?
  • What are the Freedman's Bureau, Jim Crow laws, and the Emancipation Proclamation?
  • Who were the major military rulers in the South? the North?
  • Describe the disagreements between the North and South that led to the Civil War.
  • Why did slavery grow in the South in the early 19th century?
  • Explain why the Union victory at Vicksburg was so important.
  • Explain slave trade and how it relates to migration.
  • What amendments protect black Americans and explain how they protected them?
  • Compare the basic strengths and weaknesses of the North and South at the time before the Civil War.
  • Make a timeline of the Civil War.
  • Choose a side and defend it in a letter to your brother.

Evaluation/Critique:

Together the teacher and SLMS will evaluate the products of the students in relation to the requirements of the unit. The SLMS will evaluate the effectiveness of the search strategy used.

Suggested fiction reading list:

  • Crane, Stephen. The red badge of courage. New York: Golden Press, 1968. During his service in the Civil War, a young Union soldier matures to manhood and finds peace of mind as he comes to grips with his conflicting emotions about war.
  • Fleischman, Paul. Bull Run. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys, and worried sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill, and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War.
  • Houston, Gloria. Mountain Valor. New York: The Putnam & Grosset Group, 1996. With her father and brothers gone to serve in the Civil War and her mother sick, teenage Valor ignores what is proper behavior for a girl and fights to defend her North Carolina mountain farm.
  • Hunt, Irene. Across five Aprils. Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1964. Jethro, who is nine years old when the first April blooms, must run the farm in southern Illinois almost alone during the Civil War. Dangers on the home front prove as exciting as those in battle.
  • Keith, Harold. Rifles for Watie. New York: Crowell, 1957. The struggles and hardships faced by Jeff Bussey on his 300-mile escape during the Civil War.
  • Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. New York: Philomel Books, 1994. Say Curtis describes his meeting with Pinkus Aylee, an African-American soldier, during the Civil War and their capture by Southern troops.