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Civil War Chronicles

Grade Focus
Grade 6
Age Level
11
Subject
History, Social Studies
Technology Integration Activity
Discovering the Internet, Imaging, PowerPoint Presentations
Estimated Time of Completion
2 weeks of class time
Author: Dawn Garvey Last modified: 05/01/2010

Introduction

How did various events, points of view, locations, leaders, and legislation affect the outcome of the Civil War?  Students will become correspondents and publish the Chronicles of the Civil War.  After researching specific topics students will present findings using and interactive PowerPoint timeline.

Prerequisite Experience

Internet search skills, LiveBinder, use of PowerPoint and http://bighugelabs.com/magazine.php (magazine cover page application)

Teacher Prep Time

  • Create a LiveBinder for student use.  Search the internet for resources available on different reading levels for each topic to insure that all students can equally participate.
  •  Instruct students on copying, pasting, and saving images
  • Lesson on basic PowerPoint including hot buttons for the timeline so that it can be interactive
  • Create a chart for students to fill in about the basics for each topic, leaving plenty of room for things that they think are important and can help them stress their point of view.
  • Lesson on making a magazine cover http://bighugelabs.com/magazine.php

Project

For the duration of the project half of the class will become Northerners and the other half Southerners. In small groups students will research specific Civil War topics in chronological order using text and internet resources.  Each topic will be summarized in the form of a digital magazine cover emphasizing their slant as Northerners or Southerners on the topic. All the topics will be pulled together in an interactive timeline using PowerPoint.

Assessment/Grading

2 rubrics will be used, one will be based on the effectiveness of the project in answering the project question while the second rubric will be based on group dynamics.

Time Management Tips

Set predetermined time for research on each topic and again for creating the magazine covers.  Assign one student the job of time keeper for the group.

Create a LiveBinder that is kid friendly, has a 3 or 4 sources and several graphics for each topic.  This wil cut doen on websurfing.

Lesson Plan Details

Engage

Abraham Lincoln has won the election, but he has not yet taken office.  Show students a PowerPoint (primary sources) of headlines showing the reaction of the Southern States to Lincoln’s election.  Ask the students to discuss the fact that some Southern States have left the Union and formed their own new country.  Is it their right to do this?  Is their lifestyle really at stake with Lincoln in the office of president of the Union (Unites States)?  How are the people in the North reacting?  Which side do you think is right?  Why?A physical line (tape) will be placed down the middle of the room.  One side will be identified as the South the other as the North.  Students will be put into small groups on each side of the line.  The assignment is this:  You will be news correspondents representing various roles during the Civil War (soldiers, women, African Americans, and others) and looking at topics from your perspective as a Northerner or a Southerner.  Using trade books and the internet as resources you will gather information as a team, then publish a digital magazine cover for that topic using true facts that your readers will want to know, but also showing your bias as in favor of the North or the South.  You will continue through the war from topic to topic as correspondents.  You may interact with correspondents from the other side to gather insight with permission from your publisher (that would be the teacher). When the war comes to a close, you will compile you magazine covers into an interactive timeline using PowerPoint.

Explore

Students will have several class periods to research the topics using trade books and the internet as resources.  A teacher created LiveBinder will be available so that students are able to quickly access the information that they need online.Students will use a chart and fill in basic information for each topic.  Important details to flesh out the events and information to help students stress their point of view need to be included on the chart.  Because there are several topics in the assignment, students will explore one topic at a time, then go on to “Explain” for magazine cover publication, and return to “Explore” for the next topic.

Explain

Students make their magazine covers.  As a group students decide on the name of the magazine, it needs to reflect the time period and readership. Use the internet to find a single graphic that best illustrates the most important point that you are trying to convey to your readers for each topic.  Use headlines to demonstrate key points about the topic, show the correct bias of the readership, describe how students felt it would affect the outcome of the war.  Each student should include a line on the cover from the unique point of view of their specific role as a correspondent (soldier, woman, African American, etc.) Include the correct date.  One magazine cover will be made for each topic.

Elaborate

An interactive timeline is created with PowerPoint.  Hot buttons are used to link the magazine covers to the correct topics on the time line.  The first page of the PowerPoint need to ask this question, “How did various events, points of view, locations, leaders, and legislation affect the outcome of the Civil War?” The timeline itself should follow, with the linked magazine covers.

Evaluate

A teacher generated rubric based on the topics covered and whether or not the project answers the  project question will be used with the grade on what students have published, have they published their magazines from the correct point of view, are their facts accurate, have they made logical conclusions about the affect of the topics?LearniT-TeachiT resource - Rubric for Assessing Cooperative Group Work will be used to evaluate the project as well.

Extend

Students have only researched topics assigned by the teacher, but in doing so will have come across many other interesting things to research farther.  Allow students a day of self selected topic research and publication.  The new material needs to be added to the timeline.