Civil War & Emancipation

Day-by-day calendar

1. Day 1

   Launch the unit

   TimelineWalk the era timeline; students note three turning points.

   MapLocate the places in this unit on the source map.

   QuestionPost the unit question: What caused the Civil War, and how did slavery end? Students write a first-guess answer to revisit on Day 10.

2. Day 2

   Investigate: What caused the Civil War?

   Source setWork through the suggested sequence of 7 sources with the graphic organizers.

   Leveled readingsUse grade 4, 7, or 10 versions of key passages next to the original wording for readers who need support.

3. Day 3

   Lesson: Historian’s Lab: Station Rotation

   Teach itRun the lesson kit (copy the Slides and Lesson Plan from the set page).

   Quick checkClose with the 5-question Quick check (copy the student Doc; answer key included).

4. Day 4

   Investigate: Who freed the enslaved people?

   Source setWork through the suggested sequence of 6 sources with the graphic organizers.

   Leveled readingsUse grade 4, 7, or 10 versions of key passages next to the original wording for readers who need support.

5. Day 5

   Lesson: Socratic Seminar: Who Freed the Enslaved?

   Teach itRun the lesson kit (copy the Slides and Lesson Plan from the set page).

   Quick checkClose with the 5-question Quick check (copy the student Doc; answer key included).

6. Day 6

   Gallery Walk

   Gallery WalkPost the Civil War cartoon stations; students label parts A, B, C and write what they see.

7. Day 7

   Corroborate across sets

   OrganizersPairs choose one source from each set and complete the Sourcing, Contextualization, Corroboration organizer: where do the sources agree, and where do they differ?

8. Day 8

   Discussion: the unit question

   SeminarHold a structured discussion of the unit question. Each student must cite one source by title and respond to a classmate who sees it differently.

9. Day 9

   DBQ workshop

   DBQ builderBuild a DBQ packet from “What caused the Civil War?”: pick 5 to 7 sources and print.

   DBQ builderBuild a DBQ packet from “Who freed the enslaved people?”: pick 5 to 7 sources and print.

   WorkshopStudents annotate the documents and outline an answer.

10. Day 10

    Final writing task

    Writing taskWrite an argument: What was the main cause of the Civil War, and who deserves the most credit for ending slavery? Use at least four sources, including the secession declaration or the Cornerstone Speech and the Emancipation Proclamation or the 13th Amendment.