Stewart Benson

TTE 536

11/20/15

Subject:

United States History

Lesson Title:

Day Four of Civil War Unit: War Erupts, Life in the Army

Content Standard(s): Concept 1: Research Skills for History. PO 4. Formulate questions that can be answered by historical study and research. PO 5. Describe the

relationship between a primary source document and a secondary source document. PO 6. Determine the credibility and bias of primary and

secondary sources. PO 7. Analyze cause and effect relations hips between and among individuals and/or historical events. PO 8. Describe

two points of view on the same historical event.

Concept 6: Civil War and Reconstruction. PO 4. Analyze the impact of the Civil War on the following personal, social, and economic

aspects of American life: a. Americans fighting Americans b. high casualties caused by disease and the type of warfare c. widespread

destruction of American property d. change in status of freed slaves e. value of railroads and industry

Language Objective:

Students will be able to use evidence from primary and secondary sources in order to explain the similarities and differences soldiers faced as

part of the Confederacy and the Union.

Terminal Objective:

Students will be able to analyze primary sources to accurately describe the variety of conditions soldiers faced on a daily basis and the unique

perspectives they had of the Civil War.

Bell Work/Anticipatory Set (5 minutes):

Display a picture of a typical Union soldier encampment, playing the classic Ken Burns’ Civil War soundtrack in the background. Students will

be tasked with writing down what they notice about the picture (this can be anything at all). After a few minutes, I will ask students to share

with a partner and eventually with the entire class. We will hold a very brief discussion on some of the conditions a soldier could expect on the

battlefield, including the various roles of African-Americans and women.

Bloom’s Level

Bloo

Stewart Benson

TTE 536

11/20/15

Blooms Level Sub-Objective Time Teaching Strategy Active Student Participation/

Check for Understanding

Knowledge

Comprehensio

n

Identify and list the

common

characteristics of Civil

War battlefields and

encampments.

10 min. Anticipation/Reaction Guide: Students will

be tasked with briefly reading the section

describing Life in the Army in the

textbook. I will put up several key phrases

from the section on the white board, and

the students will have to identify which

phrases are accurate and which are false.

Students will pair up and each pair will have to

accurately identify at least one correct statement and

one incorrect statement. I will be able to walk

throughout the classroom, ensuring that each group is

discussing the prompts on the whiteboard and

referring back to their textbooks for verification.

Analysis Analyze several Civil

War photographs and

answer Document

Based Questions

regarding the

photographs.

10 min. Magic Paper: I will display several Civil

War photographs (attached to this

document) and I will call on students to

hold up a piece of paper that will highlight

a portion of the photograph they find

interesting. Throughout this activity, I will

also be asking questions as each student

comes to the whiteboard, such as: What is

the general mood of the picture? What

emotions are these people showing? Who

might be excluded from this photo? Was

this picture taken purposefully?

Each and every student will participate by going up to

the picture and finding something interesting that no

one else has said yet. By also posing questions to each

student, they will have to explain their own personal

reactions to the photographs as well as develop

opinions about each one.

Analysis Identify common

themes from soldier’s

letters home about the

reasons they fight and

the conditions they

faced.

10 min. Say Something: Students will form pairs

and read assigned letters from soldiers of

the Civil War located in their school

textbook. Each student will read a portion

of the letter, with their partner explaining,

in their own words, what that portion said.

They will switch off until they are finished.

As an entire class, each group will share

I will be able to visit each group as they are

conducting ‘Say Something’ and can give any

valuable input if the students are unable to grasp

certain vocabulary words or sentence structures. When

the groups are presenting, I will be able to see if the

students grasped the overall themes of the letters and

can provide input and context when necessary.

Stewart Benson

TTE 536

11/20/15

their opinions of each letter.

Synthesis Describe the

conditions soldier’s

faced as well as their

personal perspectives

during the Civil War.

10 min. Write Your Own: Students will be tasked

to imagine themselves as either a

Confederate or Union soldier and write

their own letter home from the battlefield.

Students are asked to include accurate

representations of battlefield conditions

and daily life as a soldier. Students will be

able to start this assignment in class. This

will be a homework assignment due in two

days. By making this a separate homework

assignment, I will be able to check for

understanding for each individual student.

This is a great activity for students to experience new

and unique perspectives. By also including their own

personal narrative, students will be more engaged and

motivated to add their own perspectives to their story.

As I grade this homework assignment, I will be able to

gauge if the students grasped the brutality and tragic

conditions of the Civil War.

Closure (5 minutes):

Exit Cards: Five minutes before the bell rings, I will hand out note cards to my students. Before they leave, they must write down two

interesting things they have learned and one question they still have at the conclusion of the day’s lesson. This activity will enable me to check

for understanding for each individual student. I will be able to gauge where my students are relative to the lesson and will address questions at

the beginning of class the next day.

Materials Needed:

“Creating America” (2007) 7th Grade textbook. Chapter 16, Section 2, pgs. 488-492.

Civil War photographs from the National Archives website.

Letters from actual Civil War soldiers from the “Creating America” textbook, pgs. 486-487.

Students will need their own separate sheet of paper and a writing utensil.

Stewart Benson

TTE 536

11/20/15

Photographs: