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Civil War Lesson Plans
And Activities

 

Education World presents more than a dozen lessons for teaching about the Civil War. Teachers can use these lessons to teach what caused the war, what it was like to live in a nation divided, and much more.

Civil War Time Line
Students develop time lines of various events that took place during the Civil War.

Civil War Recipes
Students prepare foods, including hardtack, that were among the staples of a Civil War soldier's diet.

Life During the Civil War Era
Students create a museum exhibit or a fictional journal or newspaper account about life during the Civil War era.

Civil War Photos Tell a Story
Students select a photograph from the Civil War era and write a story that tells about it.

White Southerners' Defense of Slaveholding
Students study transcriptions of articles from two Augusta County (Virginia) newspapers to see how white Southerners defended the institution of slavery.

The Cost of War
Students study a chart showing Civil War deaths and answer questions about the information. A work sheet is included.

Drafting the Gettysburg Address
Students compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln's drafts and final version of the Gettysburg Address.

Who Killed Abraham Lincoln?
Students read an original manuscript about the investigation of Lincoln's assassination, then work in groups to write and perform a play based on the story.

Civil War Slang
Students explore some of the words and phrases used during the Civil War-- and their meanings.

How Did Civil War Soldiers Battle Boredom?
Students create a diagram to compare things done to combat boredom today and during Civil War times.
Note: Some resources for this lesson might be unavailable online.

A Flag Divided
Students learn about the flags of the Union and Confederacy, explore the symbolism of those flags, and create flags of their own.

Songs of the Civil War
Students investigate music of the Civil War era and explore how music can be used to arouse and express emotion.

Deciphering Morse Code
Students write and decode messages using Morse code, as Civil War soldiers might have done.

Be sure to visit Education World's Civil War theme page for additional activity ideas.

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Originally published 06/05/2000
Links last updated 03/19/2010