Civil War Wax Museum Project

Over the next few weeks 5th grade will be studying the Civil War and all it encompasses. We will be discussing causes of the war, North versus South, slavery, important battles, life as a soldier, and life on the home front. In addition, we will be looking at many Civil War personalities that have gone down in history as major players in this conflict.

A list of possible people that can be selected is attached. Some are not specific people but are types of people that played a role in the war like carpetbaggers, army nurses, etc. Your job is to become that person. This will be done in four parts: select one of the characters on the list that interests you, research your Civil War individual, write a report about this individual, and become that individual for the Wax Museum.

Students should choose 3-5 possible people. This list should be submitted to the teacher by ______, and the teacher will confirm your choice. There will only be one of each character in each classroom so you may not get your first choice.

Research will be done at school and at home. We will use about 2-3 class periods to research at school, and the rest will be up to students to do at home. Resources will be available at school, but we strongly encourage checking the public library as well as websites suggested by teachers.

A five paragraph essay must be turned in by ______. This essay will be graded on ideas, organization, conventions (capitalization, punctuation, spelling, etc.), and citing of sources. The report may be typed or handwritten. Some suggested ideas to include are

Name and family background
Where do you live?
Education
Role/Job during the war
Friends and / or Enemies
Union or Confederate Supporter

Finally on October 3, we will have our Civil War Wax Museum. For this part of the project you need to become the character you selected and researched. You will dress in costume and have supporting props. You will prepare a one to two minute speech of you speaking as that character and sharing your experiences during the war. The presentation can be written on index cards to help you organize your thoughts, but every effort should be made to memorize your speech. Parents, teachers and students are invited to visit the museum for your performance.

Civil War Wax Museum “Characters”

Abraham Lincoln

Jefferson Davis

Ulysses S. Grant

Robert E. Lee

Stonewall Jackson

William T. Sherman

John Brown

Harriet Tubman

Frederick Douglass

Sojourner Truth

John Wilkes Booth

Clara Barton

Belle Boyd / Pauline Cushman

Union Soldier / Confederate Soldier

Northern Woman on the Home front / Southern Woman on the Home front

Northern Child / Southern Child

Slave

Slave Owner

Carpetbagger / Scalawag

Marauder

Army Nurse / Army Doctor