Preparing a Civil War Lesson Plan? Try these ...

For all you history teachers out there:

The Civil War Trust can help you teach about the Civil War with its free online curriculum materials. There are sections for Elementary, Middle, and High School students as well as a "Gifted & Talented" section focusing on significant people such as Robert Smalls, Clara Barton and Susie King Taylor -- who had direct ties to Beaufort District and our own local history. There are Powerpoints, lesson plans, assessment tools, coloring books, maps, and crossword puzzles among the host of resources available. If you have to do a "Civil War" lesson plan - anytime between now and the end of the Sesquicentennial in 2015 - this "Civil War Curriculum" might be just the ticket.

We have compiled a number of guides to library resources on topics relating to the Civil War. We do our best to include links to reliable online resources along with library materials to make it easier for you to pick and choose what's right for your students. Perhaps as you prepare your lesson plans for the next five years, one or more of the BDC created lists will prove helpful to you.

For example, we have lists of library and internet materials on these people who were significant locally during the Civil War and Reconstruction period:

Robert Smalls
Clara Barton
Harriet Tubman
Charlotte Forten
Rachel Mather, and
Laura Towne.

Among the topics for which we already have compiled lists of library and internet resources on are:

The 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Port Royal, 1861 is almost upon us. (We'll be having special programs on November 7th in Bluffton and on St. Helena to commemorate the battle and its aftermath. Expect details soon.)

To learn what the Library has on the Missionary Teachers, click here.

Mitchelville, located on Hilton Head Island, was the First Freedman's Village.

Q: Did you know that 3 of the 4 African-American regiments of Union soldiers raised in South Carolina were raised here? We've created a "recommended reading" list for that topic, too.

Penn School, one of the first schools to teach the newly freed slaves how to read and write, began during the Civil War.

We add to the "Recommended Readings" lists from time to time, so the universe of the lists will grow. Check back about every 3 to 4 months just to make sure you haven't missed something new. And, of course, you can always contact us at gracec@bcgov.net or by calling 843-255-6446 if you can use our help compiling supplemental resources for your lessons.