Civil War journals

This lesson 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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Related topics

• Learn more about American history, Civil War, North Carolina, United States, battles, history, interdisciplinary, journaling, language arts, social studies, and writing.

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Learning outcomes

Students will demonstrate 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

You may wish to collaborate with your school’s librarian to identify resources to help students throughout this lesson.

Time required for lesson

Five days

Materials/resources

• Notecards
• Paper (notebook or handmade booklet)
• North Carolina history books, articles, and primary sources

Technology resources

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

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

1. 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. Some examples of character types are listed here. Some female students have opted to write as a soldier in disguise.
   • infantry soldier
   • cavalry soldier
   • medic
   • drummer boy
   • scout
   • soldier’s wife
   • plantation owner/wife
   • nurse
   • slave
   • college student
   • spy
   • government legislator
2. To add to the drama of the war, you may wish to divide 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.
3. 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.
4. Students are encouraged to be creative but will need 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.
5. 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.
6. After students have about three entries, have groups of two or three 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?
7. Students should take these suggestions into consideration when making the final drafts of their journals.

Assessment

Assess the final drafts of student journals for historical accuracy, completion, and grammar.

Supplemental information

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.