At the conclusion of this literature-based unit, our sixth grade students will have mastered three major content objectives of America’s Civil War. They will:
-
- know the key events that led to the war,
-
- understand life during the war from a variety of viewpoints, and
-
- consider the effects of Reconstruction after the war.
In addition to the social studies goals, my unit will give students practice in specific objectives of the Connecticut Reading Comprehension Framework. These objectives are:
-
- Determine the main idea (for fiction) or theme (for non-fiction) within a written work.
-
- Identify important characters, settings, problems, events, relationships, and details within a written work.
-
- Select and use relevant information from a written work to summarize.
-
- Select, synthesize, and use relevant information within a written work to include in a response to or in an extension of the work.
-
- Demonstrate an awareness of values, customs, ethics, and beliefs included in a written work.
-
- Make connections between the text and outside experiences and knowledge.
Across the United States, the Civil War is studied in one of the upper elementary grades and, often, in eighth grade in conjunction with Civics. The National Council for History Standards has established clear academic standards for students in grades five through twelve. The Council has divided American History into ten specific eras; these eras cover our history from the early seventeenth century through our contemporary life. Era Five includes the Civil War. According to those standards, students are required to demonstrate an understanding of three aspects of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era:
-
- The Causes of the Civil War: Students must demonstrate an understanding of how the North and South differed and how politics and ideologies led to the war.
-
- The Course and Character of the Civil War and The Effects on the American People: Students must demonstrate an understanding of how the resources of the Union and the Confederacy affected the course of the war and of the social experience of the war on the battlefield and the home front.
-
- The Success or Failure of Various Reconstruction Plans: Students must demonstrate an understanding of the political controversy over Reconstruction and of the Reconstruction programs designed to transform social relations in the South.
The Council further delineates each standard to include objectives that reflect the Cognitive Domain of Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning with specific examples of student achievement. School districts from across the country use these standards to determine curriculum for their students. The New Haven Board of Education has used these national standards to develop their Social Studies standards. The goals of New Haven’s Social Studies standards are twofold: to encourage students’ understanding and appreciation of diversity and to promote local, national, and global cooperation. Each grade has specific goals and objectives within the areas of Diversity, Civics/Government, Geography, Economics, and History. The Grade Six curriculum standards in each of these areas include an aspect of the Civil War. The goals and the objectives of my unit
derive from these standards.
