Introduction
Task
Process
Evaluation
Conclusion
Teacher Page
Credits
Curt Nielsen Instructor and Assistant Principal Price Laboratory School University of Northern Iowa Created with the assistance of the WebQuest page. Photos courtesy of American Memory Background courtesy of Backgroundcity.com |
Teacher Page
On
June 1st
of 1863 the town of Gettysburg had grown to a population of 2,400 with
ten roads leading into the town. The thriving industries of carriage
manufacturing, shoemaking and tanneries held the town’s attention and
were central to the life of its citizens. Kids ran through the town
playing their games, farmers had planted crops that were flourishing in
the fields, the peach orchards were ripening, the creeks were flowing,
cattle were grazing and the towns people were enjoying their lives. The
Civil War had taken its toll on the town, but life was generally good.In 30 days this town, the United States and the world would be changed forever…
In this webquest you are going to take the place of a person that was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1,2,3, 1863.
Let the journey begin!
The introduction is alway important in any WebQuest. I recommend reading this with the students to open up the conversation regarding The Battle of Gettysburg. Possibly do a K-W-L chart with the students to begin their thinking. Also you could begin with the question: "What would it be like to live during the Civil War?"
Top
Task
Your task will be to become a citizen, soldier (Union or Confederate), newspaper reporter or other person that would have been in Gettysburg on July 1,2,3 of 1863. You will create a journal as though you were there at the time complete with pictures, maps and any other artifacts that would be important for that time and situation.
Some questions to guide your thinking: How might citizens be feeling during these days? What kinds of emotions would soldiers have at this time? (Union or Confederate) What events would your character be involved in?
Review this page with the students and check their understanding of what they will be doing. Ask a student to describe what they need to do. Emphasis should be placed on the idea that students need to choose to become a person that was in Gettysburg during this time. It is not the intention of this WebQuest to have students become soldiers only. The creativity will arise from students that choose to become citizens and describe what they see during the early days of July, 1863
Top
Process
You
are to become a person that was in Gettysburg on July
1,2,3, 1863. Use the newspaper accounts listed below to
develop your journal. Other websites are listed to help you understand
and gain background knowledge of the time. To create your journal
follow the steps below.
1) Read several newspaper accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg and determine some specific events to include in each journal entry.
2) Create an identity and name for your character. Your character could be a military soldier, reporter, or a resident of Gettysburg during this time. They need to be in Gettysburg, PA on July 1,2,3, 1863.
3) Write three journal entries, one for each of the days of the battle. Each should be two to three paragraphs long.
4) Include four drawings, one of yourself and one each of a scenes that you are describing in your journal entries.
5) The journal should have a unique cover.
6) Use cursive writing. People at this time would be writing in cursive because it was the expected way of producing written work.
7) Use the following websites to gain other information about the Battle or Gettysburg.
Your task will be to become a citizen, soldier (Union or Confederate), newspaper reporter or other person that would have been in Gettysburg on July 1,2,3 of 1863. You will create a journal as though you were there at the time complete with pictures, maps and any other artifacts that would be important for that time and situation.
Some questions to guide your thinking: How might citizens be feeling during these days? What kinds of emotions would soldiers have at this time? (Union or Confederate) What events would your character be involved in?
Review this page with the students and check their understanding of what they will be doing. Ask a student to describe what they need to do. Emphasis should be placed on the idea that students need to choose to become a person that was in Gettysburg during this time. It is not the intention of this WebQuest to have students become soldiers only. The creativity will arise from students that choose to become citizens and describe what they see during the early days of July, 1863
Top
Process
You
are to become a person that was in Gettysburg on July
1,2,3, 1863. Use the newspaper accounts listed below to
develop your journal. Other websites are listed to help you understand
and gain background knowledge of the time. To create your journal
follow the steps below.1) Read several newspaper accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg and determine some specific events to include in each journal entry.
2) Create an identity and name for your character. Your character could be a military soldier, reporter, or a resident of Gettysburg during this time. They need to be in Gettysburg, PA on July 1,2,3, 1863.
3) Write three journal entries, one for each of the days of the battle. Each should be two to three paragraphs long.
4) Include four drawings, one of yourself and one each of a scenes that you are describing in your journal entries.
5) The journal should have a unique cover.
6) Use cursive writing. People at this time would be writing in cursive because it was the expected way of producing written work.
7) Use the following websites to gain other information about the Battle or Gettysburg.
Newspaper
and Journal Accounts of the Battle
Websites to Help Create the Journal
| Star and Sentinel | The New York Times |
| A Minnesota Civil War Journal | From the Journal of William H. Warren, Private, of Co. C |
Websites to Help Create the Journal
This
is the meat of the WebQuest. Teacher and students should use this
page a lot and review it more than any other page. Follow the process
listed on the page and emphasis should be placed on using the
newspapers and journal accounts of the battle. The other websites
are intended to give students background information about Gettysburg
and the battle.
Top
Top
Evaluation
| 3 General |
2 Major |
1 AWOL |
|
| Name | The name is accurate for the time and was taken from a researched item. | The name was accurate for the time. | The name was not included or was taken from the wrong time. |
| Cover | Neatly
done (student's best work) Included a picture, name and date |
Okay Includes a picture, name and date |
Missing information and not well done. |
| Drawings | Very accurate and well done. An exact match to the journal it was representing. | Closely matches the journal entry it was drawn for. | Drawings either non-existant or not matching the journal entry |
| Journal Entries | Original journal that is written as though the character is a witness to the events, an exact match. At least three actual events found in the journal writing. | Original journal that is written as though the character was there. One or two actual events found in the journal entry. | Not at any events of the time. Confusing entries. |
| Cursive Writing | Cursive writing was very well done with correct letter formation. | Wrote in cursive. | No cursive |
Top
Conclusion
The
Civil War was fought in thousands of places under many different
circumstances. No battle in the course of that war or any other
war
was more crucial to the outcome of any war. The lessons learned
at
Gettysburg in the summer of 1863 must be honored from nows until the
end of time.
The Gettysburg Address
November 19, 1863
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
~Abraham Lincoln~
Credits
The format for this webquest was created with the assistance of the WebQuest page. The pictures can be found at American Memory and the background at Backgroundcity.com.
Conclusion
The
Civil War was fought in thousands of places under many different
circumstances. No battle in the course of that war or any other
war
was more crucial to the outcome of any war. The lessons learned
at
Gettysburg in the summer of 1863 must be honored from nows until the
end of time.The Gettysburg Address
November 19, 1863
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
~Abraham Lincoln~
Credits
The format for this webquest was created with the assistance of the WebQuest page. The pictures can be found at American Memory and the background at Backgroundcity.com.