Civil War Letters

Civil War Letters

Lesson Plan

Introduction

Working in groups of two, students will review primary sources by reading letters from soldiers in the Civil War. They will also research Civil War battles. They will then take on the role of a soldier and write a letter home describing their experiences. Afterwards, they will present their letter to the class and email the letter to another class studying the Civil War. This lesson includes collaboration within each group and with another classroom.

Grade Level

Grades 5-8

Objectives

·  Use primary sources to learn about soldiers' experiences during the Civil War

·  Compose a letter from the point of view of a Civil War soldier

·  Describe life as a Civil War soldier

·  Present the letter to the class

·  Write and send an email with the attached letter

·  Understand and comply with Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

·  Use Word to access websites

·  Open an email attachment

·  Use vocabulary appropriately

Prerequisites

·  Prior study of the Civil War period

·  Prior experience using email

·  Access to an email account

·  Familiarity with opening and saving documents

·  Familiarity with importing files

·  Experience using word processing programs

Time Estimate

Two 45-minute class periods

Materials

1.  Word processing software

2.  Email account

3.  Planning graphic organizers (Historian and Writer)

4.  Hotlist of Internet resources

5.  Letter template (optional)

6.  Civil War soldier vocabulary list

7.  Tech skills checklist

8.  Writing a Letter rubric

9.  Presentation rubric

Preparation

1.  Preview the student lesson.

2.  Assign students to groups of two.

3.  Within each group, assign student to either a writer or historian role.

4.  Review your school's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).

5.  If students do not already have email accounts, use your own email address or a class address and send one email. Ask your school's technology coordinator for help setting up the accounts. Gaggle.Net is a popular, free, and school-friendly email provider.

Vocabulary

Content: See vocabulary list

Technology: attachment, Cc: field, email address, reply, send

Part A — Offline, Whole Class

1.  Lead a discussion about life during the Civil War. Select one of the letters from the student page to read aloud to the class. Discuss the difference in language and word choice in the letter. Help students decipher any passages they do not understand.

2.  Explain to the students they will be divided into groups of two. Each student will have the role of a historian or a writer. The historian will provide the expertise in events and battles of the Civil War. The writer will provide expertise in the mechanics of the letter and vocabulary of the same period.

3.  Explain the tasks of each role. The historian will conduct research on Civil War battles and select a battle to write about. The writer will read the various Civil War letters to get a better understanding of the mechanics of the letter and the vocabulary used as a soldier.

4.  Explain that their end-product will be a letter describing a battle which will be presented to the class (in first person) and sent as an email attachment to students in another class.

5.  Lead a discussion about the advantages of email and electronic documents. Emphasize the conservation of paper that is inherent in using electronic documents. Using a letter with a photograph clipped to it, describe what an electronic attachment is. Relate the letter to an email and the photo to an attachment.

6.  Go over your school's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and email safety rules. Remind students not to share too much personal information, such as their full name, address, or phone number.

Part B — Research

1.  Students who take on the role as a writer read the letters from Civil War soldiers. Record ideas and notes using a graphic organizer. Help students understand any unfamiliar language or words.

2.  Students who take on the role as a historian read about several different battles and select the one they want to focus on. Record ideas and notes using a graphic organizer.

Part C — Composition

1.  Students open their word processing software and type their letter. Remind students to use the correct letter format and proofread their work.

Option: Student use Windows Journal to write the letter using the writing tool.

2.  Direct students how to name and where to save their work.

Part D — Presentation

1.  Using a LCD projector, students present their letter in first person to the class.

Part E — Email

1.  Students open and login to their email account. If there are not enough computers, have students work in small groups, or create and send one email for the whole class.

2.  Write the email address or addresses of the class you chose to collaborate with on the board. Make sure students type the address in the correct field and use the correct format for the email address.

3.  Students fill in the subject field and put your address in the Cc: field. This way you will also receive a copy of the email.

4.  Help students attach their letters to the email. They might need help finding their letter and remembering where they saved it.

5.  Remind students to proofread and check their email for spelling mistakes before sending it.

Extensions

1.  When your class receives emails from the partner classroom, students who finish early may open, read, and save the attached letter. Give students directions to name and save the attached file. Have students reply to their partner so the partner knows that the letter was received.

2.  Continue the letter writing activity and collaboration between classrooms while addressing different topics such as basic training, travel and everyday life as a soldier.

3. Using presentation software, students create a multi-media slideshow illustrating the life as a soldier using photos, letters, music and narrations.

Differentiated Instruction

English-Language Learners: English-language learners benefit from verbal interaction in low-anxiety, casual situations (such as in small groups, not in front of the whole class). Simple lesson accommodations can help English-language learning students be successful. Break down a task into its constituent parts. Modify assignments for students who are still at early stages of English language acquisition. Make sure all learners can find key words and phrases and main ideas. Make sure that all students understand key technology vocabulary words. Explain terms clearly and avoid using idioms or slang. Assessment can be adapted for ELL students. For example, you might read assessment questions aloud or have students draw pictures instead of answering in words.

Special Needs: Depending on the special needs of individual learners, you may want to reinforce new vocabulary prior to work on the computer, model tasks, simplify lesson outcomes, or modify tasks for students with fine motor problems. Adaptive technology such as touch screen computers, modified keyboards, or other input devices may be available as part of a student's Individualized Educational Program (IEP). For students with visual needs, use adaptive devices that magnify a computer screen or programs that allow the print size to be modified. In some situations, it may be appropriate to tape record a student's ideas and have someone else assist with writing them down or to accept the tape as the assignment. Because the modification can be so specific to individual students, specialists at the building or district level should be consulted to ensure the most effective approaches to meeting individual needs.

Gifted: For gifted students and those who have mastered the skills targeted in the lesson, consider expanding the selection of suggested reading or research or offering open-ended tasks that allow them to demonstrate skills outside the focus of the lesson. Because the modification can be so specific to individual students, specialists at the building or district level should be consulted to ensure the most effective approaches to meeting individual needs.

Assessment Checklist

·  Student learns about soldiers' experiences during the Civil War.

·  Student composes a letter from the point of view of a Civil War soldier.

·  Student writes and sends an email.

·  Student uses online help.

·  Student understands and complies with Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).

·  Student sends and opens an email attachment.

·  Student uses vocabulary appropriately.

Standards

Technology Applications- TEKS (Grades 6-8)

Foundations

Demonstrates knowledge and appropriate use of hardware components, software programs, and their connections.

1A Demonstrate knowledge and appropriate use of operating systems, software applications, and communication and networking components

1E Uses technology terminology appropriate to the task

1F Perform software application functions including, but not limited to opening an application program and creating, modifying, printing, and saving documents

1H Use terminology related to the Internet appropriately including, but not limited to, electronic mail (e-mail), Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), electronic bookmarks, local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), World Wide Web (WWW) page, and HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

Uses data input skills appropriate to the task.

2A Demonstrate proficiency in the use of a variety of input devices such as mouse/trackball, keyboard, microphone,digital camera, printer, scanner, disk/disc, modem, CD-ROM, or joystick

2B Demonstrate keyboarding proficiency in technique and posture while building speed

Complies with laws and examines issues regarding use of technology in society.

3A Discuss copyright laws/issues and model ethical acquisition and use of digital information, citing sources using established methods

3B Demonstrate proper etiquette and knowledge of acceptable use while in an individual classroom, lab, or on the Internet and intranet

Information Acquisition

Acquires electronic information in variety of formats, with appropriate supervision.

5A Identify, create and use files in various formats, such as text, bitmapped/vector graphics, image, video, and audio files

Solving Problems

Uses appropriate computer-based productivity tools to create and modify solutions to problems.

7A Plan, create, and edit documents created with a word processor using readable fonts, alignment, page setup, tabs, and ruler settings

7F Differentiate between and demonstrate appropriate use of a variety of graphic tools found in draw and paint applications

7G Integrate two or more productivity tools into a document including, but not limited to, tables, charts and graphs, graphics from paint or draw programs, and mail merge

Uses research skills and electronic communication, with appropriate supervision, to create new knowledge.

8A Participate with electronic communities as a learner, initiator, contributor,and teacher/mentor

8B Complete tasks using technological collaboration such as sharing information through on-line communications

8C Use groupware, collaborative software, and productivity tools to create products

8D Use technology in self-directed activities by sharing products for defined audiences

8E Integrate acquired technology application skills, strategies, and use of the word processor, database, spreadsheet, telecommunications, draw, paint, and utility programs into the foundation and enrichment curricula

Communication

Formats digital information for appropriate and effective communication.

10A Use productivity tools to create effective document files for defined

audiences such as slide shows, posters, multimedia presentations, newsletters, brochures, or reports

Delivers the product electronically in a variety of media, with appropriate supervision.

11A Publish information in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, printed copy, monitor display, Internet documents, and video

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (Grade 8)

Social Studies

(8) History. The student understands individuals, issues, and events of the Civil War.

The student is expected to:

(A) explain the roles played by significant individuals during the Civil War, including Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Abraham Lincoln; and

(B) explain the issues surrounding significant events of the Civil War, including the firing on Fort Sumter, the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, the assassination of Lincoln, and Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

(30) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of sources including electronic technology.

The student is expected to:

(A) differentiate between, locate, and use primary and secondary sources such as computer software, databases, media and news services, biographies, interviews, and artifacts to acquire information about the United States;

(B) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions;

(C) organize and interpret information from outlines, reports, databases, and visuals including graphs, charts, timelines, and maps; and

(D) identify points of view from the historical context surrounding an event and the frame of reference which influenced the participants.

(31) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms.

The student is expected to:

(A) use social studies terminology correctly;

(B) use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation;

(C) transfer information from one medium to another, including written to visual and statistical to written or visual, using computer software as appropriate; and

(D) create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information.

(32) Social studies skills. The student uses problem-solving and decision-making skills, working independently and with others, in a variety of settings.

The student is expected to:

(A) use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution; and

(B) use a decision-making process to identify a situation that requires a decision, gather information, identify options, predict consequences, and take action to implement a decision.

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National Educational Technology Standards for Students*(ISTE NETS.S)

Grades K-8

1. Basic operations and concepts

·  Students demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation of technology systems.