amyrobynne Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Can anyone recommend books at middle school level for the Civil War era? I also realized that here in Minnesota, the US-Dakota War more directly affected a lot of people and we could probably visit sites. If anyone has found good books or ways to learn about it, that would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 A few ideas: Across Five Aprils Rifles for Waite Turn Homeward Hannah Lee Wartime Papers of Robert E Lee Gods and Generals (maybe too much depending upon the student) Killer Angels (maybe too much depending upon the student) Virginia's General Civil War Generals Traveller by Richard Adams Women in the Civil War Clara Barton don't forget Ken Burn's documentary on the Civil War if you want audio/visual You might also check out the reading lists for Sonlight, Veritas Press, and Beautiful Feet. Paula's Archives has a pretty extensive reading list too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 For fiction, we really liked The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg and Bull Run. For nonfiction, I thought Fields of Fury was excellent, though it's not terribly long, it was well written and the style of having a large image and a block of narrative text for teach section was nice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 (edited) The Minnesota Historical Society has a good website, http://usdakotawar.org/ , with teacher resources. However, even the official version of the Dakota War is going to be involve mass executions, internment camps, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. That isn't a problem. Just be aware the it is more ethically challenging than the sanitized version of the Civil War. You could expand this to a more general history and use something like "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and use the 1862 war as a starting point and Wounded Knee as an ending point. ETA: Wounded Knee 1890. If you want to go in more a project based direction you could do a National History Day project on the topic. MNHS also runs History Day Hullabaloos at various locations around the state to help kids learn to do primary sources research, http://education.mnhs.org/historyday/hullabaloos-history-day-research-days ETA: I came across the DNR's resources while looking at hiking club stuff on the Minnesota River...http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/1862war.html Edited May 25, 2016 by raptor_dad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purduemeche Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Two best Civil War living books I have read: Killer Angels (may be high school level, but is widely considered one of the best) Co. Aytch Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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