Grade 5 Quarter 1 The Civil War & Reconstruction Standards Assessment Toolbox

Standard(s)
SS5H1 The student will explain the causes, major events, and consequences of the Civil War.
a. Identify Uncle Tom’s Cabin and John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, and explain how each of these events was related to the Civil War.
b. Discuss how the issues of states’ rights and slavery increased tensions between the North and South.
c. Identify major battles and campaigns: Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and Appomattox Court House.
d. Describe the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.
e. Describe the effects of war on the North and South.
SS5H2 The student will analyze the effects of Reconstruction on American life.
a. Describe the purpose of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.
b. Explain the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau.
c. Explain how slavery was replaced by sharecropping and how African-Americans were prevented from exercising their newly won rights; include a discussion of Jim Crow laws and customs.
SS5G1b Locate important man-made places; include … Gettysburg, PA...
SS5CG1 The student will explain how a citizen’s rights are protected under the U.S. Constitution.
a. Explain the responsibilities of a citizen.
b. Explain the freedoms granted and rights protected by the Bill of Rights.
c. Explain the concept of due process of law and describe how the U.S. Constitution protects a citizen’s rights by due process.
SS5CG2 The student will explain the process by which amendments to the U.S. Constitution are made.
a. Explain the amendment process outlined in the Constitution.
b. Describe the purpose for the amendment process.
SS5CG3 The student will explain how amendments to the U. S. Constitution have maintained a representative democracy.
b. Explain how voting rights were protected by the 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th , and 26th amendments.
SS5E2 The student will describe the functions of four major sectors in the U. S. economy.
a.Describe the household function in providing resources and consuming goods and services.
SS5E3 The student will describe how consumers and businesses interact in the U. S. economy.
a. Describe how competition, markets, and prices influence people’s behavior.
b. Describe how people earn income by selling their labor to businesses.
To Meet Standards Students Will… / Suggested Tasks & Assessments
Explain causes, major events, and consequences of the Civil War and analyze the effects of Reconstruction.
Explain citizens’ rights, freedoms, and responsibilities, and how they are tied to the amendments.
Describe how households, consumers and businesses interact in the U.S. economy. / Map the significant battles of the Civil War and discuss where most battles took place, the sequence of them, and which locations gave an advantage to the North and which to the South.
Color code an 1861 map to show which states were Southern, which were Northern, and which were border. Write a news article that refers to the map and explains the Union and Confederacy alliances.
Make up an amendment that could be added to the Constitution and create a simulation that takes the amendment through the adoption process. Explain the process.
Create a dramatic presentation involving the historic figures in this unit and have each figure “speak” about his main actions during the Civil War/Reconstruction period. Be sure to demonstrate some of the character traits of the person and link them to his actions.
Create a picture book that explains how families are part of the economy. Include illustrations of families as producers and consumers, and examples of the buying and selling they do. Have a “Past” section that shows how these things occurred in the time period of this unit, and one that is “Present” for current practices.
Knowledge, Skills, & Strategies
  • Students will need to use historically accurate maps of the Civil War and Reconstruction period, and not a modern one of the U.S. in order to grasp the critically important geography ofthis time period.Maps are essential in locating the battles, and visually representing the Northern, Southern, and border states.
  • Note that the updated GPS changed the standard SS5E2 and added element a.Describe the household function in providing resources and consuming goods and services.This element focuses on how families and households are part of our economy by producing and consuming goods and services, and make spending and saving decisions. We would want to relate this to the Civil War and Reconstruction periods. Ex. How did plantation families have to change their economic situation after the Civil War? How did former slaves’ economic situation change during Reconstruction?
  • Another updated GPS is that of SS5CG1 to which have been added elements b and c. b) Explain the freedoms granted and rights protected by the Bill of Rights. c) Explain the concept of due process of law and describe how the U.S. Constitution protects a citizen’s rights by due process.The concept of due process is challenging, so you will want to explore that in some detail.
  • One enduring understanding of this unit is thatthe amendment process has been used throughout our history to expand the electorate and provide additional rights and freedoms to larger groups of people. You will want students to discuss the amendment process and how it has kept the number of amendments small over time.