Interviewing the Experts on the Civil War

  For the past few weeks the fifth graders have been learning about the Civil War.  In this unit we investigated the causes of the Civil War and engaged in a virtual simulation of a slave escape. The students have enjoyed learning about our country’s history.  In order to wrap up our Civil War unit, the students were able to choose a battle or important person that they were interested in researching.  

The students that chose to research a battle focused on the causes and effects of their battle. They looked for specific facts including the outcome of the battle and how it affected the overall war.  The remaining students chose to research a person who influenced the war.  They found information on their individual’s early life and how their involvement impacted the war.

In order to share their information, the students used the structure Celebrity Interview.  Questions that pertained to either a battle or person were created for teammates to answer.  Each team member had a chance to sequence the questions before receiving two minutes to respond.  After receiving celebrity-status applause, the remaining teammates had a turn to follow the same procedures.  Each team truly benefited from this activity.  It was a win-win for the fifth graders. Not only did they learn from their teammates about the Civil War, but they felt appreciated while doing so!