Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.

7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. Part 1: Content Essay Ulysses S. Grant was born on April 27th, 1822 as Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His childhood was self-proclaimed as average no major events took place and Grant went to school and did chores like most twenty-first century children. Grant graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Just like his peers, Grant planned to service his tour of duty and then resign from being in the army. Following his plan, he served in the army until his resignation in 1854 ("Biography: Ulysses S."). The Confederate armys attack on Fort Sumter, under the command of Robert E. Lee, sparked the Civil War. Breaking his plan, Grant returned to the army as a battlefield commander not too long after the Civil War was underway in April of 1861. Abraham Lincoln was very grateful of Grants successes on the battlefields and in March of 1864, Lincoln appointed Grant commander of all the US armies, with the rank of lieutenant general. No soldier since George Washington had held the rank ("Biography: Ulysses S."). After being appointed commander, Granted used the field at the Culpeper Court House in Virginia to establish headquarters ("Ulysses S. Grant: Presidential"). The Civil War was composed of many battles between the Confederacy and the Union. The battles were fought from southern Pennsylvania to Texas; from New Mexico to the Florida coast. The majority of the fighting took place in the states of Virginia and Tennessee ("Civil War facts"). The fighting across the states took a toll on the communities that the armies fought and traveled through. The Union army struck the soldiers at home

Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. too, destroying farms, factories, and homes. Having everything destroyed crushed the morale of the Confederate soldiers ("Biography: Ulysses S."). It was not until 1864, when the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg occurred, that the Confederate army did not have enough resources to continue fighting the Union. The destruction of the rebel army caused the fall of Richmond, Virginia to General Grant (Ulysses S. Grant: General), which was burned. General Robert E. Lee formally surrendered his army to General Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia in April of 1865 ("History of social," 2008). Grant was elected president of the United States of America and served as the nations eighteenth president from 1869 through 1877. The primary focus of his presidency was on the aftermath of the war and Reconstruction. His efforts were to reconcile the North and South while protecting the newly found freedom of former slaves ("Ulysses S. Grant,"). The Civil War was fought between the North, Union, and the South, Confederacy. General Ulysses S. Grant commanded the Union army against Robert E. Lees Confederate army throughout the Civil War. The battles fought during the war were scattered across many states. As a result of the death toll and moral crushing destruction of property, the Confederacy ultimately, fell to the Union in April of 1865 and the Union burned the city of Richmond. Grant would later take on the task of restoring the nation while preserving civil rights during his presidency.

Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. Part 2: Annotated bibliography of content resources Biography: Ulysses S. Grant. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/grantbiography/

PBS provides a comprehensive biography of Ulysses S. Grants personal and military lives. The biography begins with his childhood in Ohio and ends with a description of his funeral procession in New York City. This is a great source for teachers to find information about Grants major accomplishments while still finding facts that children may be able to relate to. I would no recommend this source for children to use because it is a lot of information that is written in paragraph form. Children may have a hard time reading the source selecting important information.

Board of Education: Commonwealth of Virginia, (2008). History of social studies standards of learning curriculum framework 2008: Virginia studies. Retrieved from website: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/frameworks/history_socialscience_ framewks/2008/2008_final/framewks_virginia_studies.pdf

Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. The curriculum framework for is a very important resource to use as a teacher. Not only does it provide the broad description of the Standard of Learning being used, but it also provides the teacher with essential understandings, essential questions, essential knowledge, and essential skills that the students need to master. From this framework, one can determine what facts the curriculum is asking students to know and in what ways they are expected to provide that information (be that drawing, explaining, sequencing, etc.). It is important for teachers to use this guide in order to make sure that all information required by the Standards of Learning is covered, but also to expand upon the information so it has a context.

Civil war facts: Answers to your Civil War questions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/faq/

This website provides a great overview of information on the Civil War. It is set up in the form of Frequently Asked Questions, allowing users to access the most commonly asked questions first. The FAQ covers the Who/What/Where/When/Why/How of the Civil War, what political events were going on during and around the war (such as the election of 1860), and even compares its statistics to that of other wars. This website is a great quick reference

Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. guide for teachers and students alike; however, students may have difficulty analyzing some of the provided data.

Ulysses S. Grant: General-in-chief. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/ulysses-s-grant.html

This source provides readers with a brief biography of Ulysses S. Grant. While the opening of the biography briefly mentions Grants upbringing, the majority of the biography discusses his military life. The biography closes by briefly discussing Grant as a president and where his tomb is located. The compilation includes a picture of Grant in his military uniform that could be useful as a visual for students. This source packs a lot of information into a short amount of space. It is very informative for an adult reader, but would have to be deconstructed in order to accommodate children learning about Ulysses S. Grant.

Ulysses S. Grant: Presidential library. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.usgrantlibrary.org/about/chronology.asp

Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. The Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library website is a phenomenal resource for writing paper or for children to use in class. The library provides a chronology of Grants life that is easy to navigate. The chronology is organized by decade and each decade is given a title based on what important events were occurring in Grants life during that time. After clicking on a decade individual years appear and depending on the available information, either an exact date with an event is presented or a season with an event is presented to the reader. Additionally, the website has areas dedicated to Grants life in the military, his presidency, and his genealogy.

Part 3: Annotated Bibliography of teaching resources

President Ulysses S. Grant: 18th president of the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/presidents-day/ulysses-grant/

This is a phenomenal source to use in a classroom! The website is full of interactive activities about Ulysses S. Grant for children. There is trivia facts and information, coloring pages, worksheets, a timeline, U.S. president game, book reviews, word find, and a link to other games/activities having to do with presidents and a link to the White House page for Ulysses S. Grant. This source could be used at a station in a

Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. classroom on laptop, iPads, or the SmartBoard in order to supplement or reinforce information that has been taught. Ulysses S. Grant. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/ulysses-s-grant This is another great resource for older children. In addition to a one paragraph summary about Grants life, the website has an interactive section. This section has videos of reenactments from the war (including one that asks which side you should be on Grant or Lee?) and a photo gallery. As a teacher I would use this website as a part of my whole group instruction so I can screen what the children watch and facilitate a discussion about which side children would be on and why.

Ulysses S. Grant. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/ulysses_s_grant/ index.html

This source would be beneficial to students doing a project or report on Ulysses S. Grant. The New York Times presents the information, so the teacher can lead a discussion about using reliable sources for research. The source itself provides students with a picture of Grant, a section of information at a glance, allowing students to find basic facts quickly, and provides a more dense biography. The at a

Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. glace and dense bibliography gives students the opportunity to work with more challenging sources of information while providing some relief in the way of straightforward facts.

Ulysses S. Grant homepage. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.granthomepage.com/grantfacts.htm

This page has information about Ulysses S. Grant listed by category, making it easy for children that are new to research to navigate and be successful. As children become more comfortable performing research and selecting information, they can explore the remainder of the website which has a chronology, interviews, denser articles about Grants relationship with various others, and information about his life as a family man, equestrian, author, and artist.

The White House, (n.d.). Ulysses S. Grant. Retrieved from website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/ulyssessgrant

This source is allows children to explore government websites as a source of information. The White House provides a comprehensive list of all the presidents

Elizabeth Brito SOL Identification # VS.7b

Description of SOL: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by b) describing Virginias role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia. and a brief biography about them. The biography provides facts that older children can relate to and is written in a manner that they can understand. Additionally, this source provides students with more behind-the-scenes information about Grants presidential election than many other sources.