A Journey to the Civil WarBy: Kayla Napier

Imagine that you are a reporter living during the Civil War. You constantly hear the sound of gunshots in the background and observe soldiers marching from town to town. You keep your readers informed of the important battles that have taken place, describing the affect of the battle’s outcome on the war itself. In order to become an effective reporter, you will examine a few of the key battles of the Civil War and discover how these battles helped to shape American history.

Further Reading:

Introduction:

As a Civil War reporter, you will complete the following research before creating your article:

1. Choose two of the following Civil War battles listed below:• First Battle of Bull Run• Battle of Gettysburg• Battle of Antietam• Battle of Chancellorsville

• Who won the battle? When and where did this conflict take place?

• How many casualties were there?• What were the various battle strategies implemented by each

side?• Who were the major players in this battle?

3. List and organize information using a graphic organizer/semantic map.4. From a historical perspective write a report based on your previous research, identifying the outcome of these battles, major players, the winning side, and your prediction of who will win the war.

Task:

2. Research the following information:

After choosing two important battles, you will begin researching information about each conflict by using the links provided.

1. First Battle of Bull Run: VideoInteractive Battle Map:Major Players and Battle outcome: Further reading:

2. Battle of Gettysburg:

Process

Civil War Battles:

VideoInteractive Battle Map: Major Players and Battle Outcome: Gettysburg Address: Further reading:

3. Battle of Antietam:VideoAudio Podcast: Interactive Map: Major Players and Battle Outcome:

Further reading:

4. Battle of Chancellorsville:VideoInteractive Map: Major Players and Battle Outcome: Further reading:

While researching your battles, you will the complete a semantic map to help you categorize the important information. You can choose a semantic map from one of the following links.Brainstorming Maps:Option 1: Option 2:

After organizing this information, you will write a news report from a historical perspective to inform others of the various conflicts and their outcomes/affects on the war. To complete your newspaper article, you will use a template from the following websites. Newspaper Template:Option 1:Option 2:

15 Points 10 Points 5 Points

Research/ Variety of Information

Students utilized all available resources and used a variety of facts and statistics to support all claims.

Students have researched the topic and have incorporated fewer than three different facts to support their articles.

Students have not adequately researched the topic and lack evidence to support their articles.

Organization/Structure

Students have created a well organized article with no spelling errors.

Students have created an organized article with minimal spelling errors.

Students have written an article that is not well structured and contains numerous spelling errors.

Topic Students addressed both battles and their outcomes fully.

Students addressed one battle in detail.

Students failed to fully address either of their two chosen battles.

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated based on the following criteria.

Conclusion:

These numerous battles and conflicts throughout the Civil War resulted in over 620,000 casualties in total. Despite this bloodshed, the American people were able to set aside their differences, ending the war in 1864 after the southern surrender at Appomattox. By relating these historical events to our own lives, we can enhance our problem-solving skills and learn how to develop solutions to various issues throughout life.

Further research:• http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769977.html• http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/facts.html