Vicksburg Virtual Field Trip Lesson Plan

To virtually explore the history of Vicksburg 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 historic events in Vicksburg. 

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 key locations and historic moments in and around Vicksburg, Mississippi.

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 Vicksburg 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 city played in the American Civil War?
   4. What was your favorite site the video 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?
3. Have the students complete the Video Question Quiz Worksheet.
   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.
   1. Have students read one of the following primary source(s):
      1.  "Would Dig Our Ditch About Four Feet Wide" or Vicksburg: "Either by Charge or by Siege" or Vicksburg: "Our Fate Seems To Stare Us In The Face"
      2. Vicksburg: "The Cave We Inhabited"
      3. Vicksburg: "The Yazoo Was Full of Torpedoes" or Vicksburg: "The Total Loss of the Gunboat Cairo"
   2. Then, have them draw a scene as described in the primary source and in the video for the corresponding bullet point:
      1. An army trench or earthwork as seen in the large diorama of the Siege.
      2. A cave-dwelling that civilians lived in during the Siege.
      3. A gunboat like the USS Cairo.
   3. Have them show their drawing to the class in a short presentation.
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:

Show students the photograph of Shirley House during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. Lead a discussion about the photograph utilizing the questions provided. Both are found here.  

Option 4: 

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

Option 5: 

Students will pick five items that are either featured or in the background of the Virtual Field Trip video to put in a time capsule that will tell Vicksburg’s historic story. 

1. Time Capsule Summary: Time capsules are containers that hold historical information often about a specific period of time, place, or person. This information could be in the form of documents or objects, such as photographs, ticket stubs or toys. Time capsules are a representation of what is happening in the present day for those that open it in the future.
2. Pick five items that you saw in the video that helps tell Vicksburg’s historic story. Write a sentence or two for each artifact about why its historically important and what it tells about Vicksburg’s historic story. 

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.6-8.6
    • Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
• 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.9-10.6
    • Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
• 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 6: Power, Authority, And Governance
• Theme 8: Science, Technology, and Society