1) Students will be put into small groups and complete a Cyber Scavenger Hunt to research Civil War battles, adding questions to a Curiosity Chart. 2) Students will watch Civil War podcasts and respond to questions in their journals. 3) Students will be grouped homogeneously and rotate through Civil War stations, including an in-depth vocabulary activity, analyzing the Battle Hymn of the Republic, reviewing Civil War statistics, reading about freeing slaves, and creating timelines.

1. Unit of Study
Civil War
Hook
As an introductory activity to the Civil War unit, put students into small
heterogeneous groups. Be sure at least one member of each group has either a
personal technological device or has access to one. Students will work together
on a Cyber Scavenger Hunt to research one or more assigned battles which will
be shared with the class by means of a mini-lesson. Teacher will elaborate as
needed.
Curiosity Chart
As students complete the Cyber Scavenger Hunt, have them add any questions
that they may have pertaining to the Civil War period to the Curiosity Chart
that is hanging on the wall. Some of these questions may get answered during
the Cyber Scavenger Hunt mini-lessons. The questions that were not
addressed during this activity or during the Civil War Stations will need to be
discussed prior to finalizing the Civil War Unit. The curiosity questions could
be great whole group class discussion questions and/or points to ponder.
Civil War Podcasts
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/institute/era_civilwar.php
Being an affiliate school of the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History
allows access to numerous podcasts pertaining to the Civil War. Students will
watch a short podcast and respond to questions about the podcast in their
journals.
Civil War Stations
Assign students to homogeneous, ability-leveled groups. Give a brief overview
of expectations and norms of the Civil War station activities. Each group will
be given their folder of assignments with detailed directions and rubrics as
needed. Explain the desired outcomes of each station and how the rotation will
happen, as well, as the time that will be allowed at each station, so that the
students can pace themselves accordingly.
Let the learning begin!!!

2. Civil War Stations
Vocabulary Station: In-depth Word Study
Visual Thesaurus or Graph Words.com (free)
Wordle
Create Crossword puzzle
Flow chart with pictures
Bubble map
Representation
Differentiation
Group 1: receives 10 words from the selected text (“Battle Hymn of
Republic”) <vintage, wrath, burnished, righteous, contemners, retreat,
sifting, jubilant, bosom, transfigures. This group will begin the station
rotation at the Vocabulary station.
Group 2 mirrors group 1
Group 3 and 4 receive five words and find five. (“Battle Hymn of
Republic”) <vintage, righteous, contemners, jubilant, and bosom>
Group 5 reviews the Battle Hymn of the Republic. They identify and
discuss the words of which they are not familiar. Proceed with the
activity once they’ve identified the words. Depending on ability level,
they may have anywhere from a few to 10 words.
Primary Document Review Station: “Battle Hymn of the Republic”
Highest group needs to start at this station. They will be responsible for
selecting vocabulary terms from the song.
Read and review the primary document
Use question starters to promote discussion
Read and respond to guided questions using a chat format and/or chart
paper to share with class
Differentiation
Group 1 & 2: Listen and follow along with an audio recording or
teacher led reading and then re-read independently. Use question
starters with teacher support. Select one of the guided responses and
answer in paragraph format for a future class discussion.

3. Group 3 & 4: Reads document. Applies 3-2-1 strategy. Shares 3-2-1
within group and transitions into question starters. Selects a
minimum of 2 guided responses to answer and share with the class.
Group 5: Reads document. Creates some representation of what was
read (Thinking Map, Picture, etc…). Reviews guided responses as a
spring board for discussion within the group. The group creates their
own guided response and answers it to share with the class during a
future discussion.
“Mad” about Math Station: Statistics
Complete Casualties and Costs of the Civil War statistical review and
discussion
Create a math word problem involving statistics for the class to solve
during a warm-up during our civil war unit. The word problem needs to
include an authentic detail or component of the Civil War and be solvable
using 8th grade math skills.
Differentiation
Group 1 & 2: Students will review the first table of the Casualties and
Costs statistics. They will answer the first two questions on the page.
Groups 3, 4, &5 will review the last set of statistics and respond to the
discussion questions.
Groups 4 & 5 will develop a pie chart based on the statistics that have
been provided.
Reading Station: Teenbiz, EBSCO, or Some other reading related material
All groups read “Freeing the Slaves” using the Teenbiz program. They
complete the thought question, the multiple choice activity, and any
other activities that the teacher deems appropriate for each group.
Timeline Station: Virtual Timelines
This activity can either be done as small group work or as an individual
assignment. Students will be assigned a minimum amount of important
events to record onto a timeline. This timeline can be created by hand
on construction paper or online using programs such as Timetoast,
Dipity, or Smart Draw. If an online assignment will be required, check to
make sure all the prerequisites have been met (registered for program,
account already in place, etc.)