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.

Stewart Benson
TTE 536
11/20/15

Blooms Level

Sub-Objective

Knowledge

Time

Teaching Strategy

Active Student Participation/

Check for Understanding
Anticipation/Reaction Guide: Students will Students will pair up and each pair will have to
be tasked with briefly reading the section
accurately identify at least one correct statement and
describing Life in the Army in the
one incorrect statement. I will be able to walk
textbook. I will put up several key phrases throughout the classroom, ensuring that each group is
from the section on the white board, and
discussing the prompts on the whiteboard and
the students will have to identify which
referring back to their textbooks for verification.
phrases are accurate and which are false.

Identify and list the

common
Comprehensio characteristics of Civil
n
War battlefields and
encampments.

10 min.

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 soldiers
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 soldiers
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 days 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: