Civil War and Digital Storytelling

The National Council for Social Studies Middle Level Learning Journal included an article in their May/June 2009 (vol. 35) edition (p. M15) titled Drummer Boys: Creating Historical Fiction and Studying Historical Documents. The article includes a handout identifying relevant online resources for studying Civil War drummer boys. It lists several websites including primary sources and a description of each site and its educational relevance. You can find those websites listed and linked below; to access the complete article and site descriptions, please access the original article (Note: You must be an NCSS member to access this archived publication).Camp Life: Gettysburg National Military Park, National Park ServiceChild Soldiers in the Civil War: Digital HistoryCivil War Drummer Boys: eMINTS National CenterThe Union Army Uniform: Memorial Hall Museum of DeerfieldThe Civil War through a Child's Eye: American Memory, Library of CongressJohnny Clem: Ohio History Central

After seeing this bulletin board example in the April 2008 edition of OAH Magazine of History, I saw the potential for modifying it for use when teaching about wars. What a wonderful way to have students learn from while creating a bulletin board!

I recommend this slideshow presentation delivered by Delise Sanders at the National Council for History Education Conference in 2008. The conference slides overview information of interest to adolescent learners and include suggestions for integrating Civil War content into classroom activities.

Click here for the assignment sheet for this module's digital story assignment.

Neil Greenlagh's Lincoln's Pen Role: Abraham Lincoln's pen Audience: Fifth grade students visiting a Lincoln Museum Format: An audio recorded so museum listeners can learn about the artifacts through headsets Topic: The writings of Abraham LincolnFeedback of Lincoln's Pen by Gail Sabbs

Hear the attached mock KNPR book review of Brook D. Simpson's America's Civil War scripted and produced by Kristin Palen as part of this grant module.

Click here to access the PowerPoint slides presented during the first session of this module.

Click here to access the PowerPoint slides presented during the second session of this module.

Click here for the course syllabus for the Civil War and Reconstruction/Digital Storytelling Module.

Click here for the assignment sheet for this module's book review.

This slideshow was developed by Craig Cuddihy of VEGAS PBS to train teachers in the use of Audacity, an audio editing program available for free on both PC and Macintosh platforms.

This two-page tutorial provides an excellent overview tools within Audacity. It was provided by Craig Cuddihy of VEGAS PBS.

The linked document provides a tutorial for teachers wishing to use PhotoStory 3 in their classrooms. It provides step-by-step instructions and screen shots to guide educators through the process. It was compiled by Craig Cuddihy of VEGAS PBS.

Audio Introduction to the ModuleThis podcast was developed as part of an elementary-level Clark County School District Teaching American History Grant. The three-year grant will fund six modules per year with each module focusing on a different era of American history and a different pedagogical theme. This podcast focuses on the the Civil War and Reconstruction and Digital Storytelling. Participants in the grant are third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers in Clark County (the greater Las Vegas area), Nevada. Teaching scholars include Drs. Michael Green and Deanna Beachley of the College of Southern Nevada and Dr. Christy Keeler of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. As part of this five week module, teachers meet on campus on two occasions and the remainder of their work is completed online. The posts appearing hare also available via the iTunes podcast: “Civil War and Digital Storytelling” (http://feeds.feedburner.com/CivilWarAndDigitalStorytelling).During this module, teacher participants will complete three projects:Teachers will use the R-A-F-T (Role-Audience-Format-Topic) strategy, video iPods, and digital voice recorders to record a book review of Brooks Simpson's America's Civil War. The review will be a simulated KNPR broadcast.Teachers will develop their own R-A-F-T strategy projects relating to the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. They may work alone, collaboratively with other teachers, or they may submit work their students develop as part of a classroom unit on the Civil War era. The final project must included edited audio features such as the inclusion of music and voice modulation.Teachers must review and evaluate digital stories created and posted by their colleagues. The evaluations must attend to content as well as digital storytelling elements.