Imagine you are a soldier in the Civil War. What are you wearing? What do you need to carry with you? Examine the life of a person during the Civil War, from drummer boys to powder monkeys to musket-toting soldiers. Elementary learners write a letter from the perspective of a soldier or musician to demonstrate their understanding of both the historical era and narrative writing skills.

Concepts

the united states civil war, soldiers, Narrative Writing

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Have individuals draft a character profile of each of the perspectives from which they are writing
• Prompt your class to make their final drafts as historically accurate as possible, including dialect from the period, references to the war and 1860's politics, and aging their paper with tea or singed edges

Classroom Considerations

• Lesson requires access to Civil War-era items, including clothing, weapons, and other items soldiers would carry into battle, as well as a presentation by a Civil War reenactor; provide pictures of these items if you can't find physical examples
• You will need to provide your own narrative writing rubric

Pros

• Includes a modification idea for assessment
• Promotes creative writing as an application for a history lesson
• A great way to connect social studies and language arts in an interdisciplinary lesson

Cons

• None

Common Core

W.3.3.a W.3.4 W.4.3.a W.4.4 W.5.3.a W.5.4 W.6.3.a W.6.4