LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Civil War Tribune

This lesson focuses on student creativity along with the writing process. Art is also incorporated in a unique way. Students will use their research skills to complete a creative writing project on the Civil War.

A lesson plan for grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Aimee Adkins

Learn more

Related pages

  • Folklife: Students will learn North Carolina folklore, traditions, war activities, local legends, superstitions, food preparation traditions, art, songs and dances which are unique to the area.
  • Postcards of the Past: Students will participate in Heritage Day activities that will enhance students' awareness of their heritage. They will take digital pictures of activities to include on a web page, and research and report on information gathered. Students will create a web page to present their information.
  • Impressed With Embargo: Students will learn about the causes of the War of 1812 and make connections to current world events.

Related topics

Legal

This page copyright ©2008. Terms of use

Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • be exposed to newspaper articles from the Civil War Era relating to eyewitness accounts.
  • recognize differences in use of language and vocabulary from that time period.
  • choose a black and white copy of a photo from the Civil War and ‘enhance’ picture by adding color using crayons and colored pencils.
  • research the photo. Some photos will be specific such as a photo of Robert E. Lee or deal with an issue such as Black Codes, slavery, or rebuilding the South.
  • write a newspaper article based on the photo in a variety of forms depending on how the teacher may differentiate the lesson for students of varying abilities/interests. Choices/Options May Include:
  • Research Report using Expository or Claritive Style.
  • A Descriptive Eyewitness Account of an event or an event involving an historical person.
  • Writing an Eyewitness Account from a variety of perspectives such as from an animal or an item involved in the event(guns,cannons,or homes).
  • Writing an obituary or wanted type article for the newspaper.
  • Students will collaborate in small groups to create a newspaper layout for their articles and artwork to be displayed.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

3 Days

Materials/resources

  • Students will need copied photographs from copier machine of historical individuals, battles, or particular issues from the Civil War Era.
  • Index cards (2 or 3 per student)
  • Art supplies
  • Sample articles from Civil War time period about actual events
  • Current newspaper articles for student to refer to such as eyewitness accounts or obituaries
  • Poster board or large white sheets of paper
  • Sentence strips

Technology resources

Access to the internet to research events or historical people will be helpful for the research portion. Students may also want to type their articles instead of using the index cards.

If students are completing their final product as a PowerPoint Presentation, this program is also needed. Teachers may want to alter the art aspect of the final project to include downloading photos off the internet to a folder for their PowerPoint Presentations.

Pre-activities

  • Students have been studying a unit on the Civil War and its effects on the American Culture. This lesson is a culminating project.
  • Students will engage in an eyewitness activity where the teacher directs a few students to create a distraction and leave the classroom. Students will then compare what each of them saw.
  • Students will view newspaper replicas of articles / newspapers from Civil War Era.
  • Students are allowed to choose a photo they would like to enhance with color and find more information about.
  • Students will work in pairs on the internet and ’search’ to find information specific to their research.

Activities

  1. Each student has chosen their picture and has researched the photo as to have facts to include in their creative writing activity.
  2. Each student has added skin tones, eye color, color to clothing, etc… to their photo. Teacher should model this beforehand in order for the students to have an idea of how to enhance the photo in order to make the photo come to life.
  3. Students are placed in groups and given 1 large poster and a large sentence strip. Students work together to create a title for their newspaper example: “Civil War Times,” “Gettysburg Tribune,” “The Dixie Landmark.” Students write the title the group chooses on the sentence strip and tapes it to the top of the poster. (Depicting a headline)
  4. Teacher directs students to write a newspaper article about their photograph. Teacher differentiates the assignments to meet a variety of needs.
  • A Descriptive Eyewitness Account of an event or an event involving an historical person.
  • Writing an Eyewitness Account from a variety of perspectives such as from an animal or an item involved in the event (guns,cannons,or homes).
  1. As students complete rough drafts, the teacher conferences with students to proof the articles.
  2. Students write final draft by writing on vertical index cards to create a “column”.
  3. Students then place article and photograph on poster for group on display in room using tape. Each group’s poster should be on display for students to place finished articles on and to share with others in their classroom.
  4. Students and teacher may take their final draft process a step further by creating PowerPoint Presentations with each students article being 1 slide. Photos can be obtained by way of internet. The final project will be very impressive.

Assessment

Students can be evaluated in variety of levels:

  • Completion of art assignment
  • Accuracy of the written account, use of true facts in article.
  • Student ability to write a first person eyewitness account.
  • Student ability to use written language and follow rules of grammar and spelling.

Supplemental information

Your old social studies textbooks are marvelous resources for photos and for basic information for students to research. Websites offer some quick references and unique information for you and your students to draw from. Also, when students are doing the art project, the point of the activity is for the student to get involved in the picture and what is happening. The students are trying to make the photo come to life in a sense. Student, under no circumstances, should be allowed to turn images into comical depictions or be disrespectful in their art. It is a good idea to do a few to have handy as examples. As students are beginning, I always find a few students who have the idea and use their’s as examples for others to look at.

Related websites

http://www.historychannel.com
http://www.afro.com/history/
http://www.cr.nps.gov

Comments

The idea for coloring the photos came from, where else, a student! This student did such a beautiful job that many who saw the photo were positive that it was an actual photograph. Every year that I have done this activity, the students are impressed as well as the adults who view them.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 5

  • Goal 4: The learner will trace key developments in United States history and describe their impact on the land and people of the nation and its neighboring countries.
    • Objective 4.05: Describe the impact of wars and conflicts on United States citizens, including but not limited to, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, and the twenty-first century war on terrorism.

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 5

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
    • Objective 4.03: Make oral and written presentations to inform or persuade selecting vocabulary for impact.
    • Objective 4.05: Use a variety of preliminary strategies to plan and organize the writing and speaking task considering purpose, audience, and timeline.
    • Objective 4.06: Compose a draft that elaborates on major ideas and adheres to the topic by using an appropriate organizational pattern that accomplishes the purpose of the writing task and effectively communicates its content.
    • Objective 4.09: Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres (e.g., clarification, essay, feature story, business letter).
    • Objective 4.10: Use technology as a tool to enhance and/or publish a product.