DK Eyewitness: Civil War

This history book on the American Civil War takes readers through the narrative of the Civil War, including key battles and important figures, as well as a timeline. The book is very heavily loaded with visuals, mostly of primary sources and artifacts from the war. I found the visuals to be excellent to keep students engaged and interested while learning about perhaps the more "textbook" and less individualized view of the war. There is a lot of vocabulary relevant to learning about the Civil War (like "secession" and "regiment", and little sections with very specific topics that students could choose to read (such as parts of a canon, like "brass pendulum"). There are also sections on "Women at War" and on African Americans like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass.

Possible Engagements

• The class could create a timeline on the civil war, with perhaps each student becoming an "expert" on one event listed in the textbook's timeline. Students could practice research skills and look for primary sources and images to include, using the book as a model.

• Class discussions on how this source connects to what students have learned about "civil war" as a topic, as well as how it connects to other sources in the text set (such as the picture book on Harriet Tubman) could be really cool, especially if students compare the two histories of the same event.

• If possible, a field trip to a history museum (with sections on the American Civil War) would pair really nicely with this text, because students would already be learning about these artifacts and could connect their learning to real-life objects.

• Engaging critically when looking at some of the wording and sections is important for this text.

Advantages & Shortcomings