Fighting a war over home soil makes a living nightmare even more real. Class members describe the experience of a Civil War soldier during the Battle of Franklin, poised right at a major turning point of the war, after researching the...

Students research soldier's lives in the American Civil War. They create a video about a soldier's life

Can't travel to Richmond for your Civil War unit? This plan creates an authentic experience, using primary sources and the essential question: Over What Was the Civil War Fought? Historians examine the Appomattox Marker, the site of Gen....

Students, examine The Civil War, from a variety of perspectives and assignments. After taking notes, they can choose from creating a front page newspaper article describing the fall of Fort Sumter, discuss the pros and cons of fighting,...

Learners explore the power of political messages contained in visual artifacts and examine the political messages conveyed by the illustrations that appeared on personal stationery used during the Civil War. They create and describe a...

Students explore William D. Huff's experience during Civil War as portrayed in his drawings, express empathy and demonstrate historical knowledge through creating their own artwork, and craft drawings and captions from perspectives of...

Students research the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg. In this Gettysburg lesson, students analyze journals and letters written by the Gettysburg soldiers. Students define Civil War soldier vocabulary words. Students compare and...

Fifth graders research the daily life of a soldier during the US Civil War. They complete a worksheet while visiting an assigned web site. They write and draw as they complete the work.

Students study Civil War photography and write captions for each picture based on context. In this Civil War photography activity, students match photographs with their original captions. Students read included short biographies of the...

Trench art is a nontraditional art form created by soldiers in trenches during wartime. Artist Allison Smith connects her art to the American Revolution and the question: "What are you fighting for?" Kids examine her art, how it connects...

Fifth graders examine excerpts from a diary of a Confederate soldier and his experiences in a Union prison camp. After receiving character cards, they write diary entries from the perspectives of their Civil War identity. As an...

Eighth graders examine the importance of battlefield preservation.  In this US History lesson, 8th graders participate in a virtual tour of battle sites.  Students create a map of Gettysburg to see the topography of the battle...

Fourth graders study the Civil War and discuss what soldiers ate during that time period. In groups, representing Union and Confederate soldiers, they follow recipes, prepare, eat, and share Union hardtack and Confederate Johnnie Cakes.

Students use art and images analyze the Civil War. For this lesson on the Shaw Memorial, students engage in 3 activities, discussion, and art analysis to better comprehend the events of the Civil War. This lesson includes web resources,...

Students examine letters written by Union soldiers fighting in the South during the Civil War, and write descriptions of the South using information found in the letters.

It was the single bloodiest day in Civil War history. Now, class members have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of soldiers who fought in the Battle of Antietam using an interactive website. Supplemental resources include...

Eighth graders read letters of soldiers in the Civil War from the state of Maine. They create a soldier profile from the letters and draw what they believe the soldier looked like.

Students read and compare two Civil War recruitment advertisements from different years in the war. They decide how people's feelings about the war may have changed over the years by examining the tone of the advertisements.

Fourth graders summarize the participation of Indiana citizens in the Civil War. They research an assigned topic and build a museum exhibit that displays at least five points of information relating to the topic. Students write a...

Young scholars investigate slavery in America circa the American Revolution. They will examine point- of view and perspective as they research a variety of informational resources. While this is designed to be used with the PBS video...

Students explore U.S. history by researching disease in class. In this Civil War injury lesson, students identify the different causes of death most soldiers faced while fighting in the war. Students role-play and write a diary entry as...

Students explore U.S. history by listening to musical pieces in class. In this Civil War era lesson, students discuss the types of musical instruments that were available to soldiers during the war and the themes of their songs. Students...

Learners explore personalities of those who served as medical personnel in American Civil War, compare qualities those troops possessed to qualities shown by troops currently serving in Armed Forces, and express appreciation to...

Students explore the American Civil War. For this Civil War lesson, students examine a slave auction advertisement and an Abraham Lincoln quote. Students also read Pink and Say, create a foldable regarding naval warfare, and design a...