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Project Based Learning on the Civil War
Project Based Learning on the Civil War
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
• Identify major causes and their subsequent effects of the Civil War.
• Understand why the South seceded and what each side was fighting for.
• Use primary and secondary sources to describe what life was like at war and at home.
• Will know the major events and turning points of the war.
Needs Assessment
1. Instructional Problem
In Social Studies classrooms across New York, the Civil War is a very important topic that does not receive enough attention. Although a substantial amount of time is allotted for its teaching, it often does not receive the full course load it should. In addition to the small amount of time spent on it in comparison to its importance, the Civil War is often presented through movies that only describe partial points about the War. This all comes back around to the point that the Civil War was solely about the issue of slavery. Although it had its place in the war, this racial component was only a small reason for war. By using primary and secondary sources, students will understand what the war was fought over and what it was like during this time period to be a soldier fighting against your brother.
2. The nature of what is to be learned
Using project based learning to facilitate learning of the Civil War gives students an opportunity to meet, discuss, plan and evaluate the information they have found with other students. Through collaboration, the groups will learn about the Civil War from a variety of perspectives, not just the North. Students will explore what it was like to be a soldier during this time and what the “home front” looked like. Using project based learning helps students collaborate with other students to truly master the topic. At the end of the course, the students will have accomplished fourlearning outcomes. Intellectual skills will be established as they identify maps, battles and dates within the war that are important. Cognitive Strategies will be established through students analyzing information from the internet and other sources to which they will reflect and discuss with thier group memebers. Verbal Information will be shown through the vast knowledge the students acquire throughout the project, including causes, effects, battle results, political implications and the results. Finally, attitudes will be molded as most believe the South was the main perpetrator of the war. Through their research, they will find that the North was also to blame and also played a heavy role throughout.
3. About the learners
The mini-course is intended for students in a small to medium sized class use project based collaborative learning to dive deep into the Civil War. The Objective of this course is for students to gain mastery level knowledge of the Civil War for students in an 11th grade classroom setting. Being that it is a collaborative effort, students are expected to meet during and outside of class to discuss the material they are researching and examining. BY pooling the information together, the group will discuss, modify and alter changes necessary to fulfill the requirements of the unit.
4. Instructional Content
5. Explore Instructional problem/solution
6. Generate Goals
Performance Objectives
1. Using this course on project based learning of the civil war, students will demonstrate an understanding of the causes and their subsequent effects of the Civil War by charting these situations on timelines.
2. By using this course, students will follow and chart the battles and dates of the civil war using key terms, people, and places to describe them.
3. Students will have a base knowledge of the effects of the war and on the country after its end by writing what they think happens using evidence from the war, southern states and northern ideologies.