Writing+Activities

Biography/ Narrative Writing Project Project: After looking through the provided books in the text set, students will choose someone involved in the Civil War. The inspiration for the project could be the president, a union or confederate soldier, or a slave. Students will write a diary entry as the person they chose. The entry should reference true information about that person that was discovered during their research. Include how the person feels, what they are going through, what they want, and any other information that adds to their person’s character.

Expository Writing Project

Project: Students will research and take notes on the Civil War. They will choose from the available text set books and discover more about the Civil War. After reading they will pick an aspect of the Civil War that interests them the most. There is a lot of freedom when it comes to topics; it just needs to be present in one of the books. After the topic is chosen they will go back and take notes from the book and research on the internet to learn as much as possible about the topic.

After research is complete the students may choose from several different formats to display their information: A television news broadcast, a radio broadcast, or a newspaper article.

After format is chosen, students will write their own news story about their topic using their research with the goal of informing the public of this “late breaking news”. This will include a script for the radio and television broadcasts and a write up of the newspaper article. After this step is completed, the student’s final step will be to turn it into the final product. The student’s that choose the television news broadcast will video tape the broadcast and add effects, if possible. The radio broadcasts will be voice recorded with sound effects, if possible. The newspaper article will be put in a newspaper format, complete with pictures and captions.

Persuasive Writing Project

Project: Teacher will put pieces of paper in a bag. Half of them labeled “North” and half of them labeled “South”. Students will blindly choose a piece of paper out of the bag. That is the side they are on. The students will research the strengths of their side and other helpful information. The assignment is to write a letter to the president with the purpose of persuading him to support their side. Students should make valid and thoughtful arguments.