Slavery and Civil War Projects

Posted by Cindy on April 4, 2009

Our last history unit of the year has been completed, and what a wonderfully rich unit it was!  I think I mentioned in a previous post that this study was mostly literature-based.  We chose really good books and learned about the life of slaves and struggles of the Civil War through the stories.  Between books, field trips and hands-on projects, I don’t think there’s a much better way to learn history!

Before I go on, I’ve been asked several times how we fit in all the literature we read for our units.  It’s really very easy!  Many of the chapter books are checked out as books on tape and we listen to them in the car.  We usually read one or two other chapter books together over the course of the unit, while some of them are reserved for individual reading time.  Those reserved for individual reading time will have only been browsed ahead of time by me.  We also still read a lot of picture books.  I’m a sucker for picture books and I don’t think you’re ever too old to stop reading them!  In all, we read together about 30-45 minutes a day.  The kids read on their own 30-45 minutes each day.  And we listen to books on tape almost anytime we’re in the car.

This week was project week, which means the children were assigned several projects and had all week to complete them.  Friday night, all the projects were presented to the rest of the family.  This is always a precious time for me!  I get to see how much they’ve soaked in during the study and how creative they can be in completing projects.  For those of you wanting to do “school” in ways that better meet the individual needs/gifts/learning styles of your children, projects are a great tool!

Last Friday, I handed each of the kiddos a project list that looked something like this:

• Choose one famous slave.  Learn all you can about that slave and be prepared to tell us about the slave in first person.  Don’t forget to create an authentic costume.
• Choose one Civil War battle.  Create a model of the battle front and tell everything you can about the battle as you reenact it with the model.
• Choose one famous Civil War figure.  Prepare a file folder biography about that person.  Be sure to include pictures or illustrations when applicable.
• Either read or recite the Gettysburg Address.

On Monday morning, we headed to the library so the kids could find books to help them learn more about their chosen topics.  The rest of the week was spent on math and completing projects.

Here’s a peek into project night!

Mahayla portrayed Harriet Tubman and Caleb became Henry “Box” Brown.

Mahayla set up this model of the Battle of Perryville – a battle that took place not to far from us in Kentucky.

Caleb chose the Battle of Bull Run.  They both gave very detailed information and maps of their battles.  They even found photographs of the battle sites to share.

Caleb’s Civil War figure was Robert E. Lee.  He was very impressed with himself for finding pictures of all of Lee’s family, his home, his college and more.  We looked at pictures for quite some time!

Mahayla’s Civil War figure was Ulysses S. Grant.  You can see the file folder template we used below.  It came from Easy File Folder Reports.  We love that book!

Caleb practiced and practiced reading the Gettysburg Address throughout the week.  He didn’t miss a word on project night!

Mahayla created little copies of the Gettysburg Address for each of us so we could follow along with her.  Eli enjoyed his upside-down!

And that brings us to the end of another history unit.  My wheels are already turning for next year’s units!

Next week the main assignment will be writing a children’s book.  And the following week will be presenting a chemistry show.  I’ll be sure to share both projects here.

So sorry if my blogging slows down for a little while.  Melissa and I are working steadily on our nature study units and hope to have them completed by June.  We are so excited about them and hope you will be, too!

Related posts:

1. Slavery and Civil War Plans
2. Slavery and Civil War Book Treasures
3. Westward Expansion Projects
4. Ancient History Final Projects
5. American Revolution Unit