Activity
II.
The Valley of the Shadow: Living the Civil War in Virginia and Pennsylvania
URL: http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow2
Internet
Lesson Plan Activities
Activity I.
Selected
Civil War Photographs http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/cwphome.html
The Selected Civil War Photographs Collection at the Library of Congress contains 1,118 photographs. Most of the images were made under the supervision of Mathew B. Brady, and include scenes of military personnel, preparations for battle, and battle after-effects. The collection also includes portraits of both Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men.
1. Mathew B. Brady's efforts to photograph the U. S. Civil War represent the first instance of the comprehensive photo-documentation of a war. In 1862, Brady shocked the nation with his exhibition of photographs entitled "The Dead of Antietam." If you wanted to search the collection by keyword to find some of these photographs, what keyword would you use? ____________________. How many pictures did you find using your keyword? ____________. Why do you think these photographs of dead soldiers after the Battle at Antietam shocked the civilian population?
2. How is photography today different from photography during the Civil War? See URL Address: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/cwtake.html
3. After studying some of Mathew B. Brady's photograph portraits,
take photograph portraits of family and friends using black and white film.
Activity
II.
The
Valley of the Shadow: Living the Civil War in Virginia and Pennsylvania
URL: http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow2
Described as a "dynamic interactive exhibit," this is an outstanding WWW site on the Civil War and its effects on two geographically close communities, Staunton in Augusta County, Virginia and Chambersburg in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, adjacent to one another along the Great Valley which stretches through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee. An impressive team of experts in the field have developed this dual community study project, designing databases of census information, charting troop movements, analyzing newspapers, diaries, and military rosters, and geographically mapping the area. Edward L. Ayers, the Hugh P. Kelley Professor of History at the University of Virginia and author of The Promise of the New South and other books on Southern history decided to pursue this project using hypermedia rather than traditional means of research because of the exciting possibilities of creating and linking information using various databases, illustrations, maps, census records, diaries, newspaper articles, letters, and biographical data. The project is planned for three installments. The first installment is online and covers the period between John Brown's raid and the beginning of the Civil War in April 1861.
This web site is well organized and has information specifically
for classroom use. Lesson plans and assignments are available from various
teachers. Examples of completed student papers and projects are also posted.
Using the Valley of Shadow as primary research on a local study, students
consider broader questions such as inevitability, centrality of slavery,
economic and social differences, and political miscalculations.
1. Locate Staunton, Virginia and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania on a map of the United States. Estimate how far apart the two towns are. Which one is northern? Which one is southern? Identify which states were northern and which were southern during the Civil War. Color and label a map of the United States to show the north-south division of the country.
2. Read two newspaper accounts of John Brown's Raid, one from The
Staunton Spectator (Staunton, VA) and one from The Valley Spirit (Chambersburg,
PA). Compare the articles. What difference, if any, are there in the northern
edition and the southern edition?
URL Address: http://jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU/jbrown/news.html
Activity III.
Women soldiers in the Civil War
Read "Women
Soldiers of the Civil War" by DeAnne Blanton (Prologue: Quarterly of
the National Archives, Spring 1993, vol. 25, no. 1).
http://www.nara.gov/publications/prologue/women1.html
Read "American
Women in the Military" by By Maj. Barbara A. Goodno, U.S. Army, a speech
given on Veterans Day 1993.
http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/Jul1997/s19970707women.html
Read "Women
in the Military" by by: Pamela Prewitt.
http://www.nonline.com/procon/html/proWinC.htm
Read "American
Women in the Civil War, 1861-1865"
http://gendergap.com/military/USmil3.htm#civil-war
Read "Remember
the Ladies"
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/4678/kate.html
1. Discuss women disguising themselves as men to serve both in the Union and Confederate armies. How were women able to do this? Would women be able to serve as men in the United States army today? Explain.
2. The actions of Civil War soldier-women were completely opposite of mid-nineteenth-century society's characterization of women as frail, subordinate, and passive. Were these estimated 750 soldier-women "freaks"? History written previously has tended to stereotype these women soldiers as prostitutes, mentally ill, homosexual, and social misfits. Discuss how women are viewed if they do not follow traditional roles.
3. Two women who served in the Civil War as male soldiers are best known and the most fully documented of all the women. They both served the entire war. Write a short biography on both Sarah Emma Edmonds Seelye (aka Franklin Thompson) and Jennie Hodgers (aka Albert D. J. Cashier).
Activity
IV.
Women's Fashions During the Civil War
The
Lady's Closet
http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/godey/godeytitle.html
Texas'
First Ladies Historic Costume Collection
http://www.twu.edu/twu/exhibits/firstladies/04/4.html
Activity V.
Women Spies!
Activity VI.
Sarah
Wright's Diary. http://jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU/vshadow2/personal/wright.html
1. After students have read through the diary, they may choose to write a paper on the school: comparing it to their school. Or, write a paper on Sarah, her concerns, etc., comparing her to her late 20th century equivalents.
2. Another possible assignment for the students is having them research and write a profile of a group: for example, of the people in Augusta County born in Ireland.
3. How do historians get their information? Are some sources of information more reliable than others? What is easier to learn about: political or social history?
4. After reading the Diary, answer these questions:
1. Like Newton Robert Scott, Private, Company A, of the 36th Infantry, Iowa Volunteers, write a letter home describing the living conditions in Union camps during the U.S. Civil War.
2. Newton Robert Scott's home town was Albia, Monroe County, Iowa.
He was mustered out of the army while stationed at St. Charles, Arkansas.
How far was he from his home town? If he walked 10 miles per day, how long
did it take him to walk home?
Activity VIII.
The Civil War
Poetry and Music Home Page
http://www.erols.com/kfraser
Civil
War Music
http://www.nps.gov/gett/gettkidz/music.htm
1. Read two poems about Confederate soldier life and two poems about Union soldier life. What does the poetry tell you about life as a Civil War soldier?
2. "Music in Camp" illustrates the importance of music to both armies
by recounting an incident that took place along the banks of the Rappahannock
River several weeks after the Battle of Chancellorsville. Find out what
these words in the lyrics mean: crimsoned, azure, listless, nimble, reverberate,
defiance, plaintive, subdued, and celestial.
Activity IX.
Civil
War Food
http://www.conval.edu/schools/sms/www/diamond/cwfood.htm
Civil
War Cookbook
http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/cookbook.htm
Civil
War Recipes
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/1369/recipes.html
1. After reading these online resources, describe some typical meals for Civil War soldiers. What were some of the problems concerning food and water for Civil War soldiers? Explain.
2. The soldiers joked about hardtack, a simple flour cracker,
being really hard. They sometimes referred to hardtack as "tooth
dullers" and "sheet iron crackers." Make a recipe for hardtack and
share your efforts with the class. Or, make another Civil War recipe
to share.
See URL Address:
http://www.nps.gov/gett/gettkidz/hardtack.htm
Activity X.
The Confederate
Currency Home Page
http://www.CSAcurrency.com
1. Look at the inflation chart for C.S.A. currency. How much did
a C.S.A. dollar depreciate in three years from 1862 to 1865?
See URL Address: http://www.CSAcurrency.com/csacur/csavcw.htm
Activity XI.
The
Library of Congress Civil War Timeline, 1861-1865
URL Address: http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/tl1861.html
1. Look up November 7, 1861 on the Library of Congress Civil War
Timeline. Find out what happened in Port Royal, South Carolina between
1861-1862. Draw a map of South Carolina and label Hilton Head, Beaufort,
Phillips Island, Port Royal Island.
Activity XII.
Civil
War Slang
URL Address: http://genie.esu10.k12.ne.us/~dmahalek/Slang.html
1. Write a three paragraph story about the Civil War with a beginning,
a middle, and an ending using as many Civil War slang terms from the list
as possible.
Activity XIII.
The Underground Railroad
Resource:
The
Underground Railroad
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/index.html
1. Follow Moses (Harriet Tubman) on one of her journeys using
this virtual experience from National Geographic. From the information
in this story, sketch a map that shows an escape route to Canada, one of
many routes used by the Underground Railroad. Twelve abolistionists
are listed. Name 4 and explain who they were.
Activity XIV.
The Underground Railroad
1. Pick a personality below. Imagine that you are this person and it is 1851. A runaway slave comes to your door one night for food and shelter. What would you do as the personality you picked? Give reasons for your decisions based on who you are in a well-written paragraph. Tell where you live and what your involvement was with the Underground Railroad. Sketch a map showing some of the major routes of the Underground Railroad and locate your home on this map.
Dr. John Grimes
(1802-1875)
Austin F. Williams
(1805-1885)
Harriet Beecher
Stowe (1811-1896)
Rowland Thomas Robinson
(1796-1879)
Gerrit Smith
(1797-1874)
Dr. F. Julius LeMoyne
(1798-1879)
Wilson Bruce
Evans (1824-1898)
Levi Coffin (1789-1877)
Dr. Nathan
Thomas (1803-1887)
Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864)
Joseph Goodrich
(1800-1867)
Reverend John Todd
Reverend
John Rankin
Rush R. Sloane
(1828-1908)
William Hubbard
(1787-1863)
Isaac and Dinah
Mendenhall
Elijah Pennypacker
(1802-1888)
John Parker (1827-1900)
Activity XV.
The Underground Railroad
1. After reading the article "Traveling the Long Road to Freedom"
in the October, 1996, issue of Smithsonian magazine (http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues96/oct96/undergroundrr.html),
answer the six (6) questions on this Web page: http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/socialstd/UGRR_5.html
Try the two (2) bonus questions.
Activity XVI.
The Underground Railroad
1. Read Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson with illustrations by James Ransome (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 1993). Do the activities on this page: http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/socialstd/grade5/Sweet_Clara.html
Activity XVII.
The Underground Railroad
1. Read Two Tickets To Freedom by Florence B. Freedman, (Scholastic Inc., New York, 1971). Do the activities on this page: http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/socialstd/grade5/Two_Tickets.html
Bibliography
Benet, Stephen Vincent. John Brown's body. [poetry].
Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. With Every Drop
of Blood. New York: Delacorte, 1994.
While trying to transport food to Richmand, Virginia during the
Civil Wary, 14-year old Johnny is captured by a black Union soldier.
Colman, Penny. Spies! : women in the Civil War. White Hall,
Va. : Shoe Tree Press, c1992.
Presents the lives of courageous women who served as spies for the
North and South during the Civil War, including Belle "The Siren of the
Shenandoah" Boyd, Elizabeth "Crazy Bet" Van Lew, and Harriet Tubman.
Hunt, Irene. Across five Aprils. Morristown, NJ : Silver Burdett
Press, 1993.
Note: A 1965 Newbery Honor Book, originally published in 1964 by
Follett.
Young Jethro Creighton grows from a boy to a man when he is left
to take care of the family farm in Illinois during the difficult years
of the Civil War.
Murphy, Jim. The boy's war : Confederate and Union soldiers talk
about the Civil War. New York : Clarion Books, c1990.
Includes diary entries, personal letters, and archival photographs
to describe the experiences of boys, sixteen years old or younger, who
fought in the Civil War.
Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. New York : Philomel Books,
1994.
Told in the voice of Polacco's great-grandfather, this Civil War
story opens to introduce us to a young wounded white soldier named Say.
Rescued from an abandoned battlefield by an equally young black soldier
named Pink, Say's life is saved when he is brought to Pink's mother's farmhouse
deep in enemy territory. There, both boys are restored to health and united
in friendship when Pink teaches his illiterate friend how to read. Though
the tragedy of war separates these young men, their friendship and sacrifice
is immortalized in their family's remembrance of them. Polacco's stirring
commemoration of the principles of life, liberty, friendship and the brotherhood
of all people make this book a remarkable testament to the power of the
printed word. Her numerous color pictures add depth and power to her vital
message -- a message with the power to change the lives of all who read
it.
Shura, Mary Francis. Gentle Annie : the true story of a Civil
War nurse. New York : Scholastic, c1991.
A biography of Anna Blair Etheridge, a nurse during the Civil War,
from childhood through her four years of service with the Army of the Potomac.
Related Internet Resources on the Internet
Civil War Lesson Plans
Civil War Lesson Plans (Upper Elementary) http://www.smplanet.com/civilwar/civilwar.html
Civil
War Lesson Plans
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/mathed/HumanResources/lizziegler/sslesson.html
The
Red Badge of Courage http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/db/cr/cx/px-0001.html
This is an ArtsEdge Performance Guide designed for teachers who
are bringing school groups to see a production of The Red Badge of Courage.
The information and suggested activities are designed to extend the experience
of a live performance and integrate it into curriculum, however activities
and information are extremely useful to all studying the Civil War and
reading the novel. Guide closely follows the South Carolina Frameworks.
Full-text online hypertext formatted version of The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (Project Gutenberg). Find out more about Stephen Crane: Man, Myth, & Legend, from Professor Michele Maynard's web site at the University of Texas at Austin's Department of English.
Related Sites in TheInternet Resource Directory for K-12 Teachers and Librarians, 99/00 Edition and the 2000-2001 Edition (to be published August 2000).
Back to Integrating Internet Resources into the Curriculum for Older Students
Back to the SCASL "Making Connections on the Internet" Page