Materials Review:
A Fourth Grade Civil War Unit
Emily Bennett
George Mason University
- Picture book set – The Civil War
Hirsch,
E.D., Jr. (2002). The Civil War. Parsippany, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
I use this with a group of kids during a guided reading lesson, because there are 12 books in the set. It is great for this because it supplements social studies content so well.
+These
books have great pictures and text that is below fourth grade level, boldfaced words, and headings to organize the information. Also, a table of contents is included, as well as an index.
- County-made paperback supplement to textbook - Virginia’s Great
History
James,
Etta (2000). Virginia’s Great History for Students.
This text was created in 2000 by an ESOL teacher from Arlington, Etta Johnson.
She wrote it to put the Virginia studies curriculum into “plain English” so that ESOL students would have
a text written that is more appropriate to their reading level.
+ In addition to the concisely written and consolidated historical information, it has music lyrics (ex. Confederate
and Union songs, “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, etc.).
- It does not catch student interest as well as picture books because it is in black and white.
- Social Studies Textbook – Virginia
Scott Foresman (2003). Virginia. USA: Pearson
Education, Inc.
This
is our county’s adopted textbook for social studies by Scott Foresman.
+ It has good pictures, headings, it has harder words highlighted, and it has all of the basic and “necessary”
information the students must know for SOLs. I like a few sections that appear
in each chapter, like a biography section called “Meet the People,” and “You Are There,” which is
the way each chapter begins, putting a fictitious scenario in place for the student to imagine he/she is there in that time
in history.
-
It does not tell enough about the horrors of slavery. Slavery is presented more
as a solution to the need for agricultural workers in the south. Also, the stories
are not told in a very captivating way (as is common in most textbooks.) The
text is written at a fourth grade level, which is too high for many ELLs in the class.
- Binder of Transparencies – National Geographic: The Civil War
National
Geographic Society. (1996). NGS Picture Pack
Transparencies: The Civil War. Washington, DC: National
Geographic Society.
+These are really good pictures, done by National Geographic. I
use these by projecting them onto a big screen and doing class activities, like “talking statues” where the kids
pose in front of the life-sized picture and then talk as if they were in the scene.
Also, I sometimes have the image projected while students have a copy in their interactive notebooks, and they must
write speech bubbles to imagine what the people are saying at the time of the photograph.
Another activity I use is the “magic paper,” where I can highlight certain interesting parts of the picture,
or parts that students particularly notice, by putting a white piece of paper in front of a section of the slide and pulling
it outward to increase the size of that part. The binder comes with explanations
about each picture, so I am able to have that information easily accessible.
- United Streaming video – “Civil War”
Civil War. 100% Educational Videos. 2003. Unitedstreaming. 20 March 2007 http://www.unitedstreaming.com/
I really like United Streaming videos because they are very short (segments are often 1-5 minutes long,) and
they are also very informative. There is a search engine that leads you to exactly
the information you need, with descriptions of videos and the grade level it is appropriate for. In this video, there are six video segments. The segment titles
are: Introduction, State Secession, The Civil War Starts, Emancipation Proclamation,
Gettysburg, and Ending the War.
+ The videos are excellent, in that they provide historical photographs with
a narration to explain them. I love the pictures used, and the straightforward
way that the events of the Civil War are explained. I like the fact that when
a famous person is introduced in the video, that person’s name is shown on the screen.
Also, I like the maps used to illustrate the points the narrator is making.
- Slavery (a key issue in this historical time period) is not discussed enough.
Also, I would like more text to show up on the screen to make it more comprehensible to ELL students.
- United Streaming video – “Abraham Lincoln”
American Heroes and Heroines: Abraham Lincoln. United Learning. 2004. Unitedstreaming.
20 March 2007
http://www.unitedstreaming.com/
I would show my students “Part 3: Civil War President”
because it details the president’s life, while integrating historical events.
+ Does a good job of discussing his life as it pertains to the Civil War,
and shows what a large role he played in history.
- In the last minute of the video (out of 4:26 minutes) it starts making generalizations
that are a bit too broad, like “he could be called the greatest hero of all time” and “he was always honest”,
etc. I like to try to avoid statements as overreaching as these are and paint
the picture in a more realistic way. All people are complex and have many sides
to them.
- United Streaming video – “Abolishing Slavery in America: Part
1: Life on Southern Plantations”
American History: Abolishing Slavery in America. “Part 1: Life on Southern Plantations” Discovery Channel School. 2005.
Unitedstreaming. 20 March 2007
http://www.unitedstreaming.com/
I chose this video clip to illustrate one of the major disagreements between the
Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War time.
+Slavery is portrayed in a realistic way,
explaining the hardships that slaves lived every day and detailing some horrific acts, while also explaining the history behind
how slavery came about and how depending on the area of the south, slaves were treated differently.
-This
video is intended for grades 6-12, so the narration is at too high of a level for most of my fourth graders, especially for
the more limited English vocabulary of ELL learners.
- United Streaming video – “Abolishing Slavery in America: Part
2: Riding the Underground Railroad”
American History: Abolishing Slavery in America. “Part
2: Riding the Underground Railroad” Discovery Channel School. 2005.
unitedstreaming.
20 March 2007
http://www.unitedstreaming.com/
In our art class for fourth grade, the art teacher focuses a majority of the year on a study of the Underground
Railroad. The students listen to music to get inspired about a theme for a quilt
square they design and sew by the end of the unit. This video would add to the
study they already do in art, because it explains the concept in more detail than you might get from looking at a photograph.
+ Excellent video! Even though it is meant for grades 6-12, the language used is appropriate for fourth graders, and the dramatizations
of escaping slaves really bring the concepts to life. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
is explained, and important historical heroes are highlighted, while it is all brought into context of the Civil War.
-They could have added text to the video for greater understanding by ELL students.
- Website – “American Civil War”
American Civil War. Retrieved March 20, 2007 from
http://www.americancivilwar.com/civil.html
This is a great website that is well organized and easily navigable by kids.
It is organized into sections, such as “Battles,” “People,” “Stats and Maps,” and
others that kids will find interesting while informative.
+
I also really like the section that is included that contains historical fiction novels set in the Civil War period. There are pictures of the books, as well as book reviews. These types of books, more than any textbook, are what spark my students’ interest most in a historical
topic. Music is also included, recipes, as well as a place to click for one of
the weapons to fire, Civil War recipes, and many other interesting tidbits to draw kids into the subject.
-
The site could highlight important vocabulary words and give definitions. This
would make it more user friendly for ELL students.
10.
Website – “Behind the Stonewall”
Treadwell,
Tom. (2001). Behind the Stonewall. Retrieved March 20,
2007 from http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/.
This website was made by a man who is photographing modern day images of the locations where important events
took place during the Civil War. The photographs are panoramic, and they turn
in a full circle so that while watching the short video, you get a real sense of what the area is like. This adds so much more to the kids’ knowledge and understanding than looking at a still image that
was taken a long time ago, because they can connect better with this type of media
+ Included is a collection on the Battle of Gettysburg, Raid at Harpers Ferry, Antietam Battlefield, Manassas
Battlefield, and others. Also, the photographer worked with the National Park
Service to get many of the pictures, so you get a sense that you can trust these photographs to be authentic representations
of the place they claim to be.
-
The site is still under construction, so there are some sections that are not ready yet, but it seems that he will have more
photographs up soon.
11. Website – “The Underground Railroad”
National
Geographic Society. (1996-2007). The Underground
Railroad. Retrieved March 20, 2007 from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j2.html
I plan to use this website with the whole class, projecting it up onto a big screen. It is written like one of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, in that kids have to make
the decisions along the way to the next stopping point. Each student would have
a notecard, and would write down their personal response, hold it up, and I would take a consensus as to what our class decision
was. Each question takes you through the scenario of possibly escaping from slavery
using the Underground Railroad. It includes pictures, and wonderful background
music of slaves singing. I especially liked the “Free at Last” song
sung at the end. With each decision made, there is text that helps kids understand
what a difficult time this was for slaves and how these decisions to attempt seeking freedom could not be made easily.
+ Music, information, pictures, choices make it very interactive and get kids completely involved in it as if
it is their own personal story. This also creates a lot of empathy when students
learn to put themselves in the place of another person. Also on the page is a
map that shows the routes frequently taken, timelines, and other information.
- A lot of text on each page would make it hard for some ELL students to understand each page, but at least
with the pictures, music, and some captions or boldface words, it could be differentiated for them.
12.Picture book – Daring Women of the Civil War
Ford, Carin T. (2004). Daring Women of the Civil War. Berkeley
Heights, NJ : Enslow.
I like using books that talk about other parts of society that we don’t hear about as frequently, such
as the women of the Civil War times.
+ This type of book can captivate the interest of girls more in studying the history of the Civil War because
they will connect more with the heroines mentioned. The book discusses traditional
women’s roles during the time, and also talks about the brave women who were abolitionists.
- The women discussed are not part of the “need to know” famous people for the SOL test, but I still
feel that it is important to represent women and share this book with students.
13.Picture book – Minty
Schroeder, Alan (1996). Minty. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.
My students love this book. It tells the story of the young Harriet Tubman, and the hardships she faced when trying to confront her
fears and escape from slavery for the first time.
+ This book is one with excellent pictures and a captivating story that makes students understand
how hard it was to be a slave, and how unfair life was for many people during that time.
14.Picture book – Pink y Say (English version: Pink and Say)
Polocco, Patricia, (1997). Pink
y Say. (Alejandra Lopez Varela, trans.). New York: Lectorum.
This book tells the story of a white soldier who meets a black soldier and befriends him during the Civil War,
and tells of their friendship and fate. It is based on a true story.
+
I have this copy in Spanish for the native Spanish speakers in my class to follow along as I read it aloud in English to the
class. The pictures and text are very moving, which always stirs up a lot of
emotion and discussion among students.
15.Virginia Studies Weekly newspaper – “Virginia Studies Weekly”
Studies
Weekly, Inc. (2006, Third Quarter). Virginia and the Civil
War. Virginia Studies Weekly, pp. 2, 3.
The fourth grade orders a subscription to this newspaper for each student each year. It connects with the Virginia studies curriculum, and adds many more interesting stories that students
might never find without this newspaper.
+
I use the newspapers to discuss how newspapers are formatted, and the text features you can use to help read a newspaper. It always has a lead article, as well as other “personal interest-type”
stories. The vocabulary is boldfaced, it is closely aligned with the SOLs, and
students can write on their copy, complete crosswords and other activities on the back, and eventually keep it as a reference.
- The text is sometimes fairly challenging for fourth graders (it is written at more of a late fourth, early fifth
grade level.) I pair ELL students up with native English speakers to “buddy
read” when we use these newspapers.
ARTIFACT #2
