Name of Lesson: The American Civil War

Teacher: Roland Pendleton

Class: U.S. History
Purpose of the lesson: To provide students with an overview of the Civil War.

CLASS PROFILE:
My imaginary class would be made up of a variety of students. The class profile would
just be like an average 9
th
grade classroom. The class would have about twenty students. Half the
students would be men and the other half would be women. The vast majority of the students
would be average learners, but there would also be a few students who are behind or advanced.
There would also be a few English language learners. This lesson would be designed to cater to
visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. My lesson would teach through textbooks, power
points, movie clips, and hands on activities.

RESOURCES USED IN PLANNING THE LESSON
I used a laptop to plan this lesson.

MATERIALS/SET UP/SAFETY
Television, DVD player, internet access, computers
Basic: paper, scissors, markers, pens, pencils

PROCEDURES AND DIFFERENTIATION RATIONALE:
Lesson for the majority of students:
I will read to the class a transcript from Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address. I will
then ask the class if they know what the name of the speech is and what the significance
of the speech is.
I will use a power point presentation to help perform a lecture to the class. The lecture
will cover the events preceding the Civil War and the troubles that the Blacks faced
during that time period. Students will take notes on the lecture. They will create
illustrations, highlight, and create word webs in order to help with their comprehension.
While lecturing I will ask students questions on their thoughts on the Civil War. By doing
this, I will get a feeling of what students already know about the Civil War and at the
same time make sure that all students are involved with the class. This will encourage
classroom participation.
I will then have the students read their notes and share any ideas that they think are
interesting.
In order for students to get a good idea of events in chronological order, I will instruct my
students to create a timeline of the events leading up to, during, and after the Civil War.
In order to create the timeline, students will use primary and secondary resources online
to get information on the events. Once the information is collected, students will
summarize the information, organize the information chronologically, and illustrate the
events.


SPECIAL NEEDS AND ELL LEARNERS

I am differentiating the lesson according to process and product. For the ELL and special
needs students, I can show them short video clips on the Civil War. From the clips, students will
be able to follow along and get an overall idea of what I am trying to teach them. The video goes
through the events of the Civil War in a simple and easy to understand way. The video is good
for students who have trouble concentrating and listening to lectures. The benefit of the video is
that it is entertaining and covers a lot of information quickly. The movie provides visual and
audio cues which help the students catch on quickly and retain information better. This is
especially helpful for the ELL students because as they are watching and listening to the movie,
they will be able to read the subtitles. ELL students would benefit greatly by reading the subtitles
and listening to how the actors are pronouncing the words. The project that I would assign
students would be for them to write a journal or letter depicting the Civil War events as if they
were living while those events occurred.


ADVANCED LEARNERS

My lessons can cater to advanced learners by asking them deeper and more complex
questions. My goal for these students is for them to dig even deeper beneath the surface. I will
have the students ask questions of their own and have their classmates try to answer the
questions. I will also push the advanced learners to do more for their group project. I will urge
them to go beyond my expectations and write longer and more insightful articles. I will ask
students questions such as: if you were Abraham Lincoln, how would you have reacted to the
events of 1861? And was the Civil War inevitable, or could it have been averted? These students
would then pretend that they were 19
th
Century journalists and make their own newspaper
articles depicting the events that occurred during that time.




HAWAII STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS

SS9.MHH.1.1 Historical Understanding: Change, continuity, and casualty -Understand change
and/or continuity and cause and/or effect in history
HI.1. Historical Understanding: Change, Continuity, and Causality: Understand change and/or
continuity and cause and/or effect in history
SS.10.2.1. Historical Empathy: Use knowledge of historical periods to assess contemporary
issues and decisions
HI.2. Historical Understanding: Inquiry, Empathy and Perspective: Use the tools and methods of
inquiry, perspective, and empathy to explain historical events with multiple interpretations and
judge the past on its own terms
SS.10.2.2. Historical Inquiry: Determine the relevance of sources and assess their credibility

NATIONAL STANDARDS
CCSS.ELA.R.H. 9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary
source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the
text.
CCSS.ELA.R.H. 9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history

GLO
Self-directed Learner (The ability to be responsible for one's own learning)
Community Contributor (The understanding that it is essential for human beings to work
together)
Complex Thinker (The ability to demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving)
Quality Producer (The ability to recognize and produce quality performance and quality
products)
Effective Communicator (The ability to communicate effectively)
Effective and Ethical User of Technology (The ability to use a variety of technologies
effectively and ethically)
(Above information provided by the Hawaii State Department of Education.
http://165.248.30.40/hcpsv3/index.jsp)

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to independently use their learning to
The majority of students will be able to evaluate the significance of the Civil War and
how it shaped America.
The majority of students will be able to assess the events that occurred before, during,
and after the Civil War.
Advanced students would reach the evaluation level which is the highest of all Blooms
Taxonomy levels.
Advanced students will be able to argue how documents such as the Emancipation
Proclamation affected slavery and compare the differences between the two documents.
Special needs students will be able to assess the role great leaders such as Abraham
Lincoln and Robert E. Lee played during the Civil War.
Students will understand that
Majority of students will understand that Events such as the book Uncle Toms Cabin and
John Browns Raid brought slavery to the attention of many northerners and fueled the
anti-slavery movement.
Majority of students will understand that The Battle of Gettysburg marked the turning
point of the war and then the fall of Richmond and Surrender at Appomattox marked the
end of the War.
Advanced students will understand the difference between the Emancipation
Proclamation and the 13
th
Amendment. They will understand differences such as the
Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the Southern States and that it did not
include West Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky and the rest of the states that stayed in the
Union.
Special needs students will understand basic information such as: Abraham Lincoln was
the 16
th
President who won the Civil War and freed the slaves and Robert E. Lee was the
legendary Confederate general who against all odds won many battles but was eventually
outnumbered and surrendered in the end.








ASSESSMENT

Timeline Rubric for Average Students
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Illustrations Illustrations are
creative, detailed,
and relevant to
the material.
Illustrations are
somewhat
creative, detailed,
and relevant to
the material.
Illustrations are
poorly made.
They lack in
creativity,
details, and in
relevance to the
material.
Timeline events
are lacking
Illustrations.
Writing There are very
few grammatical
errors. Sentences
are coherent and
support the
information.
Grammatical
errors are easily
noticeable. Some
of the timeline
events lack
explanation.
There are many
grammatical
errors and the
sentences are not
coherent.
Grammatical
errors are plenty.
Sentences are not
coherent. Many
of the timeline
events lack
explanation.
Accuracy of
Facts
All facts are
historically
accurate.
The vast majority
of facts are
accurate.
Many of the facts
are not accurate.
Some of the
events lack
supporting facts.
Timeline events
lack facts.


Newspaper Rubric for Advanced Learners
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Illustrations Illustrations are
creative,
detailed, and
relevant to the
material.
Illustrations are
somewhat
creative, detailed,
and relevant to
the material.
Illustrations are
poorly made.
They lack in
creativity,
details, and
relevance to the
material.
Newspaper has
very few
Illustrations.
Writing Letter captures
emotion and
gives a detailed
story of what life
was like. There
There is some
emotion
portrayed in the
letter. The reader
gets an overall
There are many
grammatical
errors and the
sentences are not
coherent. The
Grammatical
errors are plenty.
Sentences are not
coherent. Many
of the timeline
are very few
grammatical
errors. Sentences
are coherent and
support the
information.
idea of Civil War
life. Grammatical
errors are easily
noticeable. Some
of the timeline
events lack
explanation.
author poorly
explains what
life was like
during Civil
War.
events lack
explanation. The
author poorly
explains what
life was like
during Civil War.
No emotion was
present in the
letter.
Accuracy of Facts All facts are
historically
accurate. The
reader gets a
clear idea of the
details of the
historical events.
The historical
events are
somewhat
portrayed. Some
facts are present.
The vast majority
of the facts are
accurate.
Many of the facts
are not accurate.
Some of the
events mentioned
lack supporting
facts. Very few
historical events
are described in
articles.
No historical
events are
included. The
events in the
articles lack
facts.


Letter Rubric for Special Needs Students
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Writing Letter captures
emotion and
gives a detailed
story of what life
was like. There
are very few
grammatical
errors. Sentences
are coherent and
support the
information.
There is some
emotion
portrayed in the
letter. The reader
gets an overall
idea of Civil War
life. Grammatical
errors are easily
noticeable.
There are many
grammatical
errors and the
sentences are not
coherent. The
author poorly
explains what
life was like
during the Civil
War.
Grammatical
errors are plenty.
Sentences are not
coherent. Many
of the timeline
events lack
explanation. The
author poorly
explains what
life was like
during Civil War.
No emotion was
present in the
letter and it does
a poor job
engaging the
reader.
Content &
Accuracy of Facts
All facts are
historically
accurate. The
reader gets a
clear idea of the
details of the
historical events.
The historical
events are
somewhat
portrayed. Some
facts are present.
The vast majority
of the facts are
accurate.
Many of the facts
are not accurate.
Some of the
events lack
supporting facts.
Very few
historical events
are described in
the letter.
No historical
events are
included. The
events in letter
lack facts.


TEACHER CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
I am currently working towards a Masters Degree in Teaching. I currently have a
Bachelors in History and Political Studies. I have been teaching as a substitute teacher and a Part
Time Teacher at Kailua High School for almost a year.

LITERATURE CONNECTION
Jeff Shaaras A Blaze of Glory
Jeff Shaaras A Chain of Thunder
Jeff Shaaras Gods and Generals
Jeff Shaaras The Last Full Measure
Doris Kearns Goodwins Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Stephen Cranes The Red Badge of Courage
Shelby Footes The Civil War: A Narrative. Vol 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville
Shelby Footes The Civil War: A Narrative. Vol 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian
Shelby Footes The Civil War: A Narrative. Vol 3: Red River to Appomattox
Donald Phillips Lincoln on Leadership
H.W. Crockers Robert E. Lee on Leadership
Bill O'Reillys Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever.
Newt Gingrichs Gettysburg
Newt Gingrichs Grant Comes East
Newt Gingrichs Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant: The Final Victory
Newt Gingrichs The Battle of the Crater:

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
I will rearrange the chairs into three distinct circles before the class starts. The majority of
students will sit in the circle in the left corner, the advanced students will sit in the middle circle,
and the special needs students will sit in the circle at the right corner of the room next to the
television. I had the students sit in this arrangement so that the television could be close to the
special needs kids in the corner and not distract the rest of the students across the classroom. I
will provide the students with the necessary supplies. The supplies needed for each project would
be placed in the middle of each circle so that students would not have to walk around the
classroom and disrupt other groups.

REFLECTION
I feel that this has the potential to be a very good lesson plan. It is my goal that this lesson
will excite students and inspire them to work hard and learn as much as they can. I tried to make
this lesson plan as interesting as possible. It is my hope that the combination of movies, class
discussions, individual assignments, and group projects would help create a well-rounded
learning experience for my students.