LESSON PLAN 14.1
Title: Writing Letters Home
Grade level: 5-8
Timeframe: Three or four 45-minute sessions
Standards:
IRA/NCTE Standards: 1, 5, 12
NETS for Students: 5
Objectives:
 Students will access their prior knowledge of the Civil War to simulate first-hand
accounts (letters) from the war front.
 Students will demonstrate their understanding of the events and circumstances of
the Civil War by including historically accurate and/or relevant facts and details
in their letters to the homefront.
Materials:
 Assortment of books about the Civil War with primary accounts.
o Armstrong, Jennifer (2005). Photo by Brady: A Picture of the Civil War.
New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
o Gragg, Rod (Editor, 2001). From Fields of Fire and Glory: Letters of the
Civil War. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
o Murphy, Jim (1990). The Boys’ War. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Clarion Books.
 Computers with Internet for student use.
 Word-processing programs and/or paper/pens for publishing letters.
Motivation:
 Share teacher-selected excerpts from the literature. Emphasize the books’
authentic photographs and primary accounts (letters, quotations, etc.). Discuss the
importance of the Civil War letters (primary accounts of the war, often written by
young soldiers) and what it must have been like to receive such letters.
Procedures:
Day 1:
 Explain to the students that they will access their prior knowledge of the Civil
War to write a war letter from the point of view of a young soldier (or nurse,
civilian, etc.). Review several examples of letters from The Boys’ War and From
Fields of Fire and Glory: Letters of the Civil War (or similar books) and discuss
common features of the letters. Emphasize that the students’ letters should be
personal and heartfelt, yet historically accurate.
 Explain to your students what they should include in their letters. You may
consider:
1. Reference to foods or food shortages

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2. Reference to historically accurate battles, geographic locations, and events
3. Description of conditions of the camps
4. Historically accurate dates
5. Personal thoughts about the war, family conflicts or circumstances, or
future dreams and plans
Emphasize that letters should be written in first person, from the point of view of
a soldier (or nurse, civilian, etc.).
Allow students time to gather facts and information, organize the information, and
begin their first drafts.
Days 2-4:
 Continue to share and discuss photographs and letters from the literature. As an
additional resource for visual images, introduce the PBS Web site Images of the
Civil War (http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/cwimages).
 In writers’ workshop, provide students time to draft, revise, edit, and publish their
letters.
 Final copies may be word processed or written in neat handwriting. (For an
authentic touch, use parchment paper and encourage students to use a cursive
font.)
 Students may share their letters with the class by reading them out loud, posting
them on a bulletin board, and/or publishing a class book.
Assessment:
 Teacher-developed rubric or checklist to assess students’ ability to write with an
authentic voice from a soldier’s point of view and incorporate historically
accurate/relevant facts and details.
Accommodation/Modification:
 Use additional literature (of various reading levels) and online resources to suit
students’ reading abilities and interests.
To differentiate instruction, the teacher may increase/reduce the number of facts each
student is expected to include in his/her letter.