Carol Strickler, Grass Valley, Winnemucca, NM
ROLE PLAYING THE CIVIL WAR
Appropriate for grades 5 & 7.
OVERVIEW: To help students comprehend the time frame of
colonization to the present we begin with a blank bulletin board
with a skeletal outline of the United States. We fill portions as
colonies become states. We continue along the same flow into the
Civil War unit. Students are really getting excited about the
growth of the United States. They understand the time, effort,
and work required to bring us as a nation to the point of the
Civil War.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this unit is to provide a frame for the
students to use in evaluating both points of view in the Civil
War.
OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to:
1. Identify which states belong to the Union and which states
belong to the Confederacy.
2. Identify three reasons of the North and three reasons of the
South for the Civil War.
3. Identify and comprehend feeling experienced by both northern
and southern states.
4. Identify the qualities of exceptional leaders regardless of
their patriotic affiliation.
5. Feel compassion for participants in the Civil War regardless
of their side.
ACTIVITIES:
1. Begin removing seceding states from bulletin board as they
secede.
2. When the Civil War begins the students are divided into Union
and Confederacy. They choose leaders, draw their flags, and
learn the background to support their historical position.
They create recruitment posters to encourage enlistment and
support for their sides. (No interaction between Northerns
and Southerns for the duration of the unit).
3. During Language period the North writes a report portraying
Abraham Lincoln to be presented orally. The South writes a
report on Robert E. Lee to be presented orally.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS NEEDED: All resources available in most
schools.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: The class can improve on history be
having a reuniting ceremony in following what Abraham Lincoln
would have promoted had he lived. President Lincoln did have
strong plans for reconstruction that were not implemented for lack
of quality leadership.
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John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org