American Civil WAR: Then and now
Students will
create a precivil war
assessment,
an expanded
KWL chart.
During ELA/Social Studies
students will be assessed
using Readers' Theater of
the Civil War. It covers the
beginning of the war at Fort
Sumter and travels around
to the major battle sites of
the Civil War before
finishing at a farmhouse in
Virginia. The assessment is
two parts: a letter home
writing assignment and a
multiple-choice assessment
covering vocab and
comprehension.
Students will
create a Civil War
timeline
identifying key
events to assess
their
understanding of
key event in the
war.
Assessments for
Social Studies
will follow this
format.
Vocabulary
Assessment on
the Civil War.
Students will be
assessed on
their
understanding of
terms. New
terms will be
added as we
progress
through the unit.
These types of
sheets will be
used as
formative
assessments
to assess the
students
understanding
of the 4 basic
principles of
math.
The following next
slides will be
evaluated based on
students continuing
to work together in
their cooperative
groups.
• Level 1 “No Clue!”
• Level 2 “I think I Know…”
RUBRIC for CIVIL
WAR POSTASSESSMENT:
What is my
“DEPTH of
KNOWLEDGE”
for The Civil
War?
• Level 3 “I passed a test on it.”
• Level 4 “I could teach a stranger about it.”
• I didn’t even know where to begin on this post assessment. I need to do an
independent study and meet with my teacher. I didn’t learn anything this unit.
• I answered parts of one or two questions correctly, but overall, my understanding of
this unit is still minimal. I need to review my study guide more and meet with my
teacher for ideas on mastering the material.
• I feel confident in most of my answers on this post assessment. I don’t feel ready to
teach others, but I am certainly able to pass a test on the material.
• I am an expert at the material that was presented. I am not only able to pass the
post-test on this unit now, but I would feel confident teaching a stranger about the
material without the help of my teacher.
•
*Now that you have identified your current “DEPTH of KNOWLEDGE” level on The
Civil War, compare it to your pre-assessment level. How much growth did you see?
How do you feel about your growth? If you didn’t reach the level you had hoped for,
how do you think you could reach this level in future units? Answer on the lines
below using complete sentences.
• Describe the purpose of Uncle Tom’s Cabin .
_____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________
• Summarize the events of the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman’s March to the Sea.
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
Civil War
Evaluation
• Differentiate between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________
• Critique General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s strategy that was used at the First Battle
of Bull Run. _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________
• What can you infer about the fact that Lincoln did not say he was fighting to end slavery
at the beginning of the Civil War? _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ ______________________
• Compare and contrast the effects of the Civil War on the North and the South.
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________
Suggested
Responses
Civil War
PostAssessment
•
Describe the purpose of Uncle Tom’s Cabin . The purpose of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was to tell the people in the
North about the cruelties of slavery in the South.
•
Summarize the events of the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman’s March to the Sea. The Atlanta Campaign and
Sherman’s March to the Sea were both parts of a method of warfare known as total war. In total war, the goal is
not only to beat the other team, but the goal is to destroy the people’s will to fight. General Sherman burned and
destroyed Atlanta and continued on this path of destruction all the way from Atlanta to Savannah. His men stole
from the families, burned crops and homes, and made the lives of civilians miserable. This technique crippled the
South to the point of no return.
•
Differentiate between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant were both Generals
during the Civil War. Robert E. Lee fought for the Confederacy and Ulysses S. Grant fought for the Union. Robert E.
Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in a farmhouse in Appomattox Court House, Virginia to bring an end to the
Civil War. Ulysses S. Grant went on to be the 18th President of the United States. These two men are famous for
their roles in the Civil War.
•
Critique General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s strategy that was used at the First Battle of Bull Run. This
response could be different based on the student’s perspective. It should include strengths and weaknesses of the
decision. Strengths – by not retreating they were able to push back and win the battle; showed the Confederacy
was strong and would not be easily defeated Weaknesses – could have been a costly decision if the Confederacy
had lost; risky decision.
•
What can you infer about the fact that Lincoln did not say he was fighting to end slavery at the beginning of the
Civil War? Since Lincoln did not say he was fighting to end slavery at the beginning of the Civil War, I can infer that
a united nation was more important to him than the ending of slavery. He knew that if he declared slavery as the
cause for fighting, he would lose the support of the border states, and it wasn’t worth it to him. His main purpose
was to keep the United States together.
•
Compare and contrast the effects of the Civil War on the North and the South. The Civil War was costly to both
the North and the South in terms of lives lost. However, the South faced much greater destruction because most
of the battles took place in the South. Homes, towns, and businesses had to be rebuilt, and their way of life had to
be adjusted with an end to slavery. Therefore, it took much longer for the South to recover from the war than it
did the North.
Assessments and Evaluation
Assessment in education is done in order to improve the process.
Commonly referred to as Formative Assessment pays attention to
learning, teaching, as well as the outcomes. I attended a few
professional learning community, or PLC, institutes. During these
institutes, assessments and evaluations were described in the
following manner. An assessment is like a person going to the
doctor for a check-up. This is an on-going process and there is
still time to make changes as we go through life’s process. On the
other hand, an evaluation, is a final process that is designed to
understand the quality of the process. Therefore, the evaluation
is like an autopsy, the process has been completed. The teacher
nor student can no longer change the outcome. In education,
evaluation is a summative assessment and product oriented.
Some formative assessments that will be utilized will be students
assessing themselves, their peers, or even the teacher, through
writing, quizzes, conversation, and more.
The final evaluation can consist of a group poster or the
group completing the worksheets indicated in slides 9 and
10.