Topic: The American Civil War

Target group

7th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

XXIII. Europe and the world in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Pupil:

2. presents the causes and effects of the American Civil War in the United States.

32.1. describes the causes and effects of the American Civil War in the United States.

General aim of education

Students learn about the causes and effects of the American Civil War.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to characterize the reasons for the American Civil War;

• to explain the significance of changes that have occurred in US society;

• to characterize the effects of the American Civil War.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. The teacher asks students to familiarize with the map in the e‑textbook, showing the territorial development of the United States, and to recall the knowledge about their independence at the end of the 18th century.

Introduction

1. The teacher explains the students the purpose of the lesson and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks students to do Exercise 1. After putting the puzzle together, students check, on English‑language materials on the Internet, who was John Brown ..

Realization

1. The teacher asks students to familiarize themselves with the problems of slavery in the United States. Students do Task 1. After listening to the broadcast in two‑person teams, they prepare a short note about the genesis and meaning of Teodor Kaufmann's painting „On to Liberty”. Students write alternately on one sheet, referring to the sentence of the predecessor. It will also be a preparation for „alternating debate”.

2. Then the students in the two‑person teams do the Task 2. They read Lincoln's inaugural address, noting what he thinks is the main cause of the dispute between the North and the South. After analyzing the speech, they do the Exercise.

3. The teacher explains the students the consequences of choosing Lincoln for the president's office, as well as his (ambiguous) attitude to slavery. Students do the Task 3. They analyze the map showing the Civil War and answer the questions contained in the Task. The teacher briefly characterizes the course of the Civil War and passes along with the students to the issue of consequences.

4. Students work in pairs again. Based on the tasks performed and the teacher's talk, on a sheet of paper, they write alternately the negative and positive effects of the Civil War. Every information should be given as the opposite to the previous one - possibly laconically. At the end, the students give the cards to the teacher. He draws one of them and reads on the class forum. The rest of the class takes on the role of experts, in the course of free discussion they have the opportunity to comment on the read arguments.

5. The teacher takes care of the feedback provided to the students during doing exercises and executing tasks.

Summary

1. The teacher asks students to do Exercise 3 (subordinating the names of the commanders to the appropriate side of the conflict) and Exercises 4 (indicating the correct answers to the given question).

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare an evaluation questionnaire for self‑assessment and evaluation of the teacher's work and other students.

Homework

1. The teacher sets homework (it is not an obligatory part of the script): he proposes to prepare a presentation on the military aspects of the Civil War, the character of the war, weapons and the potential of the South and North. The prepared presentations are sent to the teacher by e‑mail for inspection.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The American Civil War

In the first half of the 19th century, the United States expanded rapidly. From the beginning, the American nation was divided in terms of slavery and the approach to the concept of the state system. Election of Abraham Lincoln (an opponent of slavery) as the President of the USA led to the secession of 11 southern states and the outbreak of war. The 4‑year conflict (1861‑1865) ended with the victory of the northern states (the Union). The country remained united, slavery was abolished and confirmed that all citizens regardless of skin color and origin are equal before the law. However, this did not bring any real equality of rights for the Black Americans. Though equal in rights to the white people in theory, they were treated as second‑class citizens. By means of various laws („Black Codes”) which imposed the obligation to conclude annual contracts with landowners, forced labour on plantations, racial segregation and separate education were introduced.