Goal:
Students will gain a historical knowledge of the November 30, 1864 Battle of Franklin by using maps and by reading primary sources related to the battle.
Objectives:
1.) Students will watch a movie of the battle following which they will be able to appropriately answer a set of questions related to the battle as well as participate in classroom discussion;
2.) Given primary source documents, students will be able to complete a pre-writing strategy to generate and organize ideas related to the primary source document;
3.) After reviewing a map and reading primary sources Students will be able to illustrate the experience of participating in a Civil War battle, using adjectives related to at least three senses.
Materials:
Co Aytch - "The Death Angel Gathers Its Last Harvest"
“Experiencing the Battle” Worksheet and Teacher Guide
Map Worksheet and Teacher Guide
Harvest of Carnage video (4:41 min)
Action in front yard at Carter House video (10:37 min)
Franklin Animated Map
Image of Sam Watkins
Journal Rubric
Battlefield Preservation Presentation (Optional)
Vocabulary:
Supply Lines – routes that armies use to transport food, supplies and ammunition
Entrenched – “dug in”; to be dug into the ground possibly using trenches, fortifications or the land itself so that soldiers couldn't be dislodged easily
Abatis - A line of trees, chopped down and placed with their branches facing the enemy, used to strengthen fortifications
Works - fortified structures designed to strengthen a position in battle; includes earthworks, fieldworks, entrenchments, siege lines...
Reinforce - make a military force stronger by sending more soldiers
Anticipatory Set:
Explain that today the students are going to learn about the soldiers’ experiences at the November 30, 1864 Battle of Franklin, TN.
Why would we learn about this battle? Do you think this is important to us?
Do you know what a battle looked like during the Civil War? Was it in black and white? How do you picture it in your head?
Do you think that learning about one battle will help us understand the war?
Procedure:
Introduction:
Ask the students, do you know what was happening in the South in November 1864? Do you know when the war ended?
* Teachers - By November 1864, the Confederacy was struggling economically and many men had been killed. The southern population’s morale was extremely low and another battle loss would be tremendously difficult for most Southerners and possibly the Confederacy as a whole to bear.
Explain the above information and put it in terms that your students will understand. Compare it to their family, neighborhood, or current events.
As a class watch one of the videos, either “Harvest of Carnage” or “Action in Front of the Carter House”. You will want to preview these clips before you show them to your students. Elicit student reactions.