Current Unit

We are currently studying: The Civil War 
For the next 8 days, we will be working with the movie Gettysburg. Feel free to review the lessons and other information below.

Gettysburg unit

For this unit, we will use the movie Gettysburg as a case study/focal point for our discussion of the Civil War. The battle of Gettsyburg took place half-way through the Civil War and was a pivotal moment in the war. The movie shows the battle, but also includes several conversations between characters where they discuss important topics like reasons for fighting in the war and what it was like to know you had loved ones on the other side. The full movie is over 4 hours long, so we will not watch the whole thing.

Gettysburgh Day 1: Pre-watching

Materials:

• Note cards or small papers featuring important people, places, and events from the battle of Gettysburg (should be no more than 2-3 per student)
• Chromebooks with access to Google Slides
• Research materials: student textbooks, additional history texts (already in classroom), appropriate research websites (Wikipedia is okay for this but it would be ideal for students to use other sources)
• Supplies for taking notes (can be on a computer or on paper, whichever the student prefers)

Methodology:

• Students will receive 2-3 note cards featuring a combination of important people, places, and events related to the battle of Gettysburg (e.g. Robert E. Lee, Little Round Top, Pickett’s Charge). The bulk of class time will be spent on researching the topics of these notecards. Students should aim to present 2-5 basic facts about each topic (e.g. where was Lee from? What was his rank? Which side did he fight for?). Take notes, then add the facts and at least one appropriate picture to a Google slide (one slide per topic). Slides should be shared with the teacher so they can be added to a class slide show.
  • Students can work alone, in pairs, or in small groups of up to 4 students, but pairs and groups will then have to research ALL of the group members’ assigned topics.
• Before leaving, students should share at least 1 fact about at least 1 of their topics with the class.

Outcomes:

• Students will be able to identify at least 2 people, places, or events related to the Battle of Gettysburg, and name at least 1 basic fact about each of these people, places, or events

Homework:

• At the end of the Civil War unit, students will be asked to make a short presentation about some broad topic related to the Civil War (e.g. reasons groups/individuals had for fighting in the war, the role of identity [e.g. the identity of being from a particular state]). A full list of topics will be shared on Google Docs. Students should review the list and choose a topic they might like to focus on for their project, then let me know what they have chosen by adding their name to the Google Doc under their chosen topic. Students may change their topic, but should probably do it ASAP so they do not fall behind on their research.
• Students should also skim the viewing questions for Gettysburg

Gettysburg, Days 2, 4, and 6: Movie viewing

Materials:

• One copy of the movie Gettysburg
• Teacher’s notes about what scenes to skip (with time stamps)
• Handouts of viewing questions (students should not use computers during viewing UNLESS it is part of an IEP)

Methodology:

• Students will watch an abridged version of Gettysburg over the course of several days (with days for discussion in between – see the next lesson plan)
• While watching, students should take some notes/write some brief answers to the day’s viewing questions. These should help them during discussions later.

Outcomes:

• Students will be able to use evidence from their viewing of Gettysburg to discuss various topics, such as reasons for fighting in the war
• This will mostly be demonstrated on discussion days, not on viewing days, due to the length of the movie

Homework:

• The discussion questions for each discussion day will be posted on a shared Google Doc. Students should review the questions and compose a basic answer, using 3-5 supporting details from Gettysburg, their textbooks, previous class discussions, and other appropriate resources (e.g. their research for their project, if they have started researching – the answers to these questions will also be helpful for their research)

Gettysburg, days 3, 5, and 7: discussion days

Materials:

• A copy of the movie Gettysburg, for reference
• Student textbooks
• Students’ viewing notes
• Students’ answers to the discussion questions
• Students’ computers
• Creative tools (paper, pens, markers, etc., which should already be in the classroom)

Methodology:

• When students arrive, ask them to spend 3-5 minutes reviewing the main things that happened in the previous day’s viewing. Students can work alone, in pairs, or in small groups, but the time limit must be firm. When the discussions are done, ask some students to share at least one point they remember. Add it to a timeline on the board (this may be best done on a digital document so the information from each day will be present for the following day).
• For each day, students will work together on some discussion questions:
  • Day 3: students should form (new) small groups. Each group will be assigned one discussion question, for which they must formulate an answer. They can then present their answer as a typical spoken presentation (ideally with a chance for each group member to speak), or as an appropriate visual medium such as a chart, poster, or Google Slide. The goal is for the information to be presented in a way that will be visible to the entire class and that everyone can learn from. Leave time at the end of class for groups to present their work/view other groups’ work. Discussion questions:
    • In yesterday’s movie segment, we saw at least two conversations about why the people on each side are fighting in the war (Col. Chamberlain’s speech to the 2^nd Maine and Lt. Chamberlain’s conversation with the Southern prisoners of war). What reasons did each person or group give for fighting in the war? Can you think of other reasons that may have been presented in your textbook or some other source?
    • Based on what we saw in the movie and what you know from other sources, what can we say about the states of the Union and Confederate armies? For example, which side seems to have better access to food? Uniforms? Other supplies? What impact (if any) do you think this might have on outcome of the battle?
  • Day 5: Students can work in pairs or small groups to work on today’s discussion questions. They can use their laptops or paper for their project, but we will be making a digital final version using information from the whole class.
    • By now we have watched about 2/3 of the movie, and by now we have also studied the Civil War using other materials. Based on what you have seen and studied, what are some of the major similarities and differences you can see between the Union and Confederacy? Make a list or chart in your group and be prepared to share at least one similarity and one difference from it with the rest of the class. Similarities and differences can include things like reasons for fighting, beliefs the soldiers held, things they thought or worried about, uniforms…nothing is too small or shallow for today’s chart.
  • Day 7: Today, students will work on the topic they chose for their project. Students who are working on the same topic can gather in small groups to discuss their chosen topic (there might need to be multiple groups per topic depending on how many people have chosen each topic). For the majority of class time, students will discuss their topics in their groups. For the last few minutes of class, students will switch to “mixed” groups (i.e. they will join  new groups made up of people with different topics) and share their findings about their topic in their new groups. Some possible topics:
    • Based on what we say in the movie, what role did religion play in the lives of the soldiers? For example, what do we know about when and why they prayed? What do we know about their beliefs about what would happen after they died? Did people on either side believe that their side had divine support? What impact might such a belief have on things like their willingness to fight or their beliefs about whether they were fighting for a just cause?
    • We see many examples of the importance of state-based identity in this movie. For example, we see that being Virginian is important to many of the men from Virginia. How do we know that state identity is important to people (use examples from the movie and from other sources)? Is state identity equally important for Northern and Southern soldiers? Do you think state identity is very important to Americans today? What form of location-based identity do you think is important to Americans today, and why is it important?

Outcomes:

• Day 3:
  • Students will be able to list at least 4 reasons (2 for each side) why soldiers are fighting in the Civil War
  • Students will be able to provide at least 2 examples to illustrate the circumstances of the Northern or Southern armies (e.g. noting that the South may have been struggling to get supplies because many soldiers lacked shoes or full uniforms)
• Day 5:
  • Students will be able to identify at least 2 similarities and 2 differences between the North and South.
• Day 7:
  • Students will be able to use evidence from the movie and/or other sources (e.g. their textbook) to support their arguments about their chosen topics
  • Note that students will be in the very early stages of their research, so at this point their arguments are probably not very strong, but one of the points of having discussions today should be to develop 1-2 arguments they can use in their project

Homework:

• Days 3 and 5: Students should review the relevant viewing questions for the day 4 and day 6 segments.
• Day 7: Students should continue working in their projects.