Curated OER
Songs of the Civil War
Students investigate music of the Civil War era and explore how music can be used to arouse and express emotion. They identify a rhythmical musical pattern and match lyrics to it.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Life Before the Civil War
American life before the Civil War was very different from American life today. To show this difference in a full spectrum, learners compare two communities that illustrate the differences between Northern and Southern life. Throughout...
Curated OER
Faces of the Past: Boys in the Civil War
Students investigate the role of boys during the American Civil War. In this Civil War Research lesson, students study the contributions of young Union and Confederate men to the war effort. Students also make...
Curated OER
Civil War Music
Students discover how both the North and South used music extensively during the Civil War to rally troops, as recreation, to march by, and many other reasons. They realize that both sides would borrow each other's tunes or lyrics and it...
Curated OER
Artsgenesis: Civil War Tapestry
Students explore the Civil War and the many emotions that emerged during this era. The teacher arranges students in groups of families and prepares them to simulate typical responses during this era. The Civil War and Gettysburg is...
Curated OER
Civil War Music - Irish Folk Songs
Students determine what it was like to serve as an Irish-American in the American Civil War. In this Irish folk song lesson, students use the provided worksheets to analyze selected Irish folk songs and make inferences about war...
Curated OER
Who Fought for the Union?
Learners read New York Times articles, letters, and listen to songs written from a soldier's perspective during the Civil War in order to understand who was fighting in the Union Army. This is a great lesson, complete with weblinks,...
San Francisco Symphony
American Civil War Songs
Learners will compare and contrast two songs from the Civil War era, one from the North and one from the South. They'll write a comparative essay on their songs, and then compare their essays and songs with others in their small groups....
Curated OER
What's Civil About War?
Students study about the Civil War through primary sources used in the PBS production of "Freedom: A History of US" based on Joy Hakim's books, "A History of US", and the companion PBS Web site.
Curated OER
Cover the Music
Young scholars explore U.S. history by listening to musical pieces in class. In this Civil War era instructional activity, students discuss the types of musical instruments that were available to soldiers during the war and the themes of...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln: The Face of War
Young scholars compare life masks and photos of Abraham Lincoln that were made before and at the end of the Civil War. In this "Faces of War" lesson, students analyze images of Lincoln in a historical context and create a timeline of event.
Smithsonian Institution
The Music of the Mardi Gras Indians
The traditions, costumes, and the music of the Mardi Gras Indians, African-Americans and those with African American or Native American Heritage are the focus of a unit that introduces class members to a little-known group that...
Curated OER
Music of the Civil War
Students gain insight into the Civil War era by exploring the art, music, and literature of the time.
Curated OER
Integrated Social Studies and Music Lesson
Fourth graders study the Civil War. They listen to and study the songs, 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' and 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home.' They play 'Yankee Doodle' on their recorders and write in their reflection journals about their...
Curated OER
The Civil War Homefront
Students examine the human cost of war on both sides of the Civil War. Using the internet, they research the role of women on the homefront and the impact the war had on families. They also read the novel "Across Five Aprils" and discuss...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Strange Fruit: Lynching in America
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of...
Curated OER
Art -- The Secret to Freedom
Fourth graders create a coded message in a quilt. In this art lesson students demonstrate the communication used by the Underground Railroad. Students work in a group to make a quilt with a code in it.
Washington University in St. Louis
Teaching Jazz as American Culture
Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...
Curated OER
Reporters at Gettysburg A WebQuest
Learners create newsletters about the Battle of Gettysburg. For this Civil War lesson, students create a webquest based on the battle. Learners use the information and sources to create a Gettysburg newsletter.
Curated OER
Cotton Journey
Students use "Cotton Journey-A Field Trip In A Box" kit to relate the significance of cotton to the Civil War period and to study the cotton industry in general.
Curated OER
Musical & Linguistic Lesson Plan
Tenth graders study songs and music of the US Civil War period. They use technology to compose a song that highlights an event or concept from the war.
San Francisco Symphony
Adding Music to Oklahoma History
To better understand Oklahoma state history, learners will use a website to find a song that supports or represents aspects of Oklahoma's history. They'll write three sentences defending their choice, and then they will create...
iCivics
I Can’t Wear What?
Can schools ban t-shirts picturing musical groups or bands? Your young citizens will find out with this resource, which includes a summary of a United States Supreme Court case from the 1960s about a similar dispute over students wearing...
Curated OER
Gettysburg Movie
Students create a movie that includes both sound and pictures of the Gettysburg Address using iMovie, digital cameras, and copies of the Gettysburg Address. Extensive examples of student works are given.