Learning about the Civil War

The American Civil War is not taught in Taiwan, nor should it be. There is a rich history of both Taiwan and China that needs to be studied and understood here for kids to better understand their own culture and current government. There is even their own recent civil war that has directly shaped the present political and geographic situation that they live in that should take precedence over a war 150 years ago in America. However, the US Civil War was the single most important event in the shaping of modern America. For students that are interested in learning about America and its history, this topic is essential.

That caveat out of the way, this unit we are looking closely at the American Civil War in my class using the novel Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen. In our first lessons we looked at the lead up to the war and Americans' reactions to the outbreak of war (spoiler alert: they were super excited about it.) Now that our main character, Charley, has had his first battle, we are getting into some of the more grisly realities of the war. Students are still working on booksnaps to show their reactions to the reading. We are discussing events from the book. Students are learning history-specific vocabulary about the war. Finally, the big assignment introduced this past week is to work on a book that teaches about a Civil War topic with a group. This assignment sheet can be found below.

I am looking forward to posting the kids' books as soon as they are done. Keep them reading and curious.