The Clever Teacher

Civil War Unit
Civil War Activities & Lesson Plans | Engaging Unit for 5th–8th Grade - Image 2
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Civil War Activities & Lesson Plans | Engaging Unit for 5th–8th Grade

(37 customer reviews)

$24.00

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Reconstruction Unit (5th–8th Grade)

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Description

This Civil War unit covers the causes, events, and effects of the American Civil War.

I’ve made these Civil War activities as easy as possible for busy teachers to implement. From thorough lesson plans to answer keys – it’s all there. This unit will prepare you to teach about complex topics like slavery, The Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg, and Reconstruction.

Even better, I’ve made it fun! The 15 Civil War lessons are filled with engaging activities, and students will never do the same activity twice in a row. This unit will help your students fall in love with history.

Save time and money by bundling this Civil War unit with other history resources you need.

U.S. History Curriculum Bundle | Save 20% on All Units (5th–8th Grade)

Here’s what’s included in this 3-week Civil War unit:

Part 1: Before the Civil War

  • Life Before the Civil War—articles about life for various groups before the Civil War & worksheets
  • Slavery in America—PowerPoint presentation & K-L graphic organizer
  • Events Leading to the Civil War—newspaper articles, jigsaw activity and student worksheets
  • Election of 1860 —speeches, campaign posters & listening guide
  • Election of 1860 Results—article on electoral college, map, and worksheet

Part 2: Events of the War

  • Union vs. Confederacy—article on succession, infographic on Union and Confederacy, and student worksheet
  • Why Did They Fight?—page with quotes on why various people fought & analysis of two quotes
  • Who’s Who of the Civil War—informative task cards on Civil War leaders and student recording sheet
  • Perspectives on the War—five primary sources (letters and diary entries) demonstrating different viewpoints on the war and group worksheet
  • Emancipation Proclamation—article on Emancipation Proclamation, comprehension check and creative writing
  • Gettysburg (Battle and Address)—article on Battle of Gettysburg, vocabulary list, and annotating worksheet for the Gettysburg Address

Part 3: Reconstruction

  • Lincoln’s Assassination—newspaper article, article about Lincoln’s assassination, comprehension questions, and creative “epitaph” writing activity
  • Reconstruction—article about Reconstruction Era, comprehension questions, and human timeline activity
  • Reconstruction Amendments—transcript and vocabulary for 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments with student worksheet
  • Civil War Reflection—student reflection page and writing opportunity

Help for the Teacher

  • Table of Contents (also available in the preview)
  • Suggested pacing guide
  • 15 detailed lesson plans
  • Answer keys (of course!)
  • Editable end-of-unit test and study guide
  • Easy printing file with all student worksheets and articles

Preview the Civil War activities: 

Download a PDF preview.

Watch a video preview:

This Civil War unit also includes digital access via Google Slides.

I have created a Google Slides resource for each lesson. Each resource contains student instructions, student worksheets with editable text boxes, and articles/task cards, if applicable. Teachers can assign Google Slides via Google Classroom.

Why I created this Civil War unit plan

1. I want your students to love learning about U.S. history!
 
2. Teachers deserve excellent social studies resources (Can someone please tell our school districts?)
 
3. Planning complete units is tedious and time-consuming. I want to save teachers time so they can focus on doing what they love—teaching!

Here’s what people are saying about these Civil War lessons 

“In all my years of purchases from TpT I have never seen such a well thought out and thorough unit. You have literally thought of everything. I am seriously thankful to you for this unit!”

—Alesha W.

“WOW WOW WOW! My students and I are loving this ! It is extremely engaging and a wonderful addition to my Civil War units. 100% user friendly- I especially like the pacing and objectives for each day. Thank you !”

—Jodi F.

“An excellent resource for 8th grade. It is so well organized and planned. It is perfect. I really enjoyed teaching this and my 8th graders who are not so motivated these days really enjoyed it as well. That is a high compliment! Thanks so much.”

—Mary W.

“I’ve incorporated essentially all The Clever Teacher’s units into my 5th grade social studies curriculum and they still continue to amaze me! The units are creative, well planned out, and engage my students – what more could you ask for?!”

—Jenna B.

FAQs

How can this unit be for grades 5th – 8th?

The unit articles are written at a 7th-8th grade reading level. If you teach one of those grades, your students will be able to complete the activities more or less independently.

If you teach 5th or 6th grade, I recommend reading and analyzing the articles with your students. They will do great! Check out the reviews to see how teachers at your grade level have successfully used and loved this unit.

This Unit is Frequently Purchased With:

Revolutionary War Activities | Fun & Engaging Lessons for 5th–8th Grade

13 Colonies Activities & Lessons | Thirteen Colonies for 5th Grade – 8th Grade

Important Customer Information

All of our products are digital and non-refundable. This is a digital file. A physical product will not be shipped. Please make sure you have a way to open: a zip file, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, and a word document before purchasing. Please view the preview and read the product description carefully.
 
This product is not editable. The only part of the unit that is editable is the end-of-unit study guide and test. The other elements (like lesson plans, student worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, Google Slides, etc.) are not. The PDFs are password protected. This protects my work as well as the work of graphic and font artists I’ve purchased from. 
 
After purchasing, you should receive an email with the files. If you do not receive the email, please check your spam folder. You will also be able to download the file on this website by logging in to your account. Need help? Contact me at becca@thecleverteacher.com. Please allow 24 hours for a reply.
 
Sharing isn’t always caring. I have created all of these products myself. Your purchase gives you permission to copy for your classroom only. If your teaching friends love this unit and want to use it too, please direct them to my store. For more information, view my Terms of Use.

Copyright© 2024 The Clever Teacher. All rights reserved by the author.

Total Pages 154 pages
Answer Key Included
Teaching Duration 3 Weeks

37 reviews for Civil War Activities & Lesson Plans | Engaging Unit for 5th–8th Grade

  1. Anonymous (Verified Buyer) –

    My homeschool kiddos loved talk the Clever Teacher units! The lessons were easily adaptable for multiple ages, scaling the activities up/down. The primary resources and video link were added bonuses. Please keep going… Depression, WWI, WWII, Civil Rights!

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  2. Anonymous (Verified Buyer) –

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  3. Tara Williams (Verified Buyer) –

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  4. Jean S. (Verified Buyer) –

    great help for kids who need visual learning aids

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  5. Sarah Muske (Verified Buyer) –

    All of your content is amazing! I use these units for my life skills class and modify them to differentiate levels. So great!

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  6. Jason (Verified Buyer) –

    I’m a fan of all your lessons!

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  7. Magic Mapp (Verified Buyer) –

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  8. Tina (Verified Buyer) –

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  9. Catherine S. (Verified Buyer) –

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  10. Karen (Verified Buyer) –

    I liked it and am presently using it. I teach a high school self-contained LLD class so this level was good. I just as usual had to modify a few things

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  11. Lynn (Verified Buyer) –

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  12. Anonymous (Verified Buyer) –

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  14. Nicole H. (Verified Buyer) –

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  15. Delesia Pruitt (Verified Buyer) –

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  16. Amanda T. (Verified Buyer) –

    Super helpful when choosing alternate sources from the textbook.

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  17. kris (Verified Buyer) –

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  18. Linda Middlekauff (Verified Buyer) –

    This bundle is so well organized, and I really appreciate how Becca has selected the most important battles, etc. on a topic which is so complex. I read that there were about 5000 battles fought in the Civil War, and, of course I knew about some of the important ones via reading books about the war. This is just one example of how the bundle helps to save time without missing what’s really important.

    In addition, the activities, links to videos, etc. give me so many great options which makes it easier to tailor lessons to different types of learners. Well done!

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  19. Carol Coy (Verified Buyer) –

    This unit has many great lessons and activities. Students were engaged and we had many great class discussions.

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  20. Angelina Ceballes (Verified Buyer) –

    These really are created by a “Clever Teacher”!! Lessons are AWESOME!

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  21. Susan (Verified Buyer) –

    We’re enjoying these lessons. I appreciate Google slides lessons are included for each section. This is a huge time saver. The materials are engaging and a true time saver for me.

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  22. Randy Hurlburt (Verified Buyer) –

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  23. Brandi (Verified Buyer) –

    This unit is so well put together. I love the articles with pictures really bring the lessons to life.

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  24. andy simock (Verified Buyer) –

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  25. Courtney Hargett (Verified Buyer) –

    It has everything I need! Thank you

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  26. Cheryl (Verified Buyer) –

    Hi Becca, my students really enjoyed learning about the Civil War. The lessons were easy and after teaching the unit, I was able to have a “What issue caused the Civil War” debate for my observation. The kids did great and the evaluator loved it. Thanks so much.

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  27. SUSAN M MADORE (Verified Buyer) –

    Very well laid out, gave me lots of ideas to supplement.

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  28. cindy myers (Verified Buyer) –

    I haven’t used it yet but I have read through it. If it is like your other ones, I can’t wait. What I love is because I teach 8th grade and your lessons are for 5-8th, I can use the 5th grade activities for my struggling learners and the 8th grade activities for my advanced. Thank you

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  29. Anonymous (Verified Buyer) –

    I like all of Beca’s lessons. I finally am teaching 7-8 so I love all of these Civil War lessons. I’m also using some of them with the high school. I’m really hoping this will help to raise my 7-8 graders’ grades. Pamela Evans (My principal insisted on using school funds to by this so it’s listed under her name.)

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  30. Rachel (Verified Buyer) –

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  31. Robert R. (Verified Buyer) –

    The lessons aren’t too difficult, they’re informative, and the students actually love it.

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  32. Kimberly (Verified Buyer) –

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  33. Keysha (Verified Buyer) –

    This has been a life saver! I hate history and especially don’t like teaching it, so having it all laid out makes it so simple! I will be getting more from here!

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  34. Megan Chronister (Verified Buyer) –

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  35. Anonymous (Verified Buyer) –

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  36. Valerie I. (Verified Buyer) –

    I’ll be using this after Spring Break, but I can already tell I’m going to love it. I always like Clever Teacher materials and my students respond really well. The lessons are interesting, relevant and not so complicated that they daunt me or the student! Thank you for your great site and the variety of materials that continues to grow!

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  37. Micah M. (Verified Buyer) –

    This Unit is very well done. I love the lesson plans and the way I can change them up for my own needs. For instance, I can use the life before the Civil War lesson to have my students create short plays explaining the types of people in the US before the Civil War. The activities are engaging and simple to set up. Well done!

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Q & A

Ask a question
Does this unit have a simulation like the others? Samantha asked on October 5, 2022

Hi! Thanks for your question. It does not have a simulation but it does have lots of engaging activities. :)

 Becca answered on October 10, 2022
(0) (0)
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