History Webs: A Great Social Studies Project Idea

My 5th graders just finished Civil War History Webs. This little project only takes a few periods of work, and really involves creativity and writing.

I found the idea for History Webs in "Super Social Studies," a Scholastic teacher guide that has served me very well over the years (I HIGHLY recommend this little book, it's amazing).

I don't want to quote directly what they call a history web, to respect their copyright, but as I've changed it up quite a bit from what is discussed in this book, I'll let you know about my version of this great project. BUT, you should go buy this guide, it really is one of the most used resources in my possession.

To make a history web, I recommend the large construction paper (I use the 12" x 18" paper that my school keeps in stock). You want your students to draw a rectangle in the middle of the paper, and from there, divide the paper into however many sections you want them to (I've done 4, 6, and 8). I recommend 6, it's a good number for drawing pictures, they don't come out too small at that size.

However many sections you've divided the paper into is how many different topics you will assign. We just completed these for the Civil War, and their options to choose from included (but were not limited to): Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, the First Battle of Bull Run, General Lee, General Grant, General Stonewall Jackson, the Emancipation Proclamation, the end of the war, the battle of the Ironclads, Lincoln's Assassination, the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, the fall of Richmod, Sojourner Truth, and Nat Turner. You can obviously choose many other things for this.

The assignment for students is to research each of their six topics (or four, or eight, depending). Students will be asked to draw a color picture depicting the topic, and write a paragraph in their own words about that topic, either on the back of the paper or on index cards.

Here are a few examples of exemplary work. Some have the work on index cards, and some have it written on the back:

5th Grade Civil War Unit

As I always do when finishing a new unit, I will post the content here as a post within the main pages of my blog. Unit 5: The American Civil War, which includes topics on slavery, the war, two nations, Abraham Lincoln, and reconstruction, exists as a page that is called Fifth Grade Civil War Unit. It is also listed in my subject listing under Social Studies. For those of you who like to get what you came for, you can find that entire post in its entirety listed below:

My fifth grade unit on the Civil War attempts to take students through the topics of slavery, including the roots of slavery, horrors of slavery, and the Underground Railroad. From there, we talk about the political beginnings of the Civil War, and spend the majority of the unit in a timeline taking us through the major battles, important people and events, and ending with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

SLAVERY IN THE CIVIL WAR

I like to start the unit with the portion on slavery. I have two posts in my old literacy blog titled Teaching A Unit on Slavery in Intermediate or Middle School (Part 1: Picture Books), and (Part 2: Literature Selections) that you can refer to for some great ideas. I have a few books that I enjoy reading aloud to the students, and that they learn a lot from.

I always start the unit by reading From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, a Julius Lester book that, while it is a picture book, is definitely hard hitting and doesn't hold back. It's a great way to set the tone for teaching about slavery if you intend to show the horrors and injustices of slavery in a way that will get through to elementary students but won't overwhelm them. (there aren't really any "free" versions of this book out there, but it's definitely worth the $6 or so that you'll spend getting it on Amazon or through one of the links on Google shopping).

I also read Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson. This story is a great, appropriate for almost any age telling of a family on the run on the Underground Railroad. This book is available in my schools library, and might be available in yours too, it's a common book (it's in the easy section). Finally, I read Almost to Freedom by Vonda Micheaux Nelson, it's a great story of a runaway girl and her family told from the perspective of the little girls doll. This book actually stuck with many of my students more than the others for some reason.

Now, granted, the topic of slavery is deserving of its own unit, and I will eventually get there. I always expand on this unit when we get to the civil right era. I've found that my students in 5th grade seem to understand the complexity and importance of slavery in the United States when I pair it up with the civil right era. Because honestly, more than half the class always thinks that Martin Luther King Jr. ended slavery before I teach them differently. I'm going to list a few of the more high quality resources about slavery here, that you can use as part of a Civil War unit, it's own unit, or like me, a mixture of Civil War and Civil Rights.

• The Underground Railroad Interactive on Scholastic.com: A high quality interactive that takes students through an escape, full with characters and a telling of events. There are passages to read or have read aloud on the computer. 
• Pathways to Freedom: Maryland and the Underground Railroad: This neat little interactive is highly educational and plays out a little like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books. It's well done and very educational. 
• The Listing of Slavery and Civil Rights Resources Available on PBS: It is what it says, there's stuff here on the slave trade, Jim Crow, Civil Rights, and more. 
• Timeline of Slavery Throughout World History: This is helpful if you wish to discuss the overall scope of slavery, dating back all the way to 6800 BC.
• Map of American Slavery at NY Times: A great little map with some specific areas to focus research on. 

Now, let's move on to the Civil War itself. In my class, I want students to understand the causes of the Civil War, the difference between the Confederate Army and Union Army, the basic timeline of events, and how the world recovered afterwards. With that being said, let's move on to some great resources:

THE CIVIL WAR

• American Civil War Resources: A listing with online quizzes and games. There's another listing of great resources at surfnetkids. 
• The Civil War for 5th Graders: A great little site done by a teacher. It plays out kind of like a web quest, with some good, kid friendly information presented in an easy to understand format. 
• History Channel Civil War Interactive: You can always count on the History Channel to have great interactives of the highest quality. I'm using this one as students learn more about the differences between the two armies, battles, etc. It's all here, and it's well done. 
• NY Times Civil War Interactives: There's a few great resources here, some about the war, some about life during the Civil War, and some about Lincoln. 
• Battle Casualties Map: Hosted by the Washington Post, it's a great map that shows casualties on a map in a timeline format. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

• Abraham Lincoln's Life Timeline: Hosted by Lincoln's Library and Museum. PBS also has a great Lincoln Timeline. 
• Abraham Lincoln's Crossroads: A challenging game about Lincoln's presidency that would be great for your highly intelligent students desiring a challenge. 
• Lincoln's Major Speeches: If you're going to teach about his inaugural speeches, or the Gettysburg Address. 
• History.com Interactive on Lincoln's Assassination: Good stuff!
• The Lincoln Memorial: The listing for the Lincoln Memorial on the National Park website, there's a few great panoramas and discussions of Lincoln's importance. 

Finally, as we go through the unit, I have students complete a 6 part "history web," a little project that I will post more on as we finish them up this week. It's a great small project.

I will also have my students complete a "gallery walk," an idea I took from Lessons With Laughter. I will also amend this posting with more information on that when it's completed.