Teaching the Civil War with Technology

Today, I am sharing some links to some additional videos available via the Internet.

Antietam – Civil War Artillery Demonstration (1:31)

Firing a Civil War Musket (:44)

Civil War Battle Reenactment, Spokane, WA (4:15)

PBS: The Civil War (5 videos of various lengths)

Shiloh Reenactment (14:08)

The Civil War (14:37)

The Civil War at Home (10 videos of various lengths)

The Civil War Experience: Gettysburg (2:02)

The Civil War Experience: Baseball (1:14)

Causes of the Civil War

Learn about the Civil War

Yale Professor Lecture Series on the Civil War (43:00)

UPDATE:  Hat tip to Harry Smeltzer over at Bull Runnings for reminding me about this video:

The Civil War in Four Minutes

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Here is something cool you can do with your students. Have them take modern photos and make them look old. For example, here is a photo that I took of some friends of mine from Sykes Regulars.

You can then take the photograph and put it into your favorite photo editor such as Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro or GiMP.

Once you have it in your editor, start playing with the tone to make it look black & white using a sepia tone filter and then next you will want to blur the edges to give it that slightly unfocused look. Play with different filters to see the different effects they have on the image.

Now for some more advanced edits. If you know how to create layers in your editor, you could take the background from an old photograph and place the modern photo (that you have just revised) on top to give you the rough edges of the photo. This would require you to select a portion of the modern photo and then paste it on top of the new layer.

Here is what the revised image might look like:

Let me know what you come up with.

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Discovering the Civil War Online – Live Webcast from American Public University
Best practices and tips from the experts for researching original Civil War documents online

Have you ever handled a document over 150 years old? The American Civil War left behind a vast paper trail of soldiers’ letters and diaries, as well as newspapers and periodicals; all of these documents provide accounts of crucial events of the era, enabling historians to piece together the events that shaped America’s past during this defining time.

Join American Public University on March 3^rd from 11am-12pm as two authors, Dr. Steven E. Woodworth and Tom Daccord, will discuss researching and handling original Civil War documents through the Internet and how they apply it to their own projects.

Learn More (URL: http://www.studyatapu.com/web-cast/history/civil-war/)

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An interesting way for students to experience the Civil War is to personalize it for them. One way to personalize the Civil War is to allow students to experience the war through the eyes (or in this case letters and documents) of a solider. The Library of Congress has created A Solider from the Wildcat Regiment that details the life of a Union solider in the 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. This digital resource center contains documents, photographs and letters related to Capt. Tilton Reynolds combined with ideas and suggestions on how you can incorporate the information into your classroom.

The following is from the Library of Congress Website:

A Civil War Soldier in the Wild Cat Regiment … a Collection Connection from the Learning Page

Help your students make personal connections with history by considering the lives of a young Union soldier and his family during the Civil War. Through letters and other documents, the collection describes the drudgery of life in military camps, details of troop movements, experiences of a prisoner of war, a soldier’s view of politics, and feelings of homesickness and familial love.

Once your students read and research these primary sources, have them reflect on how they would have felt being in the same situation or perhaps receiving one of the letters from an older brother.

Just a few more simple ways to engage students in history.

Until next time…

Posted under Lesson Ideas, Primary Sources

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The Library of Congress sponsors discussions on various books and broadcasts them via their website. One of the webcasts was about Robert E. Lee and features the author Elizabeth Brown Pryor. The author talks about her research into Robert E. Lee and provides a unique insight into this famous historical figure.

Check out the webcast HERE

Photo credit: Selected Photographs of the Civil War

Stay warm…

Posted under Famous People, Primary Sources, Videos

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