Introduction

 You live in the community that has been affected by your selected battle and work for the local newspaper. You and your group are preparing the next edition of the newspaper after the battle occurred in your locality.  You are there. You see what has happened and you want to tell others about the sounds of war: the fighting, the screams, the exploding cannonballs; the aftermath of war: the bloody ground, the destruction, the dead and wounded bodies, and the effect on your community.

  You will research a specific battle and then you will present your findings in the form of articles for a newspaper that will demonstrate your knowledge of the time period in general and of the battle specifically. Your newspaper will be presented to the class.

You will begin by choosing roles.

    an editor   (in charge of layout, headlines, and all articles)
   an editorial cartoonist  (create a political cartoon with caption)
   a human interest reporter (  writes article(s) reflecting local concerns )
   a news reporter (factual reporting of  battle)
    a Letters to the Editor staffer  (will write letters from concerned citizens)

Your final project will be to create a Civil War newspaper poster. Keep in mind that it should be in black and white. Each group will receive an 18î x  24î piece of oaktag, which will translate to a 16î x 22î document with columns, headlines, captions and graphics. Each section will be created in ClarisWorks.

http://www.civilwar.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
http://www.ibiscom.com/cwfrm.htm
http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/battle.htm
http://www.americancivilwar.com/statepic
http://americanhistory.about.com/cs/civilwarmenu/
http://www.jewish-history.com/Clipartgallery/clipart1.htm

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 Newspaper reporters and editors keep in mind that there are 5 W's that they answer somewhere in their article: who, what, why, when, and where. i.e. if you are a human interest reporter then you may wish to consider how this was affecting the community. If you are a news reporter you will concentrate on the battle and name the participants, the weapons used, the outcome, the turning point of the battle, and statistics.
 Plan that one page of your newspaper will be composed of factual material, including  reports on the battle, the effects that it had on the community, and graphics that present  maps, charts, or photographs. The other page of your newspaper should contain human interest stories, predictions of coming events, an editorial, an editorial cartoon, and perhaps letters to the editor. You are not limited to the above suggestions. 

 Please refer to the online rubric. You will be graded on presentation, information gathered and applied, group dynamics, and use of resource materials--print and non-print.  This project will represent at least two test grades.

 You will present your newspaper to the class. From your research, you should be able to discuss not only your project but your own feelings and opinions on this battle and its effect on the outcome of the Civil War.