Civil War Activites and Resources

At the end of the school year we completed my favorite unit of the year, the Civil War. I wanted to post each activity we did but decided to create one big post with everything in it. So, here it is everything we did as we learned about the Civil War. 

**Disclaimer - I did not create the projects below, only modified them for my students.

Underground Railroad and Secret Quilt Messages

In a previous post I shared the book we read and the site we used
to discuss how quilts were used in the Underground Railroad.

Underground Railroad Quilts

Union and Confederate Soldier Comparison

Original Idea

Soldier Comparison Project

Civil War Battle Project

Original Idea

 Battle Project

Puzzles:

Final Review Puzzle

Civil War Crossword Puzzle 

Lapbook Project

Directions

Notes:

Notes #1 

Notes #2 

Notes #3 

Notes #4

Quizzes:

Quiz #1

Quiz #2

Quiz #3

Quiz #4

Final Quiz

Helpful Websites:

Civil War Trust

Civil War for Kids

Underground Railroad Quilts

We are in the middle of our Civil War unit, my FAVORITE unit! I love teaching history and this is my favorite part of the year. Today, we read and talked about the Underground Railroad. My students were very interested and asking lots of great questions. We read the book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson. This is a great story about Clara creating a quilt/map that leads to the Underground Railroad.

After reading we discussed how quilts were used along the Underground Railroad as secret codes for the escaped slaves. My students then created their own secret code quilts using the site Pathways to Freedom. The site shows you examples of patterns that were used and then lets you create and explain your own quilt. This was a quick and easy activity that went great with the book.

Queen of the Falls plus so much more!

If you have never read the book Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg you should! It is a great story about Anna Taylor, the first person to ever go over Niagara Falls. I have a lot of boys in my 5th grade class and it is hard to keep them interested sometimes. This book and project kept them interested. Below is a basic daily layout of how I used this book in my classroom.

Day 1 - We started by reading about Niagara Falls and looking at pictures of the falls. When I first asked what they knew, the students could only tell me that it was a waterfall and that a man tight rope walked across it, Nik Wallenda in 2012. This actually took longer than I thought it would, the kids were really interested. Living in Florida we do not see waterfalls unless we are watching TV or traveling, so we had a great discussion about the falls. 

*You could easily stop here and save the rest for the next day. I had time that day and the kids were into the lesson so we kept going. 

After all of this discussion, I read aloud Queen of the Falls. I read until the barrel went over the falls and then stopped. :) All my students asked, "Did she live??" or "What happened?" I asked a few basic questions such as: do you think she lives?, if so will she be hurt? Then I finished the story. The kids were amazed that a 63 year old woman survived the 165 ft fall. It still amazes me every time I think about it. 

I asked the students how the information we read about Niagara Falls helped the students understand the story. This was a great opportunity for the kids to relate the story to the non-fiction text we read about Niagara Falls.

Day 2 -  I posted several different questions about the book. We discussed the student's answers. We then read a poem titled, Queen of the Mist, which tells about Ms. Taylor going over the falls. (We became very familiar with Ms. Taylor and referred to her as someone we all knew personally). As a class we talked about the poem and then students discussed with a partner how the poem was similar and different from the book. I try to compare different types of text as often as possible. 

Day 3 - Throughout our discussions of Ms. Taylor and reading about her, my students ask, "Did anyone else go over the falls?" On day three we learned about the other 13 people who intentionally went over the falls. I listed only the names of each person on the board and let the students pick who they wanted to write their report on. Niagara Falls Daredevils

To keep the kids in suspense, I did not let the kids look at their paper or the picture of their person until everyone had pick a daredevil. When I said, "Ok, you can read your paper." They were silent followed by comments such as; "Oh my gosh!" "This guy is crazy!"I love this part of teaching, watching the students get so excited about a topic.

After reading through their report, they completed the venn diagram on the Daredevil Report. Students compared Ms. Taylor to their person.


Day 4 & 5 - Students worked on writing their report and eyewitness account of their daredevil going over the falls. 

We also read Native American legend Lady of the Mist. Legends and folk tales are always fun to discuss.

This is a completed Daredevil report.

Day 6 - And of course we Tweeted about our Niagara Falls Daredevils.

13 Colonies Project

I am a little behind on posting this project, blame it on my pre-Spring Break vacation. :) The project was turned in a month ago but I was busy then forgot, so here is it. 

My 5th graders each completed a 13 Colony Project, personally I would rather be given a fun project than a test. So, I tend to assign projects over test for social studies. For this assignment I picked 4 different projects that I thought the students would enjoy making and required the students to learn about different aspects of the Revolutionary War. 

This project is a switch up from the 13 Colonies Project that my 5th graders did last year which was a power point.  This year I decided to go with a more hands-on project.

Project Options:

1. Hands-On Map: the map showed the 13 colonies and included 6 major events that were hidden by a flap, sliding window or other moving part. 

2. Newspaper: the paper was written as if the the Revolutionary War has just ended and includes editorials, news stories, political cartoons and other columns commonly found in a paper. 

3. ABC Book: each letter represents a person, event or item from the Revolutionary War. There was also a short description included. 

4. Coffee Table Book: one topic from the Revolutionary War was chosen and written about in detail. 

Five For Friday

This is my first Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

1. After several busy weeks and not being able to post on my blog I have been able to post 4, YES 4 new post!

2. We started the week with 5th grades American Revolution Trading Card Day. It was fun to watch the kids trade and bargain for different cards. Some student loved their cards so much they were VERY particular or would not trade at all. I loved watching them take so much pride in what they created.

3. My 5th graders are in the middle of studying the American Revolution. After looking at and discussing political cartoons from that time period the students created their own political cartoon. Check out my post on this activity. 

4. My 4th graders completed their cause and effect paragraphs for the story A Bad Case of Stripes. 

5. Today my daughter and I took our first train ride. It was the birthday of my friend's son, we took a train ride on a real Amtrak train. It was so much fun!

Political Cartoons

The hand represents the 13 colonies.

We have been talking about the causes of the American Revolution for the last few weeks. This unit is stretching out longer than I planned. The kids love it and we are having fun learning about the American Revolution so it is ok if we take a few extra weeks. 

After talking about the Boston Tea Party we begin talking about political cartoons from the time of the American Revolution. We talked about how they were used to spread a message to other colonist. My students then created their own political cartoons about the Boston Tea Party. 

The flames are labeled for each of the colonies.

The small fish to the left of the net are labeled as different colonies.

The only requirements that I gave the students were they they could not draw a picture of what actually happen at the Boston Tea Party. I must say that they fought me on this, it took A LOT of encouraging and A LOT of re-dos. They did not think they were creative enough and that it was to abstract. Let me just say that I have some VERY creative kids that can DEFINITELY think outside the box. I love those moments when you push the kids and they are able to be really creative. 

The hands represent the colonist.

American Revolution Trading Card Day!!

Today was our trading card day! Some of the students were very firm that they would not trade their cards but once the students started trading the cards they began joining in the fun. We had three classes meet in the library and it was fun to watch the students interact. There were students that treated the trading like a business and did a great job. The trading card directions, parent letter and template are found here on a previous post.

American Revolution - Trading Cards

This year we tried a new project for the American Revolution, trading cards. That is right, just like baseball cards but each card is focused on one topic from the American Revolution. Each student was given 6 cards and a few directions to go with the cards. The parent letter, directions and template is below. After the cards were turned they were laminated and graded. I think they turned out great! 

 
We will have trading card day next week. The fifth graders will meet in the library and the students will be able to trade cards. I am looking froward to that but couldn't wait to post. Once we our trading day I will post pictures.

Parent Letter

Rubric

Card Template

Decelaration of Independence

I am getting a head start on planning our next social studies unit: Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. While searching online I found this AMAZING video with several different movie stars reciting the entire Declaration of Independence. I want to share this video so that anyone else what will be teaching about the Declaration of Independence can use it. Happy lesson planning!

Biography Reports

5th Grade Biography Report

Our projects on display in the library.

This year I switched up the biography project for my 5th graders, they made gift boxes. I found the idea online but can't remember or find the site. Everyone picked a person that they would like to research, the only limitations is that there must be a book on their level about that person in our library. Our library has a great selection of biography books so the kids were able to find a book easily for this project.

After completing the research they began working on the shoebox. The students wrapped a shoe box and made 4 gifts for the person they researched based on what the person would like or want. I LOVE, LOVE how they turned out. The students were so creative with their gifts. Check out the projects below.  Biography Gift Box Project

Leonardo Da Vinci - copy of Mona Lisa, paint, paint brush

Amelia Earhart - pontoon boat, GPS, Iphone, and parachute

Martin Luther King Jr - bus, picture of 'I have a dream' speech, peace necklace, cross

Benjamin Franklin - American flag, kite, calendar, American history book

4th Grade Biography Report

My 4th graders also just completed their biography reports, I LOVE this project. It is so much fun and the kids are able to really show their creativity and personality. Everyone picks a person that they would like to research and a book that is on their level about that person. After reading their book the students then complete the written portion of the project.The report is done in a file folder.  

The best part is the project are the presentations! I am kicking my self for not taking pictures of the AWESOME outfits my students wore :( 

Theodore Roosevelt

Jerry Rice

Explorers and Compare & Contrast

In my 5th grade class we have just completed our study of explorers. The students completed a project where they each studied an explorer and presented the information to the class. We used our information about the explorers with our compare and contrast lessons. 

Compare and Contrast

I broke compare and contrast into two weeks, one week for non-fiction and one week for fiction. The first week we compared and contrasted non-fiction we discussed Christopher Columbus and Ponce De Leon for two days and then Sailors and Pirates for two days. 

After reading the article about Christopher Columbus and Ponce De Leon we discussed how they were alike and different. The students took notes as they read to help them with easily finding information. The students then worked with a partner to write down three other ways that they were alike and different. They wrote their answers on sticky notes and then posted them on the board. 

The students also recorded information on a Venn Diagram worksheet. We then wrote together as a class a paragraph explaining how the explorers were alike and different. I gave each student a Compare & Contrast list of words to use when writing. As we read the articles and discussed how the Christopher Columbus and Ponce De Leon were alike and different I also discussed with the students why they were important explorers. This was actually a two day lesson because of all the discussion that went on. It always amazes me how many questions students have when we learn about American History. 

On Thursday and Friday (we were out of school on Wednesday) we compared and contrasted life at sea for Pirates and Sailors. We followed the same format the students read the articles taking notes as they read, complete the Venn Diagram, and wrote a paragraph discussing the differences and similarities. The students loved reading about pirates, they are my favorite too! After reading each article I asked the students if they would be a sailor or pirate. It was fun to hear their thoughts.

Explorers Project

Each student picked an explorer to study, created a mini poster and gave a presentation to the class.The project directions are found at this link, Explorer Project. Check out the students projects below.

Students researching their explorer.