1. Civil War Webquest

2. Introduction
The year is 1863 and you are a proud civilian of the United States of America. However, your country is falling apart. You believe that it is your duty as a citizen to join the fight. Do you decide to support the Union or the Confederacy? Whatever decision you make will greatly change your life.

3. Task
You are either a Union soldier, Confederate soldier, or a woman soldier during the Civil War. You want to keep in touch with your family to let them know how you are doing. Unfortunately, the year is 1863; cell phones have not been created yet, so you cannot text message them to relay the message. Instead, you must write your family a letter.
In this letter, you will describe:
The daily hardships that you face
What it is like to be the person that you chose
Use the resources provided to get to know the character that you choose… your final task will be to present your letter to the class.

4. Process
This is an individual assignment. First, choose what character you would like to be: a Union soldier, a Confederate soldier, or a woman soldier. Once you have picked your role, visit related websites to help write your letter. After you have answered the questions on your guided discovery sheet about these websites, you are ready to write your letter home. By reading this letter, your family should be able to understand the hardships you face and what your daily life is like.

5. Union Soldier Letters and Diaries of Union Soldiers
Letters Home
Soldier Life

6. Confederate Soldier Civil War Letters from Confederate Soldiers
Letters Home
Soldier Life

7. Women Soldiers Women Soldiers in the War
Soldier Life

8. Evaluation
To conclude this Webquest, you will present your letter to the class. You will be graded on your description of the hardships faced and your daily life in the letter as well as your creativity and enthusiasm when presenting. A rubric is provided below as a guide.

9. Gather information on their role and places in guided discovery sheet
Beginning 1
Developing 2
Accomplished 3
Exemplary 4
Score
The student will:
Gather information on their role and places in guided discovery sheet
Student found little or no information about their role
Student finds some information about their role.
Student finds valuable information about their role.
Student finds valuable information about their role and supplements it with other information.
Use proper grammar and writing skills in their letter
Student did not complete the letter.
Student had more than two grammar or writing mistakes.
Student had one to two grammar or writing mistakes.
Student had no grammar or writing mistakes.
Share the letter with the class
Student completed letter and provided minimal information.
Student completed letter that identified with character.
Student strongly identified with character in letter in a well thought out fashion.

10. Conclusion
The goal of this project was for you to gain a deeper understanding of the lives of American soldiers during the Civil War and to realize that all soldiers during the Civil War faced hardships regardless of what side they fought on or their sex.
Some questions to think about:
Did you choose the right side to fight on?
If you were a soldier during the Civil War, would you volunteer to fight? Why or why not?
What hardships do soldiers face today?