Civil War Research Paper

Two of the skills that my students work on throughout the school year are writing and research.  They are assigned two project based research projects and two traditional essays.  This trimester the students were asked to choose any topic they wanted to research as long as it related to the American Civil War.  They were required to use a minimum of 4 different sources, including a book and a primary source, and then had to write a research paper, complete with thesis, using MLA formatting.

As illustrated in the screen shot above, my comments (the yellow stickies) when grading the essays are very comprehensive.  This is because each student is given the opportunity to go back and revise their paper based on the feedback they are given.  We meet to discuss their revisions and then they can earn back half the points that they lost on the original essay.  I want to encourage good effort on the first attempt but also want to encourage them to revise their papers so they can learn from their mistakes and become better writers.  I'm sure you can imagine that grading 70 papers with such detail takes a good amount of time and I appreciate the patience of both parents and students as you wait anxiously for the grades!

Civil War Ghost Hunting

Hmm, what a provocative title!  We are indeed studying the American Civil War and as part of our studies we've discussed the unbelievable amount of carnage in the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  As if the battle isn't interesting enough, I'm always trying to find new ways to engage my students and what better way to do this than with a ghost story?

One of my friends from college grew up in Gettysburg.  Her mother Stephanie's house, The David Stewart Farm, dates back to pre-Civil War times and was used as a make-shift hospital for Confederate soldiers after the battle.  Supposedly there are a few 'spirits' who live in the house, one being a Civil War soldier! Both a medium and a paranormal 'ghost hunter' team have been to the house to communicate with the spirits.  The following is a video of one of their visits:



Whether or not you believe in 'spirits', it's a pretty interesting video and an even more fascinating part of history!  I've been wanting to visit Gettysburg for a long time and I'm hoping maybe this summer I can pay a visit to Margaret and the other spirits on Stephanie's farm!

Great Advice!

As we start our unit on the American Civil War, I thought I'd share this humorous response:

This isn't from one of my students, it was a response found online, but funny (and true!) nonetheless!

Abe Lincoln is My Homeboy!

It was this week in 1865 that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.  A new movie came out yesterday chronicling the aftermath of the assassination....The Conspirator.  I had tried to organize a vacation week History Club outing to see this film but sadly it only came out in limited theaters, none of which are convenient for my kiddos to access.  Oh well!  I am going to try to see it anyway and maybe we'll watch it as a class at the end of the year??  Here's one of my students modeling an awesome History Club t-shirt:

Sure does beat the Jersey Shore t-shirts I've seen around school lately! :0)

Civil War Speed Dating

Today we did a quick warm-up activity that allowed the students to share some of the more interesting information they learned from researching their Civil War papers.  We lined up a row of desks, each facing one another, then I rang a bell and the students shared information about their paper with their partner.  After a minute or two, I rang the bell and one side of the pair had to switch to a new partner, speed dating style!  Check out a little clip from the activity:

Carbetbaggers and Scalawags

Last week we did an activity to help review the major ideas and people involved in the Reconstruction period in US History.  The students put themselves into pairs and sat together at various 'stations' around the room.  At each station was a document that they had to analyze to figure out which phrase or term on their worksheet the document best represented and why. The documents were mostly primary sources that were political cartoons, pictures, letters, and even a poem (Walt Whitman's O Captain My Captain).

Every 5 minutes or so, I said 'switch' and they had to move to another document station.  This activity appeals to kinesthetic learners because it allows the students to get up and move around the room very often. It also appeals to the interpersonal intelligence because the students are working with others to figure out the meaning of the documents. They get to do a fair amount of socializing during this activity, which appeals to many students.

Above all, this activity challenges the students to think, interpret, and analyze when trying to figure out the meaning of the documents.  I had to tell them to exhaust all options and spend a good deal of time analyzing the documents BEFORE asking me for help.  They can sometimes be quick to ask for help before really spending time trying to figure it out on their own, which is something we are working on.

"The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher."
                                                                                     ~Eliot Woodward

Here is a little video of the activity:

Hero or Lunatic?

This week we are learning about sectionalism and the various events leading up to the American Civil War.  We've discussed how the geographical features and climate of an area can often determine what the economy of  the region is based on, both in the past and in modern day.  To illustrate this point, I told the students that I was planning on creating a citrus grove here in Maine and wondered if any of them would like to invest in my new business...

Needles to say, I had no takers!  But in all seriousness it did open up a discussion about geography, climate, and the economy which led us to examine how the North and the South were growing apart before the Civil War.

Another assignment that the students are completing this week involves reading about abolitionist John Brown and his actions at both Pottawatomie, Kansas and Harpers Ferry, Virginia and then formulating an opinion about whether he should be considered a hero for his actions or simply a lunatic.  I'll spare you the details about what he did at both of the places mentioned above and instead you can have that conversation with your student!  

 After reading the background essay about Brown, they have to analyze the primary source pictured below and use this to support their opinions. They were given a series of questions about the drawing to help them learn about point of view, bias, etc.

We will follow up by having a mini debate in class where they can each share their reasons for categorizing Brown as a hero or a lunatic.