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While studying the Civil War, my kids designed their own Civil War notebooks, where they placed their written work during our Civil War unit study.
What pages would you include in a Civil War notebook?
Here are some ideas of what you can include in a Civil War binder:
- Maps of Civil War battles
- Confederate or Union flags
- A written biography of Abraham Lincoln
- A chart listing which states were Confederate or Union
- Causes of the Civil War
- Summary of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
- Description of Civil War re-enactment with photos
- Letter from a Civil War soldier writing home to his wife
- Red Badge of Courage summary
- Genealogy research for family members involved in the Civil War
We used maps and charts from All American History, Volume II, and we printed the “Steps to War” page on light brown card stock paper. We printed out the steps and cut them out and glued them to the brown page, making it look like someone had walked in some dirt. We outlined the footprints with black marker.
We printed out the “Civil War Hall of Fame” page on yellow card stock paper. We cut out and glued each famous person to their name on the yellow paper. We looked up different people to find out more about them, and I assigned a few biographies for my teens to read during their reading time.
My favorite activity to cause the kids to enjoy doing their work in their Civil War notebooks was to decorate the outside of the binder. We used the colors of the Civil War–silver and dark blue–and we printed out pictures from the Civil War re-enactment to place on the front cover. I show you the completed Civil War notebook in this video:
We had a wonderful time putting together this Civil War notebook and can refer back to it for years to come!
