Transcript Unit 4 Teacher Tips

Fifth Grade Social Studies
Teaching Unit 4
Reconstruction: The Nation Reunited
Marlo Mong
November 6, 2008
Here’s the Curriculum Map…
Don’t forget! You
should be on the
last couple weeks
of teaching the Civil
War units. There
are more wars to
fight in the 20th
century! 
How do I know what concepts to teach?
• Use your curriculum map!
– Unit One on every map lists the
concepts used for the rest of the
year
– Every piece of content for the rest
of the year is listed under a
relevant concept
• These are suggestions – make them
work for your class!
• Keep up with it all using a
concept wall.
An example of a Content Map for Reconstruction
Many thanks to
Heather Ellington,
Lowndes County Schools,
for sharing her ideas with us.
Reconstruction: Did it work?
• Rebuilding the southern economy
– agricultural vs. industrial
• Sharecropping
– “40 acres and a mule” – really?
• The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen’s Bureau)
• Jim Crow laws
• “secret” southern societies
• Waning support of Reconstruction by the north
The Effects of the Civil War
How do you start the unit?
Hook students with real images that show the effects of the Civil War.
All students can make a connection to the images they see. Once they see
the images, have your students write a response to how they felt after
seeing the devastation of war.
www.uwec.edu
Atlanta after the Civil War
www.loc.gov
Gettysburg, VA
www.loc.gov
Charleston, SC
The Freedmen’s Bureau
After students write the job description they can design a poster to
advertise the job. Then have a job fair and have students discuss
which jobs they would apply for and why that job would be helpful to
the people the Freedmen’s Bureau supports.
John Brown and Due Process of Law
The idea is to give students the background they need and then do a task that lets students
use what they have learned. Because students will argue both sides in this mock trial, they
will use the facts to understand multiple perspectives of how our laws help us. Remember,
sometimes the best example is a non-example.
Reconstruction and Economics
Resources to Teach Reconstruction
•
America’s Story: From the Library of Congress, this website was created to help younger historians understand the
history of the United States through interesting and unique stories that are a part of major historical events. These
particular links gives information about Reconstruction.
–
–
•
Digital History: This website was created to make many historical resources and documents available to teachers
and students at no charge with limited advertising. There are many universities, museums, and government
agencies involved in this project so the resources are pretty well-vetted for historical accuracy and being nonbiased. Includes lots of primary source documents, lesson plans, even a quiz. If used as a teacher read resource, it
can be used in the classroom with students. Not recommended to be used for independent reading.
– http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/default.htm
–
•
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.html
From the Library of Congress, this website gives some background on the history of the Freedmen’s Bureau and
then links to many of the records that were created and kept from 1865-1872, including census records, marriage
certificates, and education reports.
–
–
•
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/recon
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/recon/impeach_1
http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau/
http://www.archives.gov/publications/ref-info-papers/108/index.html#refugees
Galileo: Using the databases tab, search for Britannica Elementary. This takes you to the Encyclopaedia Britanica
Online School Edition. Many different topics are available including teacher resources and learning materials. This
particular link discusses the history of Reconstruction.
–
–
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/high-school/doe/databases
http://www.school.eb.com/elementary/article?articleId=353700&query=reconstruction&ct
More Resources 
In this story, a newly freed family must learn what
freedom means and how to make a new life for
themselves. Follow their journey as they spend time
in a Union work camp to their move to South Carolina
to join other freed slaves. By using this book, think
about how a literature circle or novel study can be the
background for teaching not only important reading
skills, but Social Studies as well. During minilessons, students can use textbooks or nonfiction
texts to compare the facts with the story in the book.
In this book, the author not only shares the history
of Reconstruction, but addresses the economics
and politics of the era. Many primary sources are
used throughout the text including posters, photos,
letters, and many other documents. A unique
source also used in this book is interviews collected
by the WPA during the 1930s. Reviews of this book
commend its readability as well. Like the book
Causes, this may be better used as a read-aloud
rather than an independent read.
The main draw to this book is how the facts are
told more as a story rather than an informational
text. The author uses primary sources that
include political cartoons and photographs to
explain the events of Reconstruction. This text
also addresses westward expansion, Native
Americans, and women’s suffrage. While this
book is more engaging than others, this is written
for middle grades but can be used as readalouds for fifth graders.
The information in this book tells the history
of Reconstruction to a younger audience
and does not expect students to have any
prior knowledge about the subject. There
are several key documents used in the
explanation of what Reconstruction was.
While this book may not be as exciting to
read as some others, students doing
research would find this book useful.
This book has been reviewed as part of
one of the best series of books about the
Civil War in recent years. In this nonfiction
account of America after the Civil War,
Mettger gives very realistic and
“unflinching details” about some of the
topics we tend to sweep under the rug that
occurred during Reconstruction.