Title: Civil War

Subject: Social Studies, Georgia Studies

Grade Level (s): 8th

Duration: 30 minutes

Type of Lesson: 6 Hats Strategy

Standards and Elements:

SS8H5 Analyze the impact of the Civil War on Georgia.

a. Explain the importance of key issues and events that led to the Civil War; include slavery,
states’ rights, nullification, Compromise of 1850 and the Georgia Platform, the Dred Scott case,
Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860, and the debate over secession in Georgia.

b. Explain Georgia’s role in the Civil War; include the Union blockade of Georgia’s coast, the
Emancipation Proclamation, Chickamauga, Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to
the Sea, and Andersonville

Tag Standards:

Advanced Communication Skills

1. The student uses written, spoken, and technological media to convey new learning or
challenge existing ideas.

8. The student participates in small group discussions to argue persuasively or reinforce others’
good points.

10. The student supports and defends his/her own opinions while respecting the opinions of
others.

Creative Thinking & Creative Problem Solving Skills

5. The student develops original ideas, presentations, or products through synthesis and
evaluation.

7. The student uses analogies, metaphors, and/or models to explain complex concepts.

10. The student monitors and reflects on the creative process of problem solving for future
applications.

Higher Order Critical Thinking Skills (HO/CTS)

2. The student responds to questions with supporting information that reflects in-depth
knowledge of a topic.

11. The student draws conclusions based upon relevant information while discarding irrelevant
information

Summary: In groups, students will rotate through six stations representing the Six Hats
Strategy. Each station will consist of questions related to the Civil War in Georgia. The teacher
will lead a brief discussion and reflection on the activity after its completion.

Enduring Understanding(s): Students will be able to explain the importance of the key issues
and events that led to the Civil War. Students should be able to discuss some of the important
events and key battles that happened in Georgia during the Civil War.

Essential Question(s):

How did the political climate of the United States in the 1800’s lead to Georgia’s decision to
secede from the Union?

How did political and military strategies in Civil War Georgia become major turning points in
the overall war?

Evidence of Learning:

What student should KNOW: Students should be able to know how political issues involving
slavery and states’ rights led to Georgia’s decision to secede from the United States. Students
should know the significance of the Battle of Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign, the
Emancipation Proclamation, Andersonville Prison, and Sherman’s March to the Sea.

What student should BE ABLE TO DO: Student should be able to analyze the impact of the
Civil War in Georgia.

Suggested Vocabulary:

Slavery

Compromise of 1850

Election of 1860

States’ Rights

Georgia Platform

Debate over Secession in GA

Nullification

Civil War

Chickamauga Andersonville Prison

Union Blockade of GA’s Coast

Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign

Emancipation Proclamation

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Procedure: Within the classroom, the teacher will create six stations representing the six
different hats of questioning. Students will be able broken up into group of 4-5. Each group will
rotate through the six stations, spending five minutes at each station. While at each station, the
students will briefly discuss the question and write down as many relevant answers or examples
as they can think of.

Each Step of the Strategy: Students will have completed a Nearpod presentation on the Civil
War before coming to class. The students will come into class and answer the Bell ringer
question: What would it take for you to go to war with people you know and love? The teacher
will lead a discussion based on the content of the Nearpod presentation. The class will then view
a short YouTube video on Sherman’s March to the Sea: https://youtu.be/5c-aOnzB92I and
discuss. At the completion of the discussion, students will be placed into groups of 4-5. Each
group will be assigned a station corresponding to one of the 6 hat colors. Students will spend 5
minutes at each station before rotating to the next station. The stations will follow the order:
White, Red, Yellow, Black, Green, and Blue. Students will move to the next station in that order.
Ex. Students that begin at the white hat station will move to red, students that begin at the red hat
station will move to yellow, and so forth. After each group has completed all six stations, the
teacher will lead a closing discussion on the questions and student responses.

Assessment: Students will be informally assessed by the teacher while discussion is taking
place. At the end of the lesson, students will take a short answer quiz on the content of the
lesson.

Differentiation:
Students will be provided multiple ways to informally demonstrate mastery. Linguistic learners
will have the opportunity to demonstrate understanding of concepts orally.

Intrapersonal learners will have the opportunity to complete an adapted version of the
assignment independently.

Opportunities for both reasoning and humor are present within the questions as written.

Students will be grouped by ability and interest.

Resource(s)/Material(s):

Teacher created Nearpod presentation based on SSUSH5a and SSUSH5b

YouTube video:

Colored construction paper (White, Red, Yellow, Black, Green, Blue)

Projector.

Questions for each station

White Hat – What political and social issues led Georgia from being a colony against slavery to a
state seceding from the United States over the issue of slavery and states’ rights?

Red Hat – What is the first word that comes to mind when thinking about what happened to the
prisoners at Andersonville Prison?

Yellow Hat – How did the Civil War positively affect Georgia?

Black Hat – What long-term negative consequences for the United States were created by the
Union blockade of Georgia’s coast and the rest of the south?

Green Hat – In what ways could the United States have avoided the Civil War?

Blue Hat – How might Atlanta be different today if not for Sherman’s Atlanta campaign?

Quiz to be completed at end of lesson.

1. Why was the Union Blockade of GA’s coast important to the Civil War and the Union’s
overall war strategy?

2. Why was Sherman’s March to the Sea important to the Civil War and to the state of Georgia?
3. How did the Andersonville Prison challenge the idea of southern gentility during the war?

4. Why did the southern states not recognize Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation?

5. Explain the significance of the Atlanta Campaign to the Union’s overall war strategy.