Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Post Civil Way Reconstruction

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders research different documents pertaining to the reconstruction era. They present their findings to the class in structured presentations and unstructured discussions. Students compare and contrast their findings about...
Lesson Plan
Center for Instruction, Technology, & Innovation

Did African American Lives Improve After Slavery?

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
The Civil War made slavery illegal, but all ex-slaves were not totally free. Scholars visit eight different classroom stations to uncover life during the Reconstruction Era in America. Groups discover items such as Black Codes, 13th,...
Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

After Charlottesville: Public Memory and the Contested Meaning of Monuments

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Are Civil War monuments a kind remembrance or a reminder of a dark past? The activity focuses on the public's memory of the Civil War and the monuments that represent it. Young academics explore past efforts to change historical symbols...
Lesson Plan7:11
Appalachian State University

Glory: Motion Picture Study Guide

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
This is an excellent resource for teachers to use for incorporating the motion picture Glory into the classroom! Breaking down the film into particular noteworthy and telling scenes, the guide offers important considerations for...
Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

Preserving the Memory

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Civil War battlefields themselves are under siege by development and other forces. Using materials from the Battlefield Trust, individuals explore local areas that face threat and write letters to support their preservation. An...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Allison Smith: What Are You Fighting For?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Trench art is a nontraditional art form created by soldiers in trenches during wartime. Artist Allison Smith connects her art to the American Revolution and the question: "What are you fighting for?" Kids examine her art, how it connects...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Constitution

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers determine how President Lincoln promoted emancipation. In this slavery lesson, students examine primary documents, including the U.S. Constitution, to reconstruct Lincoln's attempts to end slavery and deliver the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chancellorsville 360

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Experience a Civil War battlefield up close. Chancellorsville 360 allows scholars to explore the battlefield in an interactive format. The site demonstrates the layout of the battlefield, strategies, and key events. Created for high...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Preserving the Memory

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young historians explore ways to help preserve historic battlefields and artifacts. Designed for secondary scholars, the resource focuses on Civil War battlefields and the National Registrar of Historic Places Application. Pupils also...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Journey to Gettysburg

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students use latitude and longitude to map the path of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Voices of Bull Run

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Soldier's lives are often a topic when studying the Civil War, but what about the lives of civilians? Scholars use the characters from the novel Bull Run to better understand the lives of those not directly on the Civil War battlefields....
Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Norbert Rillieux, Thermodynamics and Chemical Engineering

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The man who invented the earliest examples of chemical engineering was an American-born, French-educated, free man of color before the Civil War, and went on to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. There is something of...
Lesson Plan
National Constitution Center

Dred Scott v. Sanford

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Dred Scott v. Sanford was a watershed moment for the country—and a key moment leading up to the Civil War. Using videos and analytical worksheets, scholars consider the facts of the case and then develop their own arguments before the...
Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

Experiencing the Battle of Franklin

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Scholars watch videos, study an animated map, and read a firsthand written account to explore the impact of the Battle of Franklin during the Civil War. Academics analyze images, complete worksheets, and create journal entries to...
Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

1862: Antietam and Emancipation

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Was the Emancipation Proclamation a revolutionary document or just a military strategy? It proclaimed that all those enslaved in Confederate states would be "forever free." Logistically, though, it did little. The order, however,...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Deconstructing Reconstruction: The Reconstruction Era

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers examine the Reconstruction programs instituted following the American Civil War, the potential for change these efforts offered, and the realities that occurred. Guided by a PowerPoint presentation, class members read a...
Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

The Battle of Saltville

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
It may be hard to see through the fog of war, but primary sources describing what happened at the Battle of Saltville during the Civil War shed some light on what happened there. Using primary sources, including descriptions from...
Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

The Political Struggle, 1865-1866

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Healing versus justice. The central source of tension following the United States Civil War was between the demands for healing and the demands for justice, the battle between President Andrew Johnson and Congress. A video introduces the...
Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

1862: Antietam and Emancipation

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
The Emancipation Proclamation shifted the tone and purpose of the Civil War. Using a primary source analysis, pupils consider the significance of the document. A second activity investigates the founding of the United States Colored...
Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

Contraband Camp

For Teachers 9th - 12th
 An educational lesson plan explores the plight of African Americans escaping slavery during the Civil War. Learners view a presentation and analyze primary documents and images to understand the purpose of contraband camps and how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letters, Telegrams, and Photographs Illustrating

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students research the factors that are important in winning a battle in the Civil War. In a second activity they are assigned the role of a specific type of person during the Civil War and asked to describe what it's like being that person.
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

The Physicist's War: Dr. Herman Branson and the Scientific Training of African Americans during World War II

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The mobilization of soldiers for World War II resulted in a worker shortage in the defense industries, especially in the fields of physics and other sciences. The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program (ESMWT) was...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Abolitionists and Their Impact on Sectionalism

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine the impact of Abolitionist leaders on sectionalism. In small groups, they conduct research on a famous abolitionist, and develop and write a newspaper cover page based on their assigned abolitionist.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slave Narratives: Constructing U.S. History Through Analyzing Primary Sources

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners access oral histories that contain slave narratives from the Library of Congress. They describe the lives of former slaves, sample varied individual experiences and make generalizations about their research in journal entries.

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