Civil War Journals

Integrates creative writing with social studies and enhances knowledge of the effects of the Civil War on people.

A lesson plan for grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Gwen A. Jones

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Learning outcomes

Students will gain a knowledge of the chronology of the Civil War, particular battles, and the mental and physical effects on the lives of individuals of the Union and the Confederacy.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

5 Days

Materials/resources

• notecards
• paper (notebook or handmade booklet)
• Social Studies text - North Carolina: The History of An American State, 1997 (Clairmont)
• other reference books

Technology resources

A&E video tape series “Civil War Journal” hosted by Danny Glover

Pre-activities

Students will need to have knowledge of the antebellum period and the events leading up to the start of the Civil War, especially issues of slavery and secession.

Activities

Students will create a journal of a character from the Civil War era. A name will be chosen for the character by the student to personalize the journal. Each day’s entry will focus on one year during the war. For example, the first day’s entry will be a description from 1861, the next day will be 1862, and so on.

To add to the drama of the war, I sometimes divide my students’ desks into two sections that face one another and represent the North and the South. Students will pick a character depending on the side they are on. For example, a student on the North might be a medic in a Union hospital, or a student from the South might wish to write from the point of view of a slave.

Some female students have opted to “be” a soldier in disguise.

The notecards come in handy for students to make notes about something they want to include in their journal as we are reading in the textbook, watching a video, or passing around reference books.

Students are encouraged to be creative, but are challenged to look up dates to be historically accurate. Students love reading their entries aloud each day and almost everyone eventually gets into it by the end of the unit and does not want to quit.

Some examples of character types are:

• infantry soldier
• cavalry soldier
• medic
• drummer boy
• scout
• soldier’s wife
• plantation owner/wife
• nurse
• slave
• college student
• spy
• government legislator

The list could go on and on.…

Assessment

1. Spot-check each day to see that students are writing something and are not getting behind. This could be a daily grade or a homework grade.
2. After students have about 3 entries, have groups of 2 or 3 students peer-edit each other’s journals. The peer response should be written down and readers should ask themselves these questions to guide them in their editing task.
   
   Is this journal historically accurate?
   What can I suggest that would help the writer make the journal more interesting?
   Are there any spelling or punctuation errors?

Students should take these suggestions into consideration when making the final drafts of their journals. The final draft counts as a test grade. To many students, this is preferable to a test in which they are asked to remember names, dates, and specific battles. In grading these final drafts, I am mainly looking for historical accuracy, although poor spelling and punctuation will affect the grade. Most of all, I want to know that my students enjoyed themselves while they were learning history. Students enjoy publishing their work using desktop publishing also.

Supplemental information

In addition to the required resources, the teacher may want to have library reference books and maps on hand. An interesting way to enliven discussion and help set the mood is to have a Civil War reenactor come to visit your classroom in complete uniform.

Related websites

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Comments

I have found this to be a favorite among my students. It was well-received when I presented it in a much broader form at the North Carolina English Teachers Conference in Winston-Salem in 1996.