Reflection on my Causes of the Civil War Lesson

I found that as we began our learning about the Civil War, some of students didn't know what Union and Rebels soldiers were. They didn't really understand that the war was between the North and the South and was because of more than slavery.

We actually began my lesson with a KWLM chart. Where they listed what they Know about the Civil War, what they Wanted to know. Then went back and finished it at the end of the unit with what they Learned and what More they want to learn. As we read and discussed the background information, I could see some lights going on in the students' minds. We changed the order a little from my lesson plan and did a double-circle Venn diagram before we worked on some of the other things in the printed lesson. We referred to the Venn diagram and added more things to it as the lesson continued.

I was impressed to see student understanding increase as they were able to see two points of views in the causes of this war, and as we looked at and discussed the advantages for both the north and the south. As we read the National Geographic, Voices from the Past, Blue or Grey (from Davis District's Social Studies program), the students were able to see viewpoints from both sides and just how much this affected the families and how torn they were with some on each side of the war.

There were 0ther parts of this lesson that I felt went well, but the best part was to see their understanding increase as they were able to look at these facts and experiences from both the north and the south's point of view. I feel there is still so much more I could and want to do.