Students in the upper grades this fall started a unit on the Civil War.  Before we delved into this history topic they were asked three questions to respond to individually and then discuss as a group.  They were asked: What is history? Who Cares? Why study it? Some of their responses were: Events leading up to the present day.  Actions to the past that give consequences to the future (good or bad).  People who want to learn about ancestors and/or important happenings. School cares, but not me. The government cares about history.  It’s important to know about the terrible things in history so that they aren’t repeated. Learn about the past so you can prepare for the future.

We then discussed the idea of “ownership” and had lengthy discussions on What can you own? People? Countries? Pets? Land? Air? Thoughts? Water? We quickly learned that there were not always clear cut answers to these questions. We then delved into Who should decide what we can own? Individuals? States? Federal Government? World Government? This also led to discussions that were insightful and well thought out.  This then led to our discussion of the Emancipation Proclamation given by Lincoln during the Civil War. We read the book Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation by Pat Sherman to further understand the impact of this proclamation.  As a conclusion to this unit, we watched and discussed the 2012 movie Lincoln where Abraham Lincoln is trying to pass the 13th amendment before the Civil War is over.  Our conversations have ranged from inappropriate language used by southerners, rights of slaves, government tactics to get votes, soldiers fighting the war and more.