Civil War Unit Multiple Intelligences+ Projects
by: Amanda Prichard-Loetterle
Linguistic intelligence
· Create a newspaper similar to one from the period. Include advertisements, articles, photographs and editorials.
· Create a series of letters to or from a Civil War soldier. Include the events that your character would see/hear/experience in his/her situation. Also include how the events make the character feel
· You are a horse fly stuck in some goop in an army hospital. Who is there? What is happening? Describe the sights, sounds, and smells. (This must show that you have researched medicine and hospitals during the Civil War).
· Read the diary of Alice Williamson (a 16 year-old-girl living in Gatlin, Tennessee during its occupation by General Eleazer Paine. How does she feel about the occupation? How are returning soldiers treated? What is her life like? Read the diary of Rachel Cormany or other poems/ diaries of women on the home front. What do they have to deal with? How do they feel about the war?
Intrapersonal intelligence
· You are a soldier or civilian. Write a poem reflecting his/her mood and his/her feelings about what is happening in the war. Please illustrate it so we can see what you are thinking.
· Several people wrote letters to President Lincoln expressing concern and wishes during the war. Write a letter(s) to a state senator expressing a concern that you have about war (today).
Make a diary. You are a Civil War soldier. The diary should include examples of how you and the war change over the years.
Write poem(s) showing your feelings about war. You can use modern warfare or the Civil War as your muse. Illustrate your work.
· Find poems about the Civil War. Write what you think they mean or what the author may have been trying to say. You may also include information about the author. Illustrate the pages.
Interpersonal intelligence
· You are a soldier for the north. You have a friend or relative for the south. You meet in a battle and a 1-hour truce is called. Your captain agrees to allow you two to talk to each other. What do you say to each other? What do you want to know? What do you need to say that you may never get a chance to say otherwise?
· The assassination of President Lincoln had a dramatic effect on the lives of many Americans. People were very likely to remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Much the same thing happened when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Interview ten people who were alive at the time of Kennedy’s death and ask them what they remember about where they were, what they were doing, and what thoughts they had.
· Because of the Civil War, the nation, states and families were divided. Explain how the following people/ families/ places were divided by the war. 1) Abraham Lincoln 2) Virginia 3) Robert E. Lee 4) Jefferson Davis
· Write poem(s) from the perspective of someone living through the Civil War (a soldier, politician, wife, mother, activist etc…) Illustrate your work.
· Research an important person and create a multimedia biography explaining how the war changed him or her as well as the impact he/she had on the war.
· Research at least 3 different ethnic/social groups’ contributions to the Civil War and explain how they contributed to the war.
Spatial intelligence
· Create a bulletin board outlining the states in which the battles took place. Identify the major battle sights with pushpins. (Identify the winner by the color of the pin; blue = union or red = rebs.) Label the pins with the name of the battle.
· Create a map outlining all of the states in the United States during the time of the Civil War. Label the states and in some way identify them as “Union” states, or “Confederate” states. Also indicate “border” states. Write a caption in each state explaining why it was important to the war (ex: major battles there, number of troops sent, natural resources found there that could help the war effort…)
· Create a political cartoon about President Lincoln or one of the army figures or generals. Also create a presidential button for a candidate running for office during the Civil War.
· Find the distance of Sherman's March to the Sea. Using major cities and/or landmarks in Colorado, create a ratio and make maps to demonstrate your findings.
· Create a scaled timeline of the important events of the war. Explain which year was most important.
· Create a three dimensional replica of one battle in the war. Be sure geographic features, troops and artillery are placed accurately.
· Create a quilt using items from your topic. Explain the significance to the class.
· Research Civil War battle flags. Sew a replica of one used. Explain the history of the flag you choose.
· Sew clothing from the Civil War. Try to make it as authentic as possible. Be able to explain what it is and where/ how it was used.
Musical intelligence
· Videotape yourself singing or playing an instrumental music popular during the Civil War. Document your source showing that the piece came from the appropriate era and explain what it would have meant to people at the time.
· Write and perform an original song about something you have learned about the Civil War.
Logical-mathematical intelligence
· Develop a spreadsheet using casualty numbers for each battle. With these numbers, make pie charts for each individual battle. Be sure to label the parts of the pie charts.
· Using a line graph, compare the increase and decrease of troops on both sides in succession of each battle.
· Using the causalities and soldiers involved find the percentage for loss of each army of each battle. Create a bar graph showing the percentages (Be sure to label the bars).
· Produce a victory record spreadsheet for the major battles given to you based on casualty numbers. (You need to determine the winner by finding the army with the lowest percentage of soldiers lost in each battle).
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
· Time yourself walking a mile. Calculate the distance of Grant’s campaign of 1862-63 from Ft. McHenry to Shiloh to Memphis to Jackson and finally to Vicksburg. Using your speed, calculate how long it would take the Union Army to get from the battle to battle.
· Recreate and videotape a scene from a Civil War novel or video (consider props and clothing and memorization....) your presentation must be appropriate to show the class.
· Videotape yourself presenting speeches by citizens, generals, or the Presidents. (Example: Gettysburg address: in costume and memorized) then film yourself as a historian summarizing the speech and explaining its impact.
· Find an authentic recipe and cook an authentic Civil War food. Make the recipe and bring the food for the class to taste. Be sure to have the recipe, utensils, napkins/serving utensils and instructions in class.
Science and Technology
· Explain the evolution of battlefield medicine starting in the Civil War with field surgeons, continuing through MASH units up to current day "forward surgical units" in Iraq and Afghanistan.
· Create a multimedia presentation using PowerPoint, Prezi, Museum Box, Glogster or another Web 2.0 presentation application showing the American fads during the Civil War. Include information about clothes, food, music, and entertainment.
· Research the military technology and techniques during the Civil War that prompted James Morgan to make the following statement:
"our great l9th century bloodletting was, at one and the same time, the last 18th century war and the first 20th century war." Be sure to discuss the early attempts at mines, machine guns and submarines
Civics/Politics
· The Civil War had devastating effects on both the North and the South. Describe what was done about the following problems. 1) railroads and bridges were destroyed 2) 260,000 Confederate men were dead 3) How do the 11 Confederate states get readmitted? 4) How should the Confederate leaders get punished? 5) What rights should there be for the slaves? How should those rights be protected?
· Read the Emancipation Proclamation. Summarize what it says? Why did President Lincoln issue it? What effect did it have on the war? How did it affect both sides of the conflict?
· Research the surrender of the war and describe how it affected the North and the South. Compare what happened to possibilities of what could have happened and evaluate the outcomes.
· Research and explain Civil War spies. Were there any women? What did they do? What happened if they got caught?
· Explain the significance of each of the following battles. Be sure to include where and when each took place, who the leaders were, and which side won 1st Bull Run, Antietam, Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Atlanta, Fort Union New Mexico, Glorietta Pass (The Gettysburg of the West)
· Research the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Who where they and what did they do? What precedents did they set for the American Military? What honors did they achieve? How did they change public opinion in America?
For Research Links to complete the projects above see:
Ms. Prichard’s Civil War Research Page at: https://sites.google.com/site/msprichardcivilwar/