Gettysburg Virtual Field Trip Lesson Plan

To virtually explore the history of Gettysburg via video, primary and secondary sources and classroom discussion.

Upon completion of this lesson, the students will be able to:

 1. Knowledge

• Students will be able to identify important locations and phases of the Battle of Gettysburg.
• Students will be able to discuss the town and battlefield’s role during the Civil War.   

2.   Comprehension/Application/Analysis

• Read through primary source documents.
• Summarize findings by writing an original creative piece. 

3.   Evaluation

• Evaluate and discuss some of the various moments of the Battle of Gettysburg and the before and aftereffects on the town. 

Check out the Lesson Plan Teaching Guide for more instructions on using the prepared Lesson Plan.

Lesson Plan Primary and Secondary Source Activity:

1. Watch some or all the Gettysburg Virtual Field Trip video.
2. Conduct a group discussion utilizing the discussion questions:
   1. Have you ever visited this town or any of its historic sites?
   2. Which site would you like to visit and why?
   3. What role do you think the town (battle?) played in the Civil War?
   4. What was your favorite site the videos visited and why?
   5. Is there a site or subject from the video you’d like to know more about?
   6. Was there something you didn’t understand about the video? What was that?
   7. What do monuments tell us about how events are remembered? 
3. Have the students complete the Video Question Quiz Worksheet. (Students can do this while watching the video if it would be helpful for engagement.)
   1. If the entire Virtual Field Trip video was watched, have the students complete all of it.
   2. If only some of the Virtual Field Trip video was viewed, have the students complete the relevant sections.
4. Have the students complete one of the following exercises utilizing primary and secondary sources to influence a creative piece. In the piece, they should provide an accurate summary of the sources. 
   1. Have students watch Civil War Medicine and read this primary source or this primary source or this primary source. Have students write a letter to a loved one from the perspective of a Union or Confederate soldier that is recuperating at the Seminary Ridge field hospital.
   2. Have students watch The Tree at Devil’s Den that Existed During the Battle of Gettysburg or A Tree that Witnessed Gettysburg: Cemetery Ridge or Culp’s Hill Rock that Witnessed Gettysburg and read this primary source or this primary source. Have the students imagine what a witness tree or rock might say or write if it could. Instruct them to write 5 sentences about their experience during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 as well as 5 sentences about their experience in present-day Gettysburg.
5. Complete an optional exercise. 

OPTIONAL HOMEWORK/ASSESSMENT/ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Option 2:

Have students research one aspect of the video that piqued their interest. They can prepare a 500-word paper or present their findings to the class in the form of an in-person or video presentation. 

Option 3:

Have students read this article from American Battlefield Trust. Have students search for a monument at Gettysburg Battlefield at Monuments and Markers Database. Once they have chosen a monument at Gettysburg, instruct them to sketch it and write a brief description of it.

Option 4:

Have your students choose a biography on the Lesson Plan Page. Instruct them to write a paragraph about what this person did and why they inspire the student.

Common Core State Standards- ELA & History/Social Studies

Grades 6-8

• Key Ideas and Details:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2
    • Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• Craft and Structure:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5
    • Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.9
    • Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

 Grades 9-10

• Key Ideas and Details:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2
    • Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• Craft and Structure:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5
    • Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9
    • Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

Grades 11-12

• Key Ideas and Details:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2
    • Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
• Craft and Structure:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.6
    • Evaluate the authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.9
    • Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Social Studies - National Council for the Social Studies

• Theme 1: Culture 
• Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
• Theme 3: People, Places, and Environments
• Theme 8: Science, Technology and Society