American Civil War Lesson Plans

1. Advantages / Disadvantages of the Civil War- A simple lesson I like to do to motivate students to learn about the advantages and disadvantages the North and the South had during the Civil War is to play a simple card game "WAR!"
2. Civil War- A through lesson.
3. Civil War Essay Writing- The learner will be able to list the six major themes presented in class and explain one in detail as an essay answer.
4. Civil War Photos Tell a Story- Students select a photograph from the Civil War era and write a story that tells about it.
5. Civil War Recipes- Students prepare foods, including hardtack, that were among the staples of a Civil War soldier's diet.

1. Civil War Slang- Students explore some of the words and phrases used during the Civil War-- and their meanings.
2. Civil War Time Line- Students develop time lines of various events that took place during the Civil War.
3. Deciphering Morse Code- Students write and decode messages using Morse code, as Civil War soldiers might have done.
4. Drafting the Gettysburg Address- Students compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln's drafts and final version of the Gettysburg Address.
5. How Did Civil War Soldiers Battle Boredom?-Students create a diagram to compare things done to combat boredom today and during Civil War times.
6. Lesson Plan on the Civil War- When requested, the student will describe events leading to the Civil War that will include at least 3 of the 6 events covered as well as the impact those events had on the northern and southern societies.
7. Life During the Civil War Era- Students create a museum exhibit or a fictional journal or newspaper account about life during the Civil War era.
8. Role Playing The Civil War- 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.
9. Songs of the Civil War- Students investigate music of the Civil War era and explore how music can be used to arouse and express emotion.
10. The Cost of War- Students study a chart showing Civil War deaths and answer questions about the information. A work sheet is included.
11. The Civil War- The following lesson plan for an upper elementary unit on the Civil War contains links to other Internet sites that can provide valuable cross-curricular materials for you and your students.
12. The Civil War: Emancipation Experience- The purpose of this inquiry lesson is to give students an affective experience of the pre and post American Civil War experience on Americans- Blacks and Whites (southerners and northerners).
13. The U.S. Civil War- This lesson is intended to help students understand some of the problems America went through before becoming a great nation. It is the hope of the authors that the students will be able to assess the causes of the war and form their own conclusions.
14. Who Killed Abraham Lincoln?- Students read an original manuscript about the investigation of Lincoln's assassination, then work in groups to write and perform a play based on the story.