How Did Civil War Soldiers Battle Boredom?

Brief Description

Students create a Venn diagram to compare things they do to combat boredom with the activities Civil War soldiers did to do the same.

Objectives

Students will

• learn about the things that Civil War soldiers did to combat boredom,
• use a graphic organizer (a Venn diagram) to compare and contrast how they combat boredom with how Civil War soldiers did the same.

   

  Materials Needed

  computers with Internet access (or a printout of the material from the Web site referenced below)

   

  Lesson Plan

  • Begin the lesson by asking students to list some of the things they do when they are bored.
  • Then have them study the pages on the Camp Life: Battling Boredom Web site. (Students might view those pages individually or in small groups in the computer lab, the teacher might display them on an overhead screen, or small groups of students might share printouts of the pages.) As students view the Web site, they should create a list of ways in which Civil War soldiers battled boredom.
  • After the lists have been created, provide each student with a copy of a Venn diagram, or have students create their own diagrams by drawing two overlapping circles. Students should label area A on the diagram "Civil War Soldiers Only" and list in that area the ways only Civil War soldiers battled boredom. They should label area C on the diagram "Kids Today Only" and list there the ways only they battle boredom. Then they should list in area B (the area where the two circles overlap) ways both they and Civil War soldiers battled boredom.

   

  Assessment

  Students complete the activity by writing a summary paragraph that compares and contrasts ways in which they and Civil War soldiers battle boredom.

   

  Lesson Plan Source

  
  Education World

   

  Submitted By

  
  Gary Hopkins

   

  National Standards

  Social Sciences:
  NSS-USH.K-4.1
  NSS-USH.5-12.5