Teacher: Kelly Stein
Unit Topic: The Civil War
Grade: 4
History Essential Questions:
What were the causes, key events, and effects of the Civil War?
How did the Civil War affect Florida?
Standards of Learning:
History SOL:
The student will understand and use a variety of methods and sources
to understand history.
The student will develop analytical skills in regard to primary
documents.
The student will be able to identify causes of the Civil War.
The student will be able to identify which states belonged to the
Union and which states belonged to the Confederacy.
The student will be able to recognize the effects of the war on Florida
as well as on other states.
Reading SOL:
The student will identify cause and effect and compare and contrast
relationships. The student will use analytical skills to form opinions about
and answer document based questions.
Lesson Objectives:
Content:
The student will read about and identify the key events of the Civil War.
The student will compare and contrast the political views of the Union states
to the political views of the Confederate states.
Process:
Using picture books and internet sources, student will research and read
about the Civil War. The student will create a timeline to document the
important events of the war.
Materials:
Tradebooks:
1. If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War: Scholastic (teacher read
aloud)
2. The Civil War: Education Made Easy (student research resource)
3. Civil War by John Stanchak (student research resource)
Book:
Hardcourt Social Studies Textbook pages 238-243 (student research
resource)
PowerPoint Presentation: The Civil War and Florida
Handout: Union and Confederate State Map
United S tates M ap.pdf
Primary Source Documents:
1. Emancipation Proclamation: National Archives and Records
Administration
2. Watch Meeting Photograph: Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division
3. Gettysburg Address: (www.civilwar.org)
Civil War Quiz
C ivil War Q uiz.pdf
Assessment/Evaluation:
The student will complete a quiz on the Civil War with 80% accuracy.
Lesson Procedure
Background Knowledge and Purpose Setting:
The teacher will explain to the students that they will be exploring the Civil
War. Prior to the lesson, students will conduct a picture walk. The teacher
will set-up four stations in the classroom. In small groups, students will
rotate through the stations to scan books, view pictures and documents, and
read diary entries. Once all students have completed each rotation, teacher
and students will discuss what they observed.
Teacher will give each student a “Civil War” journal, which they will use to
document important information that they learn throughout the lesson.
Students will answer the following questions in their journal prior to the
lesson:
1. What events do you think caused the Civil War?
2. What do you think life was like for people during the Civil War that
lived in the North and South?
3. What do you think life was like for people after the Civil War?
Before Reading:
Teacher will review some of the significant events that occurred prior
to the Civil War.
Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Dred Scott Decision
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Using chart paper, teacher and students will create a K-W-L chart. Students
will list what they know about the Civil War and what they want to know
about the war.
The teacher will write the following vocabulary words on the front board:
1. Civil War
2. Union
3. Confederate
4. Yankee
5. Rebel
6. Plantation
7. Industry
8. Slavery
9. Gettysburg
10. Abraham Lincoln
11. Emancipation Proclamation
12. Abolitionist
13. Secede
The student will copy the words in the vocabulary section of their journal.
Students will define each word as it is discussed throughout the lesson.
During Reading:
The teacher will read the book If You Lived at the Time of the Civil
War.
Teacher will pause after reading page 14. The student will be given a
map of the United States. The student will color the Union States
red, the Confederate States blue, and the land that was not officially
divided into states green.
Teacher will finish reading the book aloud.
The student will take notes in their journal as the teacher reads
documenting key points of the text.
Teacher and students will add new information to their K-W-L chart.
Teacher will utilize the PowerPoint presentation on the Civil War.
The student will continue to take notes in their journal.
After Reading:
The student will view primary documents (PowerPoint presentation).
The student will answer questions that go along with each document.
The student will work with a partner to research important events
from the Civil War. Each group will create a picture timeline of the
important events from the Civil War.
Closure:
The student will complete the K-W-L chart independently. Students
will make a list of what they learned about the Civil War.
The student will revisit the questions they answered at the beginning
of the lesson in their journal. The student will edit/add new
information to their responses.
Extension/Differentiation:
Students will rewrite Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:
http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/detail/gettysburg-readdressed-lessonplan/