The Civil War, a war that divided a nation. Comparing and contrasting the Confederate and Union soldiers is not always an easy task, but the eighth of 15 resources makes it easy to teach the concepts. Exercises include watching videos in...

Students use information about the Union and Confederate troops to create a bar graph.  In this graphing lesson plan, students graph troop information on a bar graph, color coding the information.  Students then find the...

Students examine the battle of Pea Ridge during the Civil War in Arkansas. They write a 3 point paragraph on the Battle of Pea Ridge between the Union and the Confederate troops.

But for a fluke, 1862 could have gone differently during the Civil War. When Union troops found Robert E. Lee's battle plans for critical engagements in Maryland wrapped around cigars and tossed aside, history changed forever. Class...

Did you know that many women were Confederate spies during the Civil War? The resource focuses particularly on the important role women played for both the Union and Confederacy. It uses exercises such as a discussion, video, analyzing...

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...

An engaging lesson plan focuses on the impact of the war and Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction had on the United States. Historians analyze primary documents, such as Constitutional Amendments and newspaper experts. They also participate...

Learners research primary documents to identify when Confederate troops burned the city of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. They describe how the city was damaged and create a fictionalized newspaper account of the city's burning.

Eighth graders decide whether to join the Union or Confederate army. Then decide under which General you serve and in which battles you fight. Finally students create civilwar documents in assigned roles.

Eighth graders explore Civil War campaigns. In this Civil War instructional activity, 8th graders collaborate and conduct research to create presentations that focus on specific Union or Confederate generals and battles. Students...

Students consider the impact of the American Civil War on Georgia. In this Georgia history lesson, students discover Roswell's contributions to the Confederate effort and then create children's books that illustrate the destruction of...

Eighth graders explore the battles of the Civil War through journaling exercises. In this American Civil War lesson, 8th graders write journals from the perspective of teens accompanying the troops into various battles.

Students investigate maps to examine the life of a Confederate soldier based on troop movements as well as letters and diaries.

Examine the genre of historical fiction while reading A Light in the Storm. They extract events in chronological order to make a timeline. Then, they use information in the book important to the characters to create a presentation of an...

Investigate and analyze Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation using primary and secondary sources. The sixth installment of an eight-part series analyzes the meaning of Lincoln's document in relation to its impact on the Civil...

As part of a study of post Civil War era, young historians investigate the changes in voting rights during the Reconstruction Era (1863-1876), the fraud involved in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876, and efforts by Pap...

Learn how the Civil War created fierce conflicts among American Indian nations who had been moved across the Mississippi River.

This lesson could be used in teaching units on the Civil War or on the commemoration of wars.

Students explore U.S. history by creating a computer presentation in class. In this Civil War battle lesson, students read assigned text about the Battle of Stones River and research individual generals from the battles. Students utilize...

Middle schoolers read one of the most important documents in our nation's history: The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. After everyone reads the proclamation, they set out to write a "You Were There" type of report on it. They pretend...

Students role play, persuading and staying neutral during arguments. In this viewpoint lesson, students examine the viewpoints of soldiers in the Spanish-American War and role play. After a discussion, some students try to persuade the...

Fourth graders study the Battle of Corydon, its military leaders, and its influence on the town. In this Battle of Corydon lesson, 4th graders develop vocabulary needed to complete the lesson, listen as the teacher reads The Battle of...

Eighth graders take a closer look at the life of Union soldiers. For this American Civil War lesson, 8th graders read and analyze a series of letters from Lt. John Hadley to his fiancée. Students chart their findings from the letters on...

In this Civil War history worksheet, students read and discuss a selection regarding the arrest of the Maryland legislature.