Our Civil War Wrap Up

Last week we wrapped up our Civil War studies. Next week will be short due to Thanksgiving. On Monday and Tuesday we will do math lessons and drill, work on some Thanksgiving decorating and cooking, read library books, and simply enjoy some slower days at home together as a family. 

My camera has been shipped off to hopefully be repaired, so I've been taking pictures with Kaitlyn's ipod touch. That is why this post only has one photo collage. On the left you will see Kaitlyn working on a cereal box book report and Lauren working on a language arts project on the right. 

I would like to share in one post a summary of some of the resources we used while studying the Civil War.

Books children read silently
The Story of Harriet Tubman, Freedom Train by Dorothy Sterling
Turn Homeward, Hannalee, by Patricia Beatty
Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder

Books we read aloud
William Wilberforce, God's Politician by John Holzmann
Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
We also have two books we use as read alouds, which are part of Sonlight's Core E (American History, part 2). The books are: The Landmark History of the American People and The Story of the U.S.A., Book 2.  

Field Trip
We visited the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA. One of our favorite exhibits was the "Meet Mr. Lincoln" exhibit. You don't even have to visit the library to experience this neat exhibit. You can visit the website and interact with Mr. Lincoln. 

Geography
The children used a U.S. map to identify which states were Union and which were Confederate. I still use, love, and highly recommend Wonder Maps from Bright Ideas Press. 

Writing assignments
William Wilberforce - The children wrote about lessons they learned from Wilberforce and  things they respect about him. They also did a horizontal timeline page on Wilberforce.
Harriet Tubman - The children each wrote a bio poem about Harriet Tubman. I shared about it in this previous blog post. 
Abraham Lincoln - The children wrote reports on Abraham Lincoln.
Narration Pages - The children must do a written narration after they complete their silent reading assignments each day and once the book is finished they also completed a book report. One form the children used a couple times can be found in this FREE download I found at Confessions of a Homeschooler. It is a simple book report and I was fine with that since the children had narrated after each day's reading assignment. I also like this historical novel book report form I found at abcteach.com
Copywork - I found famous quotes by Abraham Lincoln for the children to use for their copywork lessons.

Test
I created a simple Civil War test for the children to take. I wanted this to be an opportunity for the children to practice their studying and test taking skills. This was the first test I have ever given in history because we do so much oral and written narration and I've always known they were learning, but there does come a time when they are going to have to learn how to study and take a test. So, we are implementing that a bit more in our history studies this year. However, the children have experienced tests in math and spelling.

Have you studied the Civil War with your children yet? Our entire family enjoyed this history unit and learned so much. We had amazing discussions on war and morality and I'm blown away by how much my children are maturing in their thinking. After Thanksgiving we will take a break from history to focus on our science lessons for a few weeks. I've never scheduled things in this way and I'm hoping it works well for our family.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I'm linking up this post with Collage Friday hosted by Homegrown Learners. I hope no one minds that I've only included ONE photo collage.