Civil War and Digital Storytelling

The National Council for Social Studies Middle Level Learning Journal included an article in their May/June 2009 (vol. 35) edition (p. M15) titled Drummer Boys: Creating Historical Fiction and Studying Historical Documents. The article includes a handout identifying relevant online resources for studying Civil War drummer boys. It lists several websites including primary sources and a description of each site and its educational relevance. You can find those websites listed and linked below; to access the complete article and site descriptions, please access the original article (Note: You must be an NCSS member to access this archived publication). Camp Life: Gettysburg National Military Park, National Park ServiceChild Soldiers in the Civil War: Digital HistoryCivil War Drummer Boys: eMINTS National CenterThe Union Army Uniform: Memorial Hall Museum of DeerfieldThe Civil War through a Child's Eye: American Memory, Library of CongressJohnny Clem: Ohio History Central

After seeing this bulletin board example in the April 2008 edition of OAH Magazine of History, I saw the potential for modifying it for use when teaching about wars. What a wonderful way to have students learn from while creating a bulletin board!

I recommend this slideshow presentation delivered by Delise Sanders at the National Council for History Education Conference in 2008. The conference slides overview information of interest to adolescent learners and include suggestions for integrating Civil War content into classroom activities.

Click here for the assignment sheet for this module's digital story assignment.

Neil Greenlagh's Lincoln's Pen Role: Abraham Lincoln's pen Audience: Fifth grade students visiting a Lincoln Museum Format: An audio recorded so museum listeners can learn about the artifacts through headsets Topic: The writings of Abraham Lincoln Feedback of Lincoln's Pen by Gail Sabbs

Hear the attached mock KNPR book review of Brook D. Simpson's America's Civil War scripted and produced by Kristin Palen as part of this grant module.

Click here to access the PowerPoint slides presented during the second session of this module.

Click here for the course syllabus for the Civil War and Reconstruction/Digital Storytelling Module.

Click here for the assignment sheet for this module's book review.

This slideshow was developed by Craig Cuddihy of VEGAS PBS to train teachers in the use of Audacity, an audio editing program available for free on both PC and Macintosh platforms.