Procedure
	The actions of students and teachers and the interactions among and between students and teachers:

Procedure for a Learning Stations Activity:

• Prior to the beginning of class, the teacher needs to arrange the classroom into separate work areas or stations. Desks can be grouped together. There needs to be at least three chairs at every station. The classroom should be arranged to provide easy movement from one station to another.
  
• At each station the students will find a poster containing a primary source document or documents as well as directions as to what they need to do at that station. It is best to have multiple copies of the documents available for student use. The directions include a list of questions to answer about the documents, a question sheet or worksheet or instructions for an activity.
  
• Students work in small groups and move from station to station completing the tasks. Students should be given between 5 to 15 minutes at each station. Some stations will take longer than others depending on the task. The teacher may want to set up a duplicate copy of materials at the stations that will take longer.
  
• Students move from station to station when they are done with the work. They should only move when the previous group is done. Teachers may want to have the students stand to indicate that they have completed the task. Raising hands works also. The students should sit quietly while waiting to move from one station to the next. The teacher can also go to the group that is done and quiz them on the material they just completed. He/she could review the answers or ask for generalizations as to what the students learned at that station. Answer sheets could be available for the students to check their work while waiting also. Most of the stations take about the same amount of time so there is very little down time.
  
• It will take the students two class periods, sometimes three depending on the make up of the class. The amount of time at the learning station depends on the task. It is important to instill the idea that they need to move right along in order to complete all the stations. Distractions cannot be tolerated.
  
• The teacher circulates to provide encouragement and provides assistance when and where necessary.
  
• Teachers might want to visit local historical societies, town clerk offices, and any other archival centers to find local documents.

For this lesson there were ten learning stations. However, that number may vary. Students are given a brief overview and explanation of what they will be doing for the next two to three class periods. It should be emphasized that they will become historians and will be analyzing primary source documents. Explain that each station contains a poster with at least one document and a specific task that they are asked to complete to the best of their ability.

Class discussion follows after the students have completed each of the stations. Discussions vary from class to class.

The Teaching Materials for the Ten Learning Stations:

Name _____________________________ Notebook pg. # _____

Social Studies 8

Being A Soldier in the Civil War Evaluation

Choose any ONE of the following. Remember factual information is a MUST! You must use specific information from not less than 5 primary source documents. This assignment is due on or before ________________.

A. "they is a fly on my pen. I just rights what ever comes in my head." No diversion in a Civil War camp occupied more time than letter writing. You are Taylor Baldwin. (Insert name of another Civil War soldier for whom you have a letter he has written) You often wrote letters including homesickness and your desire to keep in touch with the world you left behind. You often made observations about the war. You include situations and people that you encounter. Write a letter home including as many specific details of what you know about the Civil War.

B. You are one of the men in this picture. Describe your experiences as a soldier in the War of Rebellion.

(Insert a photograph off the Internet site)

C. You are a field reporter for the "History and Life Chronicle". Write an article for the your newspaper on the everyday experiences of a Civil War soldier. Remember that the people at home are extremely interested in what is happening in camp.

Station 1:

Materials Needed: > Bounty poster. The one I use states:

THE UNION FOR EVER!

$90 BOUNTY

Still Paid!

ENLIST AND AVOID DRAFTING

The poster at this station reads:

Carefully examine the bounty poster. Use the bounty poster to answer the questions that are found on the question sheet at this station.

The questions include:

1. What is the mood of the poster?
2. What is the purpose of the poster?
3. What was a bounty? (look up the definition in a dictionary if necessary)
4. Why was the bounty being raised so high for the time?
   (farm workers yearly salary was $300) What percentage of the total bounty would be a farmer’s yearly salary?
5. How do you think people set the fee?
6. Is this very democratic? Why or why not?
7. Was this a very patriotic way of getting volunteers to enlist? Why? Why not?
8. Who would be attracted to a bounty?
9. Why do you think the bounty for recruitment was needed?
10. By accepting the bounty, what would the responsibilities be?
11. Why was the community forced to raise a bounty?
12. Prove that this is a patriotic poster or broadside.

Station 2:

Materials needed: H. A. Dowe’s letter to A. F. Benson Esq. *I have listed websites from which you can obtain letters from Civil War soldiers.

The poster at this station reads:
Read H. A. Dowe’s letter to A. F. Benson.

1. What is the purpose of the letter?
2. What is Col. Dowe’s warning to Mr. Benson?
3. Why would some men not want to sign up for the draft?
4. What were the only exceptions? How would one prove he qualified for an exception?

Station 3

Materials Needed:
>Computer access to the internet
>A plate of hardtack with enough for one piece per student
>Civil War songs found on the Internet sites:

http://www.erols.com/kfraser/usongs.htm

http://www.erols.com/kfraser/csongs.htm

>Pitchers of water (*Students will need and want to get a drink after eating the hardtack. Having water available saves a lot of time and anguish)

The poster at this station reads:
Without eating this, what type of cracker does it look like? (oyster cracker)

Now, eat the cracker. Describe the taste. Write your reaction down on the back of the question sheet that accompanies this station.

Have the students listen to the songs Goober Peas, Hard Crackers, and Army Grub/The Army Bean/Army Bugs and answer the questions that accompany the songs.  Student may need to listen to the music more than once so that they will be able to answer the questions.

By today’s standards, are the rations nutritional? What does the army eat today? (Contact your local army recruiter for assistance here. You might be able to get a MRE - Meals Ready to Eat.)

Questions:

1. What is the tone or mood of these three songs?
2. Why do you think these songs were written?
3. Who might have sung these songs?
4. List five things these songs tell you about life as a solider in the Civil War?

*You may replicate this station without the hardtack and rewrite it around the songs. In addition to the Internet, WEM records Civil War Songs with historical narration by Keith and Rusty McNeil. They are available on two stereo cassettes.

Station 4:

Materials needed: Artifacts (real or replica) of the Civil War

• A bullet mold
• A canteen
• Kit bag or haversack
• Photograph in padded cover
• Photograph of a sword

The poster at this station reads:
The Civil War was one of the most divisive events in American history. In Cortland and Tompkins Counties, where sentiments was solidly pro-Union, some citizens felt that the young men should stay at home and help with farming rather than enlisting in the army. Enough men answered the call to supply infantry for the 76^th and 157^th Regiments. Some of the men served in the 10^th New Cavalry Regiment.

Examine the artifacts. Consider what the answers are to these questions:

Why would a soldier have these items in his possession?
What artifacts would be used in combat?
What would these artifacts be used for?
Why would a soldier have a photograph in his pocket?

Station 5:

Materials needed: Mathew Brady Civil War photographs

Computer access to the Internet - the following sites on the Internet contain a variety of Civil War photographs:

http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/cwphome.html

http://www.treasurenet.com/images/civilwar/

The poster at this station reads:
A Photo Analysis of the War of Rebellion

Examine four photographs to help you complete the
Photo Analysis Worksheet

*I use a Photograph Analysis Worksheet that was developed by the Education Branch of the National Archives

Station 6:

The poster at this station reads:

What is meant by this quote:

"The difference between dyeing today
and tomorrow is not much, but we
all prefer tomorrow."

Union soldier in a letter home

Station 7:

Materials Needed:

• A letter from the Battlefield, 1862
• Directed reading question sheet

The poster at this station reads:

• A letter from the Battlefield
• Read Taylor Baldwin’s letter to find the answer to the questions
  on the question sheet at this station

Life in Camp for a Civil War Soldier

Carefully read document #105 - A letter from the Battlefield, 1862. Answer the following questions as you read. Please write your answers in complete sentences.

1. Where is the camp from which this letter was written?
2. When was the letter written?
3. What does the regiment do each day to get ready for battle? How long?
4. Where does he expect to be sent next?
5. What do the numbers ’76 represent or mean?
6. Why are they excited about the orders to march to Richmond?
7. Mr. Baldwin referred to rebuilding a bridge, what type of bridge did they build?
   What types of cars was he referring to?
8. If you didn’t know Richmond was in the south, what does Mr. Baldwin say about the weather to help you determine that he is indeed in the south?
9. What can you visualize or see after reading his description of the food?
10. How long has he been in camp?
11. What are they forced to do to survive?
12. Why do you suppose he despised Col. Green so much?
13. What happened in Washington?
14. What do you think the word craniums means?
15. How can you tell that Mr. Baldwin is from Peruville?
16. What in his letter gives the reader an idea that he is angry at the people at home?
17. Does he regret enlisting?
18. Why do you suppose Mr. Baldwin does not despise deserters?
19. John Apgar is homesick. What does it mean to be home sick?
20. Why might Mr. Apgar be home sick?
21. What is foraging?
22. What does Carl hope to bring home from his foraging expedition?
23. What relocation program does Mr. Baldwin discuss in his letter?
24. What is the bad disease that Ed Hall has? Why do you think Mr. Baldwin thinks that this is a bad disease?
25. What were the monthly wages of a soldier in Mr. Baldwin’s regiment?
26. What accounts for so many writing errors and spelling errors?

*Go to one of the websites listed under RESOURCES and substitute a different letter.

Station 8:

Materials Needed:
June 1865 City of Binghamton Census*
June 1865 Town of Groton Census

The poster at this station reads:

The Causes of Death
For a
Civil War Soldier

Use the census records to create a comparison chart of common causes of death, youngest and oldest age, years most soldiers died, rank of the most deceased soldiers, and causes of death in prison.

What are the similarities?

What are the differences?

What conclusions can you make?

*Students seem to be able to read the Groton census with less difficulty if they can use the Binghamton census as a template. Try to find this information for your part of the State.

Station 9:

Materials Needed:
Words and Music to the song, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp"

http://www.erols.com/kfraser/tramp.html

The poster at this station reads:

Listening, looking and reading about prison life
Listen and follow along with the words to the song "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp".
View some of the materials on the Elmira website.

How would you describe life in a prison of war camp?
Knowing that the Union prison was in Elmira, why do you suppose it was so far north?
What weather obstacle would the prisons in Elmira encounter?

Station 10:

Materials Needed:
Discharge papers of John Burch

The poster at this station reads:
What do you think it is?
Why is it so big?
Why is it so elaborate?
Who would receive this document?
Do you have a document like this in their home?

*Again, local documents may be substituted or a document found on the Internet.

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