Civil War Studies

The 8th graders have been learning about the Civil War for most of the quarter. Unfortunately, some of those snow days pushed us back a bit! They have been taking notes on mini-lectures, watching both movie and documentary clips, and participating in some activities. A couple of weeks ago, students put themselves in the place of either injured soldiers or Civil War surgeons. They were pretty grossed out at the medical conditions of the patients! Sadly, a few of the students did not make it through their injury.

Today they learned about unfair draft practices that occurred in the North. Some members of the class were required to go to "basic training" while others who could pay $300 were able to choose not to join the Army. Next week we will be looking at the importance of African-American troops to the war and will watch scenes from Glory and learn specifically about the 54th Massachusetts Regiment.

Here are some pictures of the students acting as surgeons and soldiers.