Topic: social studies

This Civil War Activity Pack has it all! With 22 passages, organizers, comprehension & connection activities, vocabulary posters, unit test, case files on important people & flip book! Your students will love this creative non-fiction resource all about the American Civil War! Newly updated to include a Unit Test that is EDITABLE! Newly Updated with Leveled Reading Passages!

The Civil War is the only time in history that the United States was divided and fought against itself. There were several reasons war broke out, including states’ rights and slavery. The Southern States strongly believed in states’ rights, where each state gets to make its own laws. In the end, the North was victorious with General Grant defeating General Lee. The nation had survived through the worst period in its history and was united once again.

Students will learn all about the Civil War with informational articles, organizers, and interactive activities for the causes, events, important people, and results of the war including:

✔ Slavery in America

✔ A Divided Nation

✔ Seceding the Union

✔ Lincoln is Elected

✔ Underground Railroad

✔ Fort Sumter

✔ Battle of Ironclads

✔ Battle of Antietam

✔ Battle of Gettysburg

✔ Sherman’s March to the Sea

✔ A Union Soldier’s Life

✔ A Confederate Soldier’s Life

✔ Surrender at Appomattox

✔ Emancipation Proclamation

✔ Keeping the Union Together

✔ Reconstruction of the Nation

✔ 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments

With character studies on five important people:

✔ President Abraham Lincoln

✔ Harriet Tubman

✔ Clara Barton

✔ General Robert E. Lee

✔ General Ulysses S. Grant

✔ Jefferson Davis

This Civil War resource includes many interactive activities for reinforcing learning:

✔ Character Mini-booklets

✔ Cloze Passages

✔ Graphic Organizers with comprehension and critical thinking questions related to each article

✔ 5 Page Civil War Flip Book

✔ Vocabulary Posters (12)

✔ Vocabulary Flip Flaps

✔ Spotlight on Vocabulary

✔ Hidden Word Sort–Compare & Contrast Activity

✔ Study Guide–Doodle Notes

✔ Timeline Activity

✔ Brag Tags

✔ Bulletin Board Kit

✔ Civil War Quiz

✔ Unit Test PDF

✔ Unit Test PowerPoint (EDITABLE)

✔ For Elementary Grades – 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade

✔ Common Core Aligned

Bonus: A Bulletin Board Kit has been added to this unit.

There are five main activities:

Introduce the Civil War Unit with Anticipatory Set of T/F questions to pique interest and build background knowledge. Read about the causes of the Civil War, answer comprehension questions and complete the organizers. The organizers work well for group work.

Next, create a learning station for each of the five character studies. Students read about each historical figure and complete the Character Mini-Booklets by writing three facts about that person, put the timeline dates in the correct order, coloring, cutting, and gluing inside their notebooks.

Read about the main events and battles highlighted and complete the custom-created graphic organizers. Students may need additional resources to answer all the questions on organizer pages.

Introduce or review the 12 vocabulary words with the real-life photo posters included. You could post these posters around the classroom and have students travel around to match up and define the words in their flip flaps or use as a center activity. These posters are excellent for a bulletin board display too.

Next, read about the results of the Civil War. Bring the students together for class discussions to check for understanding and further their critical thinking skills after each lesson. Have students complete the 5 page Civil War Flip-up book. They can build it page by page or use it for homework or fast finishers.

At the end of the unit come back to the Anticipatory Questions and K-W-L to check and correct their answers. Give the students the Unit Test to check for understanding and evaluate their learning.