Lesson 2: Finding the Civil War in a local Cemetery
- Focusing Questions/Themes:
- How does the history of our town relate to the history of the United States?
- Who served in the U. S. Civil War?
- Vermont Standard(s):
- Understanding Place: Students demonstrate understanding of the relationship between their local environment and community heritage and how each shapes their lives.
- New Hampshire Standard(s):
- Curriculum Standard 16: Students demonstrate the ability to employ historical analysis, interpretation, and comprehension to make reasoned judgment and to gain an understanding, perspective, and appreciation of history and its uses in contemporary situations.
- Materials:
- Copies of a 19th Century map of your community
- 1 - 11 x 17 cut into puzzle pieces (1 piece for every 2 students)
- Full 11 x 17 copies for each student
- Colored pencil or highlighter (1 per student)
- Clipboards
- Copies of Data Collection form - one per student
- In-class Procedure
- Find your local cemeteries on a 19th century map
One way to introduce students to local cemeteries is to take a map of your town, copy it, and then cut the copy into enough pieces so that every student (or pair of students) has a piece of the "puzzle." Invite students to select and observe one piece; and then focus their inquiry through guiding questions.
Questions Response What are we looking at? A map A map? Of what? Our town What do you see on the map? Roads What does a road look like? Parallel lines What else do you see?
Rivers What does a river look like? Single squiggly line What else do you see?
Houses How can you tell?
Names of local families Can anyone tell me the scale (or date) of the map?
Depends on the map Can anyone locate a school on their piece?
Yes How many schools are there (raise your hands)? Count: 19 Is there a correlation between School # and the DIST #?
Yes Who can locate a cemetery on their piece?
Many students How can you tell it is a cemetery?
Outline, says CEM How many cemeteries are there (raise your hands)? Count hands What are some names we might find on headstones in Cemetery “X”
Look to nearby houses Who thinks they have the top of the map?
Who thinks they have the bottom of the map?
- Hand out full maps of the town.
Reveal the destination of your chosen cemetery, e.g. "Hartford Cemetery." Ask students to find it and highlight it on the map. Tell them you are going to visit, where you will look for residents who served in the American Civil War. - Prepare for cemetery visit
Before you get to the cemetery, lay out the ground rules and expectations regarding your student's behavior in the cemetery. These should include, at a minimum:
- no running
- no sitting on or leaning against stones and monuments
- no horseplay
- not disturbing plants, animals, or cultural artifacts
- Packing in & out all trash and classroom materials
- A commitment to leave the cemetery in better condition than you found it.
- On Site Procedure
- Gather the group and hand out the data collection sheet.
- Ask the students how they might identify a Civil War veteran.
Marked with an American flag; a veterans marker + life span pre & post 1861 - 1865; Civil War marker (GAR - Grand Army of the Republic); these words on the stone: "veteran" "regiment," "company," etc.
- As a group, search for and find a 1st veteran; and model the data collection process.
- Have students work as individuals or pairs to collect data from the gravestones
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