Student Resources:

• Founding Principles and Virtues Handout
• Civic Virtues Handout
• Voices from the Civil War Primary Source Set
  • Wounded Soldiers in Hospital
  • Sullivan Ballou’s Last Letter, 1861
  • Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, 1885
  • A Woman’s Wartime Journal, Dolly Sumner Lunt, 1864
  • Hannah Johnson’s Letter to President Lincoln, 1863
  • Letter from J.O. Smith, 1862
• Voices from the Civil War Document Analysis Graphic Organizer
• Sticky notes or student devices
• Large paper or whiteboard for group discussions

Facilitation Notes

• Consider going through the Civil War Interactive Timeline and the Battles of the Civil War lessons before this one.
• Review the BRI’s Principles and Virtues handout prior to beginning the lesson so that students can have a better understanding of civic virtues.

Anticipate

Quick Write and Think-Pair-Share

• Ask students to spend 3 minutes writing about what they think daily life was like during the Civil War for soldiers, civilians, or enslaved people.
  • Note to share with students: Emphasize that this activity is not about having the “right” answer. Encourage students to draw on what they already know, imagine, or remember from past learning. The goal is to get their thinking started-not to be perfect.
• When the 3-minute timer has elapsed, have students share their ideas with a partner, then invite a few pairs to share with the class.

Engage

• Display the photograph Wounded Soldiers in Hospital from the primary source set on the board.
• Student Pair/Group Activity:
  • Divide students into pairs or small groups.
  • Instruct students to complete the STW process together, recording their ideas in each column of the graphic organizer
  • Circulate to provide support and ask probing questions.

Scaffolding note: Consider providing students with a few of the following thinking stems to support their analysis.

• See:
  • “In this image, I notice…”
  • “The photograph shows…”
  • “I can clearly see…”
  • “In the foreground/background, there is…”
•  Think:
  • “Based on what I see, I think…”
  • “This image might represent…”
  • “The photographer may have wanted to show…”
  • “This makes me think about…”
  • “This image might demonstrate the civic virtue of…”
  • “The actions shown here could represent…”
  • “This photograph makes me think about the importance of…”
• Wonder:
  • “I wonder why…”
  • “What might have happened just before/after this photo was taken?”
  • “How might the people in this image be feeling?”
  • “What does this image tell us about life during the Civil War?”
  • “I wonder how people today might demonstrate similar civic virtues…”
  • “How might these civic virtues have impacted the course of the war?”
  • “What challenges might people have faced in upholding these virtues during wartime?”

Explore

• Divide the class into small groups (3-5 students).
• Provide each group with the primary source set.

Jigsaw Activity

• Assign each group member a specific primary source to analyze.
• Students record information about their source on their graphic organizer. Then, they use the information to create a visual display summarizing their primary source and key takeaways. The visual display can be done on paper or a digital tool of choice in the form of art, an infographic, a comic strip, etc.
  • Voice: What is the author’s voice? How does the author’s job, social class, gender, race, age, experience, or other characteristics impact what they are saying?
  • Intent: Is the document intended to inform, persuade, remind, change?
  • Environment: What is the environment like surrounding the creation of the document? What happened before the document was created?
  • Who: Who was the document created for? Was it written for a friend or foe in the form of a letter? Is it a diary entry that was probably just for individual memory keeping?
  • Key details about personal experiences including evidence of civic virtues. What virtue was shown? Why did you pick that virtue? How can you model that virtue in your own life?
  • Questions about the source. What else would you like to know about the person who wrote this?

Gallery Walk

• If the group visual displays were done on paper, assign an area of the classroom for students that were assigned the same source to post their visual displays.
  • Small groups of students rotate around the room, viewing each display.
  • Students use sticky notes to leave comments or questions on other groups’ work.
• If the visual displays were completed digitally, groups should review the other displays together on their devices.
  • Have students use the comment feature on the chosen digital tool to interact with other groups by leaving comments or questions.
• As students view the visual displays for each source, they should record information about the other primary sources on their graphic organizer.

Teacher note: Using the jigsaw technique for this activity means each student will closely read only one primary source. Their understanding of the other sources will come from their classmates’ visual displays. Encourage students to carefully examine all displays and look for common themes across them. If only one display includes a particular detail, it may not be reliable. In other words, remind students to approach their peers’ work with healthy skepticism.

Assess & Reflect

• Individual Reflection: Students write a short paragraph answering the question, “How did analyzing these primary sources change or enhance your understanding of personal experiences during the Civil War?”
• Class Discussion:
  • What similarities and differences did you notice in the experiences described in the sources?
  • How do these personal accounts differ from the broader historical narrative we typically learn about the Civil War?
  • What challenges did you face when analyzing these primary sources?
  • What examples of civic virtue-such as courage, responsibility, or justice – can you identify in these personal accounts? Why are these virtues important during times of conflict or change?
  • How can understanding personal experiences help us better comprehend historical events?
• Exit Ticket: Students write one new question they have about life during the Civil War based on their exploration of the primary sources.