Thematic Unit created by David, Sandy, Peggy, Julia, and Ashley
Our group worked together to
find a topic for our final project that would be suitable for students from
kindergarten through eighth grade. We discovered that the Civil War would allow
us to accomplish this goal. We felt there was a need for students to be
knowledgeable about their history and the steps that led up to the war.
There was plenty of
information, books, websites and artifacts about the Civil War for us to work
from. The Internet was an excellent resource to begin our search for
information. Through the Internet, we were led to interesting topics, lesson
plans and ideas for all of our grade levels. We were able to find books to
cover the genres discussed in class at the local libraries without difficulty.
We discovered that the Civil
War could be taught in steps. We found plenty of age appropriate material to
use in order to create the lessons. Through the steps, we were able to build
and scaffold the information for the next grade level.
We felt there were many
areas about the Civil War that would generate deeper thinking for the higher
grades such as slavery, assassination and the division amongst the nation’s
population. We were excited about the wide array of ideas and projects that
could be incorporated to keep the students interested and engaged.
As our research into our
project continued, we discovered more facts and details about the Civil War for
us to use. We found letters from dying soldiers and diaries kept by men, women
and children. By adding these personal stories, we felt the students would
become more personally involved in the people and events of the Civil War.
In the early stages of
choosing the Civil War as our project, we each had visions of things we wanted
to include on our display board. We knew that we could capture the students’
interest and set the stage for an excellent learning opportunity.
Lessons(worksheets mentioned in the lessons below can be found
in a variety of books at teacher supply stores or can be designed by teachers to
fit needs of students.)