Lesson by Nathan McAlister
Grade Level: 7–12
Number of Class Periods: 4
Primary Theme: Military History
About This Lesson Plan Unit
Over the course of the four lessons in this unit, the students will analyze and assess letters and other documents by American soldiers who fought in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. The objective is to have students recognize the similarities and differences in soldiers’ experiences across wars that took place more than one hundred years apart and to understand the human element across time. The documents cover four distinct themes: Draft/Enlistment, the War, the Home Front, and Returning Home. The students will examine and evaluate the meaning, mood, message, and theme of each. Once they have read all sixteen they will select phrases to create a “found” poem or letter that expresses the soldier’s experiences in one of the four categories across time. As a final extension activity, students will research a local service member or Veteran buried in a National Cemetery, using a step-by-step process that will demonstrate their ability to work with and organize data, analyze and access primary and secondary sources, and write a memorial to honor the service of their chosen service member or Veteran.
Lesson Plan Author: Nathan McAlister
Additional Information About This Unit
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.2: Analyze the purpose of information in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.2.B: Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2.B: Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
Essential Questions
Essential Question
To what extent did soldiers in different wars share a common experience?
Documents
Documents
A letter from Lysander Wheeler to “Parents, Bro, and Sister,” May 26, 1865
A letter from George W. Tillotson to his daughter Georgianna Tillotson, February 16, 1862
A letter from Watson Squire to his parents, May 21, 1861
A letter from Thomas D. Christie to his father, James C. Christie, October 18, 1862
A letter from Adelbert Treadway to his family, November 26, 1918
“How Negro Officer Felt about Fighting,” in J. A. Jamieson, Complete History of the Colored Soldier in the World War: Authentic Story of the Greatest War of Civilized Times and What the Colored Man Did to Uphold Democracy and Liberty (New York: Bennett & Churchill, 1919)
A letter from C. B. Lyons to Helen Lyons, April 9, 1919
A letter from Robert Lincoln O’Connell to Ellen O’Connell, August 23, 1918