Touch Their Hearts Through Reading a Soldier's Heart
Help me give my students an experience around the Civil War from a young soldiers perspective and the consequences of the war on a single person by reading Soldier's Heart.
My students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and situations. From heartbreaking stories of hard family lives and situations no teenager should be subjected to, to families that instantly support my request for something as simple as Kleenex with several boxes and a thank you note. I teach students who are reading at a 1st grade reading level to those that could do an Advanced Placement class next year.
In spite of this, I have found ways to get my students excited about social studies--working on geography, history, economics, and civics in ways that connect to their lives.
We have a high level of school pride and are embarking on a new learning model; combining standards based grading with proficiency based lessons. Our hope is to have students able to work at their own pace through a variety of lessons and to show what they know in ways that work for them.
My Project
8th Graders in my class have no concept of things we think of as modern touchstones like 9/11 or Columbine. And they really cannot connect with things way long ago like the Civil War. Unless you can give them a fictional experience that matches the non-fiction sources they are using in the classroom.
Books make the history classroom come alive!
When we read Nightjohn, the gasps of horror and questions about slave treatment that filled our discussions were much deeper than the ones from our textbook. I hope to give them the same experience around the Civil War.
Soldier's Heart follows a young soldier through the stages of the Civil War and heartbreakingly shows the impact of war on individuals and society. My goal as a social studies teacher is for them to have questions and skills to find answers; to not just accept things at face value; reading historical fiction is a way to do that. And I know my students would not choose to pick up this book on their own.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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