FREC 7232 Children’s Literature

Unit Design
Group #: 3
Names: Kristyn May, Martha Meloy, Kerri Mercer

a. Explain the working process how your group came around and ended up selecting this
specific theme as your unit project.

Our group discussed first the subjects we wanted to integrate. We decided that
Social Studies, reading and writing would be the easiest to work with. Then we
decided on a grade level. We chose 5th grade over Kindergarten because we felt
we could do more higher level thinking assignments. Then we began the
challenge of identifying meaningful children’s literature to share with the students
during the Unit. Once we found the literature, paying close attention to the
criteria for evaluating children’s books, we began to discuss and brainstorm
activities to include within our Unit that would include the literature as well as
enhancing and enriching activities to help the students grasp the concepts of the
Civil War.

b. Explain why you as a group believe the GPSs identified are appropriate for this selected
theme.

The GPS identified pertain exactly to the Civil War time period. The standards
discuss specific events, major battles and important figures of the Civil war Era.
Reading and Writing standards will also be integrated into this Unit. Students will
participate in many reading activities as well as producing informative writing
assignments. The reading and writing standards have been appropriately chosen
because they relate to reading strategies and informative writing.
c. List all chosen children’s books and explain how each of them helps complete the unit plan.

Introduction book will be used to introduce the students to the Civil War.
• Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco

Read Aloud book will be used during the entire Unit. The teacher will read the book to
the class for class discussions and focus during the Unit.
• Soldiers Heart by Gary Paulsen

Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Brown books will be used to introduce students to
these important figures of the Civil War. Students will create one-person plays after
reading these books.
• A Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe by David A. Adler and Colin Bootman
• Harriet Beecher Stowe by Michele Griskley
• Fiery Vision: The Life and Death of John Brown by Clinton Cox
• John Brown: Abolitionist by Virginia Brackett

Life as a Slave books will be used for students to understand what a slaves’ life was like.
These books will be used in the stations.
• Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine
• Letters From a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Enrichment Books will be used to create an enriching environment. These books will
be used when the students have completed other work or can be checked by the students
to read at home.
• The Big Book of the Civil War: Fascinating Facts about the Civil War, Including
Historic Photographs, Maps, and Documents by Joanne Mattern
• If You Lived At The Time Of The Civil War by Kay Moore and Anni Matsick
• The Boys’ War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War by Jim
Murphy
• Captured! A Boy Trapped in the Civil War by Mary Blair Immel
• Civil War a to Z: a Young Person’s Guide to over 100 People, Places, and Points of
Importance by Norman Bolotin

Jefferson Davis books will be used to give students insight into the life of Jefferson
Davis and his role in the Civil War:
• Biography: Jefferson Davis President of the Confederate States of America by Jean
Kinney Williams
• Biography: Jefferson Davis (Cornerstones of Freedom) by Zachary Kent
`
Abraham Lincoln books will be used to identify the traits of Abraham Lincoln and why
he was such an impactful man during the Civil War. Also to learn about his
accomplishments and hardships during the Civil War and as a person.
• Informational book: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, Illustrated by
Michael McCurdy
• Biography: Lincoln Shot A Presidents’s Life Remembered, Researched, written,
illustrated, and designed by The National News Staff Cief Writer Barry Denenberg
Artist Christopher Bing
• Biography: Honest Abe by Edith Kunhardt, illustrated by Malcah Zeldis
• Biography: Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Doreen
Rappaport, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
• Biography: Lincoln: A photobiography by Russel Freedman, Newberry Medal
• Biography: Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books by Kay Winters, illustrated by
Nancy Carpenter
• Biography: Abe Lincoln Remembers by Ann Tuner, illustrated by Wendell Minor
• Biography: Abraham Lincoln President of a Divided Country by Carol Greene

Battles of the Civil War books will be used for students to gain an understanding of the
different battles in the war and the significant impacts each one had on the War
• Informational book: The Battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by
Carin T. Ford
d. Use and follow the unit plan template below and design the unit plan using bullets to
organize your ideas. Remember you have to complete each aspect of the plan. Please use
succinct phrases instead of sentences when you compose your unit plan.
 Unit Plan Template

Cover Page
Unit Title: The Civil War: The Division of a Nation
th
Grade Level: 5
Subject Areas: Social Studies, Reading, Writing
Key Words: Conflict, Change
Time Frame: 3-4 weeks

Stage 1 – Identify Desired Results

SS GPSs:
CIVIL WAR:
SS5H1 The student will explain the causes, major events, and consequences of the
Civil War.
a. Identify Uncle Tom’s Cabin and John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry and explain
how each of these events was related to the Civil War.
b. Discuss how the issues of states’ rights and slavery increased tensions between
the North and South.
c. Identify major battles and campaigns: Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, the Atlanta
Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and Appomattox Court House.

Reading GPSs:
ELA5R1 The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a warranted
and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational texts.
Critical Component: For literary texts, the student identifies the characteristics of various
genres and produces evidence of a reading that:
d. Relates a literary work to information about its setting (historically or culturally).
Critical Component: For informational texts, the student reads and comprehends in order
to develop understanding and expertise and produces evidence of reading that:
a. Locates facts that answer the reader’s questions.
g. Makes perceptive and well-developed connections.

English/LA GPSs:
ELA5W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational
structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout,
and signals a satisfying closure. The student
b. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.
Critical Component: The student produces informational writing (e.g., report, procedures,
correspondence) that:
a. Engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a speaker’s voice, and otherwise
developing reader interest.
d. Includes appropriate facts and details.
g. Draws from more than one source of information such as speakers, books, newspapers,
and online materials.
h. Provides a sense of closure to the writing.
Enduring Understanding: (What will students leave with after the unit?)
Students will understand that …
 • The student will understand that people’s ideas and feelings influence their
decisions.
• The students will understand that conflict causes change.

Essential Questions: (Use How or Why to ask questions that provoke teaching and learning.)
• How do beliefs of the North compare to the beliefs of the South?
• How did John Brown’s beliefs and ideals influence his actions?
• Why did slavery increase tension between the North and the South?
• How does conflict lead to change within societies?
• How did the attack at Fort Sumter create conflict between the North and the
South?
• Why was the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman’s March to the Sea important to the
North’s plan to win the Civil War?

Key Knowledge and Skills (What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?)
• The student will know that the beliefs and ideals of a society influence the social,
political and economic decisions of that society.
• The student will know that when there is conflict between or within societies,
change is the result.
• The student will understand that the actions of individual, groups, and institutions
affect society through intended and unintended consequences.

Stage 2 – Determine Acceptable Evidence

Performance tasks: (What evidence will show that students understand?)

• Podcast (please see the end of the Unit for an explanation)
• Poetry Book (please see the end of the Unit for an explanation)
Other Evidence (quizzes, tests, prompts, observations, dialogues, work samples):
• Dialogue and discussion
• Constructed responses
• Observation
• Self assessment
• Selected Response Test
• Character Journals
Student Self-Assessment and Reflection:
• Guided Reading Templates
• KWL Charts
• Venn Diagrams
• Pair Discussions
• Small Group Discussions
Hooks:
• Read aloud
• Play music from the Civil War
• KWL Charts
• Political cartoon discussions
Goals:
• Students will be expected to participate in the learning activities, while reflecting
upon the events within their journals.
• Students should be able to examine the complex factors and events of the civil
war through these learning experiences.
• Students will be asked to compare and contrast people, events, and geographical
locations.
• The ultimate goal is for students to understand the conflicts surrounding the civil
war and recognize the many changes that it brought.
Stage 3 – Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

1. The teacher will read Patricia Polacco’s Pink and Say as an introduction to the Civil
War Unit. After listening to the book students will be asked to fill out a KWL chart about
the Civil War. They will be paired with another student to discuss their charts. This will
be used as a self reflection instrument. Modification: Teacher works with a small group
of students to assist in filling out the KWL chart.

2. Students will read biographies of Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Brown.
• A Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe by David A. Adler and Colin Bootman
• Harriet Beecher Stowe by Michele Griskley
• Fiery Vision: The Life and Death of John Brown by Clinton Cox
• John Brown: Abolitionist by Virginia Brackett
Students will portray their characters in a one-person-play. The play will portray the
events of Harper’s Ferry Raid (John Brown) and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The students will
relate each event to a cause or a consequence of the Civil War. Students will use the
writing process when creating their plays. Modification: Teacher will provide a template
for scripts.

3. What life was like a slave and Underground Railroad Stations: These will be designed
for students to work in small groups and rotate through each station. The stations will
include the following:
A.Reading station to read excerpts from books (Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Henry’s Freedom
Box, Letters From a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs)
B. Slave letter station to read slave letters
C. Writing station for students to write a letters as if they were a slave
D. Art Station to make a freedom quilt
E. Computer station to explore life as a slave websites
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/plantation.htm
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/our_america/civil_war/
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00394/lifeslavelinks.htm
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j1.html
http://pathways.thinkport.org/flash_home.cfm
Modification: Teacher will provide an example of a letter for students to follow.

4. Character Journal Writing: Students will select a person from the civil war era from a
list that the teacher has compiled, which may include: union and confederate soliders,
military leaders, journalists, mother or wife of a solider, slave, or other individuals.
Students will create a name for their character, if they have a generic character. Each day
after the lesson is presented, students will reflect on the events discussed from the
perspective of their character. At the end of the unit, students will tea stain their journals
to age them. Journals can be displayed as recreated primary artifacts. Modification:
Teacher will pair students together if needed.
5. In groups, students will pretend to be reporters during one of the major battles listed in
the standards. The students will take an internet tour of the major battlefields of the Civil
War as well as use other primary source materials. Students will organize the researched
information into a newspaper article. They will need to include the following
information: name of battle, location, major officers, strategies used, casualties, outcome,
and other interesting facts. Modification: Teacher will provide students with a fill in the
blank information script to assist in completing the article.

6. Students will work in centers to gain knowledge about the mid 1800’s time period.
They will use all of the Abraham Lincoln books listed at the beginning of the unit as well
as Growing Up in the Civil War by Duane Damon and Welcome to Addy’s World 1864
Growing up During America’s Civil War. In groups of 2 –3 students will complete a
poster size Venn Diagram to compare and contrast living today with living in the mid
1800’s. Students will then compose an expository writing comparing the two time
periods. Each group will present their Venn Diagram to the class and hang them in the
classroom for display showing different perspectives on the Civil War literature. As
students go through the centers they will visit a different book for 10 minutes to read it
(shorter books) or investigate the text and pictures of the bigger books. They will focus
on the houses, the town areas, schools, the clothes people wore and how they got their
clothes, jobs in the mid 1800’s, the length of the work days, and any other aspect that
they can compare to life of today. Students will also be encouraged to examine the
language used in Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Modification: Teacher will
select groups based on ability.

PERFORMANCE TASK # 1
Creating Podcasts for a Class Civil War Museum Online
Objective: Students will create individual podcasts for an online Civil War Museum
that will be available for listening to through the class web page. Students will
complete individual research on topics from the Civil War to create their podcasts.
Topics for the Online Civil War Museum include: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis,
Stonewall Jackson, Clara Barton, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher
Stowe, John Brown, William Sherman, Robert E Lee, Ulysses S Grant, Sojourner Truth,
The Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Raid on Harpers Ferry, The
Battle of Bull Run, Sherman’s March to the Sea, Fort Sumter, Emancipation
Proclamation, Slave Life, Underground Railroad, Growing up during the Civil War,
Causes of the Civil War, Missouri Compromise
This independent research project will begin a few days after the Civil War unit begins.
Students will go to the library as a class to check out books on a Civil War topic and
begin the independent research project. Each student will choose a different topic to
research so our Online Civil War Museum covers many aspects of the Civil War. A list
of books to help with the topics is listed at the end of this learning experience.
Side note: This assignment requires the use of computers with headphones, microphones,
and Audacity software which can be downloaded for free. Students will create audio
recordings or podcasts that will be available for listening to on the class web site. A
scavenger hunt will also be used to ensure all students have listened to and understood
the many topics that are related to the Civil War. As each student researches their topic,
they will create three questions that can be answered from listening to their audio
presentation to be put into a class scavenger hunt that will be completed by all students as
one of the culminating activities of the Civil War Unit.
For help with creating podcasts, two scipts from Readers Theater about the Civil War
will be used. Readers Theather will help students understand the importance of
pronouncing words correctly, empahziang appropriate words, and speaking clearly. A
voice inflection activity will also be completed for students to see how emphazing words
can impact what the speaker is speaking or change what the speaker is saying completely.
Links to the activities are listed below.
http://www.rosalindflynn.com/pdf%20files/CivilWarCause%C9t.pdf
http://www.rosalindflynn.com/pdf%20files/Civil%20War%20Events%20RT%20Script.p
df
http://web.archive.org/web/20060117000155/http://hometown.aol.com/rcswallow/VoiceI
nflection.html
Book Suggestion List for Independent Research project for creating Podcasts:
• Biography: Clara Barton: A Civil War Nurse by Nancy Whitelaw
• Informational book: Children of the Emancipation by William King
• Informational book: Daily Life - Slaves on a Southern Plantation by Debbie Levy
• Informational book: The Civil War for Kids: A History with 21 Activities by Janis
Herbert
• Informational book: The American Civil War: An Overview by Carin T. Ford
• Informational book: The Underground Railroad (We the People) by Ann Heinrichs
• Informational book: Welcome to Addy’s World 1864 Growing up During America’s
Civil War by The American Girls Collection
• Biography: Jefferson Davis (Cornerstones of Freedom) by Zachary Kent
• Informational book: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, Illustrated by
Michael McCurdy
• Biography: Lincoln: A photobiography by Russel Freedman ** Newberry Medal
• Informational book: The Battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by
Carin T. Ford
• Informational book: The Story of John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry
(Cornerstones of Freedom) by Zachary Kent
• Informational book: The Battle of Bull Run (Cornerstones of Freedom) by Zachary
Kent
• Informational book: The Story of Sherman’s March to the Sea (Cornerstones of
Freedom) by Zachary Kent
• Informational book: Fort Sumter (Cornerstones of Freedom) by Brendan January
• Informational book: Causes of the Civil War by Dale Anderson

PERFORMANCE TASK # 2
Class Poetry Book using the great poet and Civil War volunteer nurse Walt Whitman as
Inspiration (2 day lesson)

Objective: Students will create two pieces of poetry for a class poetry book about a Civil
War topic after learning about one of the famous poets Walt Whitman who personally
contributed to the Civil War as a volunteer nurse.

Day 1: Focus on reading different examples of Civil War poems and leaning about the
famous poet Walt Whitman

Before introducing or reading the first book of Nothing but Miracles by Walt
Whitman students will be asked to answer these questions in their journals: Who
was Walt Whitman? Have you ever heard of him? What time period did Walt
Whitman live in? What accomplishments did he achieve in his life? Did he
contribute anything worthwhile in his lifetime?
Students will be asked to revisit these questions after learning more about the
famous poet and his civil war contributions.

The teacher will start the lesson by reading Nothing but Miracles : from Leaves of Grass
written by Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. It combines the verses of a poem from Walt
Whitman's collection "Leaves of Grass" with charming collage illustrations of a cat
family to introduce poetry by Walt Whitman.
The teacher will then read a short excerpt p 109 – 110 from The Civil War for Kids: A
History with 21 Activites by Janis Herbert to teach students about Walt Whitman and his
involvement in the Civil War as a volunteer nurse.
The teacher will also read whole group, short excerpts from Walt Whitman: Words For
America (Award: New York Times Best Illustrated Books) written by Barbara Kerley
and illustrated by Brian Selznick. This biography shows the American poet Walt
Whitman and celebrates his work. It provides insight to the man, artist, and Civil War
hero who is a symbol of America. As the teacher reads the book students will be
instructed to think about the questions they answered earlier in their journals.
Students will then break up into pairs (laptop computers must be checked out for this part
of the lesson) and read additional Civil War poems by Walt Whitman and other poets of
the time period using the following web sites. Most of the sites only contain Whitman
poetry but the last sight has others.
http://members.tripod.com/~DizzyDi2/
http://www.blackcatpoems.com/w/walt_whitman.html
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/126
http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/authors/whitman.html
http://www.civilwarhome.com/poemssongs.htm
As students read the Civil War poetry they will be asked to choose two or three favorites.
At the end of day 1 students will complete a quick verbal presentation explaining their
favorite choices and why their group chose them. They must explain why they had a
connection to a particular favorite poem or what made it special for their group. At the
end of day 1 students will write in their journals:
• Students will write about their favorite poems and why they chose them as favorites
• Explain how reading the Civil War poetry made them feel.
• What did you learn from reading the Civil War poetry
• What did you learn about the time period
• Revisit questions about Walt Whitman

Day 2: Focuses on the actual writing of poetry for the class poetry book.
Teacher will read to the whole group, excerpts from Poetry for Young People: Walt
Whitman by Jonathan Levin and illustrated by Jim Burke. The teacher will then read
excerpts from I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman where his famous poems are
accompanied by illustrations of people at work in early America. As the teacher reads
the excerpts from the two books students will begin to think about their own poems they
will create for the class poetry book.
The teacher will then go over the rules of different poetry forms using A Kick in the
Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Chris
Raschka. (The teacher must have pre-made charts ready instructing students how to
create the different poetry forms and examples of each form) Students will then be
instructed to choose a topic from the Civil War using the class library, textbook, or books
that have been checked out for independent research (podcast activity). Students must
write two poems and can choose from cinquain, acrostic, couplet, haiku, ballad and
others. The two poems must be accompanied with illustrations for the class poetry book.

Georgia Performance Standards. (2005-2006). Retrieved April 11, 2009, from

georgiastandards.org.