WOW Game Title: Capture the Flag – Abolish Slavery
Content Area: Social Studies
TEKS Focus: Causes of the Civil War
Civil War and Reconstruction
Physical Education Unit: Cooperation, Locomotor movements
Grade: 5
Resource: Tammy Arredondo
Equipment/Materials: 2 hula-hoops, 8 cones, 2 scarves/bandanas
Set Up:
Jail
Activity:
Give students a background of the civil war. Split students into two groups. Two-thirds
of the students will be the Union army. One third will be the Confederate army. The
object of the game is for one team to get the flag from the other team’s hula-hoop and
bring it back to their own side without getting tagged. The first team to accomplish this
will win the “war.” If a student is tagged then he/she must go to jail. While in jail, the
jail keeper will ask a question if the student answers it correctly then he/she go back to
their own army. If he/she answers it incorrectly then he/she must fight with the opposing
army.
Variations:
 Substitute questions for the Revolutionary War, French and Indian War, etc.
Review Questions:
Skill Focus: What is an important skill for team games? (Cooperation)
Academic Focus: Why was the Civil War an important part of our history?
Causes of the Civil War Questions:
1. How many states seceded (broke off) from the Union?
11 states
2. True of False. One of the main causes of the Civil War was unfair tariffs
(taxes).
True
3. True or False. The Southern states were politically more powerful than the
Northern states.
False
4. Was slavery a cause of the civil war?
Yes
5. What did the states want from the federal government?
State Rights
The Civil War Questions:
1. What were the names of the two sides that fought in the Civil War?
The Conferates and the Union
2. Who was the president during the Civil War?
Abraham Lincoln
3. What year did the South secede from the Union?
1861
4. What was the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863?
Freed the slaves in the Union states
5. What was the significance of the Battle of Gettysburg?
Turning point of the Civil war, the north gained the advantage
The Civil War and Reconstruction:
1. What is the 13th Amendment?
All U.S. slaves were emancipated (free).
2. What are Jim Crow laws?
Separate but equal for blacks and whites
3. Name two positive things that happened to African Americans because of
Reconstruction.
15th Amendment (right to vote)
The right to attend public school
4. Who was the president during Reconstruction?
Andrew Johnson
5. What is the Civil Rights Act of 1866?
Gave blacks the rights to make contracts, sue, bare witness in
court and own property.