History Lesson Plan Database

View/Download PDF

Title:
Civil War_“Life on the Battlefield”_SI

Author:
Willis Blakely

Linked Essays:
None

Overview:
Students will learn what life was like for soldiers during the Civil War through the use of primary documents. They will peer through the lens of the correspondence of a Civil War soldier and his family to view first-hand accounts of life both at home and on the battlefield.  As they assume the roles of  Civil War soldiers, the students will compose letters explaining life on the battlefield; hence, they will enhance their own letter writing skills.

Materials:

• “Life on the Battlefield” Word search;
• Hardtack samples;
• KWL Transparency and student copies;
• Troup County soldier letter to his Wife: Near Petersburg, March 20, 1865;
• A wife’s letter to husband: LaGrange, April 4, 1865; 
• “Starvation, Rags, Dirt, and Vermin In the Civil War Army”;
• “Civil War Slang” Transparency and student copies;
• “Civil War Letters” Rubric
• www.angelfire.com/ms/genealogyinfo/page4.html
• http://www.kenanderson.net/hardtack/recipes.html. 

•  http://www.kenanderson.net/hardtack/history.html 

Projected Time:
2 -3 Days

Lesson Plan Sequence:
1

Essential Question:
What was life like for the soldiers who fought in the American Civil War?

Bell Assignment:
“Life On The Battlefield” word search puzzle

Activating Strategy:

Before class teacher will make “Hardtack” and bring some to class using the recipe found at the following web site: http://www.kenanderson.net/hardtack/recipes.html.  Teacher will allow students to sample.  Teacher will explain that “Hardtack” was a common source of food for the Civil War Soldiers.  See website:

 http://www.kenanderson.net/hardtack/history.html for the history of hardtack.

Instructional Activities:

BEFORE LESSON

Previewing/Acceleration: KWL graphic organizer Teacher will explain to the students that at the end of the lesson they will be able to describe what life was like for a soldier during the Civil War. Teacher will then distribute each student a KWL graphic organizer.  Students will have about 5 - 10 min to work together to complete the K (What I Know about soldier life during the Civil War) and the W (What I want to know about soldier life during the Civil War) sections of the KWL graphic organizer. Once students have completed the K and the W sections of the KWL, students will share their responses and the teacher will write them down on a KWL on the overhead.  The teacher will then explain they will be learning more about life on the battlefield and after the lesson students will write what they have learned in the L column of their graphic organizer.   Key vocabulary: context cluesTeacher will place transparency of “A Soldier’s Life” on the overhead with the key words underlined.  Teacher will read the sentences that contain key vocabulary words.  Students will use context clues to predict their meanings.   The teacher will then go over their definitions.

• canteen, gangrene, louse, stave, commandant, hardtack, monotonous, trousers, forage cap, infamous, slouch hat

 DURING LESSON Teaching Strategies: Choral reading, primary documents, activity  

• The teacher will discuss with students the hardships faced by Civil War soldiers including the fact that many soldiers spent more time in camp than on the battlefield and thus, spent time writing letters home. 
• Teacher will distribute an example of a transcription of an actual letter of a Troup County soldier to his Wife: Near Petersburg, March 20, 1865 and a Wife’s letter to her husband: LaGrange, April 4, 1865.
• Teacher will ask one girl volunteer and one boy volunteer to read the letters to the class.
• After the reading of the letters teacher will ask the students the following questions:

Troup County soldier to his Wife: Near Petersburg, March 20, 1865.  Where is Petersburg, Virginia? When was this letter written?  Was it written at the beginning of the war or towards the end?  How do you know this? What is going on while the soldier is trying to write? What is the mood of the letter? Why does he fear he will be wounded soon? How does the soldier describe his conditions? When was the last letter he received from his wife? Wife’s letter to husband: LaGrange, April 4, 1865. What is the mood of the letter?When was this letter written?  Was it written at the beginning of the war or towards the end?  How do you know this? What does the wife say about the war?What is her husband’s name?  How do you know? What are their children’s names?

• Teacher will distribute article “Starvation, Rags, Dirt, and Vermin in the Civil War Army” to students.  http://www.civilwarhome.com/starveragsdirtvermin.htm
• Teacher will explain to students this article is a journal entry written by a Confederate soldier named Randolph Shotwell.  It describes living conditions of the army during the end of the war.
• Teacher will explain that along with writing letters, writing in journals was another way soldiers passed time away.
• Teacher will guide the reading of the article to students as they follow along.  Teacher will stop to explain and discuss throughout reading of the article.
• After the article is read, the teacher will ask the following questions:

How does Randolph Shotwell describe the conditions of his army? According to Shotwell, what were the causes that led to the conditions and decline in morale?[How does Shotwell describe the pride of the soldiers at the beginning of the war compared to the time he writes his entry?

• Students will watch video clip at www.unitedstreaming.com:

American Civil War, The: The War Years: Part 1: 1861-1862 and Part 2: 1863-1865 A Soldier's Life (02:51) AFTER LESSONQuestioning:

• What was life like for the soldiers who fought in the American Civil War?   
• How do we know what life was like for the soldiers? 

 Summarize:

• Students will complete the L section (What I have learned) of their KWL charts in cooperative groups.
• Each group will share with the class what they have learned and the teacher will complete the KWL transparency. 

Summarizing Activities:
Written Response/Application/Extending:

• Teacher will review the hardships and lifestyle of Civil War soldiers as revealed in the letters and journal entry.
• Teacher will explain soldiers often used slang when writing letters and making journal entries.
• Teacher will give students a list of Civil War slang terms. http://www.angelfire.com/ms/genealogyinfo/page4.html 
• The teacher will go through each term as a class and students will underline the slang words that are still in use today.
• Teacher will review the format for writing a friendly letter and help students to choose a date relevant for the time period.
• Teacher will ask each student to pretend to be a Civil War soldier. (They can choose to be Northern or Southern) 
• Each student will then write a letter home to his family, explaining what life is like on the battlefield using at least 10 Civil War slang words.
• Letters will be assessed through the use of the “Civil War Letters” Rubric.

Notes:
Attachments:  “Life on the Battlefield” Word search, KWL graphic organizer, Troup County soldier letter to his Wife: Near Petersburg, March 20, 1865, A wife’s letter to her husband: LaGrange, April 4, 1865 Supplemental Notes: The article, “Starvation, Rags, Dirt, and Vermin in the Civil War Army” may be too difficult for the students to read independently.  Teacher should read it to students and guide them through with explanation and clarification.  Document/s with Headings:Troup County soldier letter to his Wife: Near Petersburg, March 20, 1865, A wife’s letter to husband: LaGrange, April 4, 1865; Starvation, Rags, Dirt, and Vermin in the Civil War Army

Handouts with Explanations for Use:

“Life on the Battlefield” Word search Bell assignment.  KWL Graphic OrganizerThis handout is used for previewing and acceleration.Troup County soldier letter to his Wife: Near Petersburg, March 20, 1865.  This is a primary document used to help students better understand what life was like on the battlefield.A wife’s letter to husband: LaGrange, April 4, 1865; This is a primary document used to help students better understand what life was like on the home front.Starvation, Rags, Dirt, and Vermin In The Civil War

This is a primary document used to describe physical conditions of Confederate soldiers toward the end of the war.

OTHER:

Using their KWL chart, students will identify questions not answered in class.  For extra credit students may research these questions for answers, giving documentation of their findings. 

 

Linked Documents:
None

Linked Files:
Transcripts_Civil War_SI_W Blakely
Civil War_"Life on the Battlefield"_KWL_SI 1 W Bla
Civil War Letters_"Rubric"_SI 1 WBlakely
Civil War "Word Search Puzzle"_ SI 1_WBlakely

Copyright © 2005 - Troup County School System