Students from two states join together on a journey through the American Civil War using a flipped classroom model. Utilizing primary and secondary sources, students gain multiple perspectives on the war. Students learn through inquiry-based lessons how the Civil War affected different groups: the government, soldiers, generals, people living in the North or South, slaves, and many more. The primary and secondary resources add a sense of authenticity to the lessons and allow the students to use evidence to support historical ideas they formulate throughout the lessons. Students examine and evaluate the primary and secondary resources for historical context in relation to war. By taking on a flipped classroom approach, these inquiry-based lessons garner more motivation, discussion time, Skype time, hands-on learning time, and engagement with students.

Explore the materials selected for this unit, which are organized in an online skydrive. Materials include lesson plans, sample video, primary sources, and examples of student work.

You can also go behind the scenes of this project:

• Learn how the teachers encouraged their students to think historically;
• View step by step instructions on how to use photo story as a teaching tool (Introduction | Part 2);
• Use google forms to help flip your classroom
]]> https://chnm.gmu.edu/tah-loudoun/blog/2012/10/17/through-many-lenses/feed/ 0 https://chnm.gmu.edu/tah-loudoun/blog/2011/10/04/teach-the-civil-war/ https://chnm.gmu.edu/tah-loudoun/blog/2011/10/04/teach-the-civil-war/#respond Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:48:15 +0000 http://chnm.gmu.edu/tah-loudoun/?p=301 The story of the Civil War can be told through many different perspectives. Understanding the political, social, geographic, and economic complexities of the war requires a discussion centered on primary sources that reveal true stories and sentiments of the people who lived in this time.



This FREE Civil Poster illustrates how to do just that. Instead of reading history as a series of facts, this poster explores the Civil War as a series of questions and encourages students to make an argument about the past. For example, photographs reveal what life was like for children during the war and an old haversack may suggest how soldiers lived and traveled.

The interactive version of this poster is an excellent starting point to find and use historical evidence that help students uncover each facet of the Civil War. These sources explore everything from the experience of soldiers, women, children, and slaves during the war, to the wide range of opinions expressed in letters and diaries that contributed to the division of families, enemies in friends, and a union dissolved.

Click here to read more about the poster in the Teachinghistory.org blog. You may also request your own free copy to use in your classroom.

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