Eighth grade social studies students have been putting themselves in the shoes of Civil War soldiers for the last week -- literally. Through a partnership with Gettysburg National Military Park, librarian Megan Scott has been bringing a traveling trunk of artifacts, both authentic and replica, to share with eighth graders as they begin their study of the Civil War since 2012.
Over the course of three class periods, students work their way through six stations designed to give them a glimpse into the daily life of a soldier and to help them see the bigger picture of the era. They have the opportunity to try on a uniform the Union soldiers would have worn and examine the differences between clothing of the 1860s and what we wear today. Next, they sort through a bag of supplies a soldier would have carried. They look at the blankets, charge boxes, and tarred haversacks and imagine how it would have felt to carry the weight of the supplies while wearing a wool uniform in the July heat. To round out their dive into daily life of a soldier, students analyze sketches, play dominoes and dice, and examine a Farmer’s Almanac to mimic what soldiers did in their limited downtime.
Additional stations include women of the Civil War, medicine of the Civil War, and Lincoln at Gettysburg. At the women of the Civil War station, students read biographies of women like Dr. Mary Walker, Sarah Edmonds, and Harriet Tubman and match their biographies to photos and items they might have used. While participating in the medicine station, students get to handle medical tools of the era and learn about what battlefield medicine of the time would be like. They also practice triage and diagnosis of common ailments using scenario cards provided by the park. Finally, students break down the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address while also learning about President Lincoln.
Hands-on activities like the Gettysburg Traveling Trunk give students a chance to exercise their imagination and make connections between their own lives and those of Americans who lived through a massive turning point in our history. We are thankful Gettysburg National Military Park provides this service to schools throughout the nation.