Intermediate Guided Reading Lesson Plan
Title: A Ballad of the Civil War
Genre:
Author: Stolz, Mary
Historical
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Fiction
ISBN: 0-590-81926-7
Literacy Core Objective: 5th Grade
S7/O2 – Apply strategies to comprehend text.
S7/O3 - Recognize and use features of narrative and
informational text.
Text Structure:
Narrative
Informational
Level:
T
Enduring Understanding: Purpose for reading
One of the most critical and beguiling eras in our
nation's history is that of the Civil War. Students
will read and learn about the Civil War itself as
well as explore more basic issues about the nature
of human life and society.
Social Studies Core Objective:.5th Grade
S4/O2 - Assess the geographic, cultural, political, and
economic divisions between regions that
contributed to the Civil War.
S4/O3 - Evaluate the course of events of the Civil
War and its impact both immediate and
long-term.
ELL Strategies:
“I Can Statements” - Essential Questions:
Help the students make connections to the text by
 What are some of the social, political, and
asking them to think of similar situations in their own
personal issues that confronted Americans
lives.
during the time of the Civil War?
 What was the perspective of both sides, North
and South during the Civil War?
 What was it like to be a slave?
Before Reading
Vocabulary: Use the graphic organizer for the vocabulary. Word, Kid friendly definition, and sketch.
You may want to do the vocabulary in sections each day.
reconnaissance (p.vi)
vied (p. viii)
accustomed (p. viii)
seized (p. ix)
plantations (p. 3)
uppity (p. 7)
crockery (p. 11)
banishment (p. 13)
deplored (p. 15)
summoned (p. 18)
ventured (p. 20)
wavered (p. 25)
conceded (p. 27)
hands (p. 29)
resigned (p. 33)
deference (p. 43)
jubilance (p. 44)
incomprehension (p. 48)
enmity (p. 48)
fatigue (p. (51)
Activate/Build Prior Knowledge:
Review the events of the Civil War by reading through a timeline of the Civil War found at
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1861.html
Read the Storyteller’s Note at the back of the book on p. 52 and the poem, A Civil War Ballad, that was
the author’s inspiration for the story. Guide a discussion about what they know about the civil war and
relate that to the words of the poem.
Comprehension Strategy:
Synthesizing
During Reading
Attend to Comprehension Within, Beyond, & About the text:
Using appropriate Guided reading strategies, students will be reading at their own pace and teachers will
be listening to students read, monitoring, giving feedback, taking anecdotal notes and running records.
Suggested Pacing:
Day 1 – Prologue and Chapter 1 – p.. vii – ix and 1-13
Day 2 – Chapter 2 - p. 14 – 25
Day 3 – Chapter 3 - p. 26 – 43
Day 4 – Chapter 4 - p. 44 – 51
After Reading
Attend to Comprehension Within, Beyond, & About the text:
Each student in the group will choose a character from the book. They will pretend to be that character as
they read and try to really connect with that character (encourage children to try to be different characters
including the father, Uncle Roger, etc.) Have a discussion at the end of each day’s reading. Where
students can share what they think there character was thinking/feeling.
Content Core Integration:(Science, Soc. St., Math, etc.)
Assessment:
Activities:
Pretend to be a character from the book and at
 Other lesson plans and activities can be found at the
the end of each day’s reading write a personal
following link
journal entry detailing the events from the day
http://www.civilwar.org/education/teachers/ The
and the feelings/hopes/dreams/etc. that the
following 2 activities are from this same site, but the
character may have had as a result of the days
direct links are below.
events.
 Reader’s Theatre about the Civil War can be found at
http://www.civilwar.org/education/teachers/lessonplans/civil-war-readers-theater.html
 Students will pretend to be Civil War soldiers and
write letters to one another using soldier slang.
Lesson idea can be found at
http://www.civilwar.org/education/teachers/lessonplans/civilwarslang.html
*Not all activities will be done in each lesson. Some lessons may take multiple days to complete.
However, all students should be reading each time you meet.
Name ________________________________ Date ____________________________
Vocabulary
Word: ___________________________
Definition: ________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Word: ___________________________
Definition: ________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Word: ___________________________
Definition: ________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Word: ___________________________
Definition: ________________________
________________________________
________________________________