Learning about the Civil War through Soldiers' Letters.

We are in an era of fast-paced telecommunications, where faxes, e-mails, cell phones and messaging services have all but replaced what is quickly becoming a lost art: letter writing. People in general are rarely exposed to letter writing on a personal level and may never experience the captivating power of written words in this format. I felt it was necessary to demonstrate the value of written letters with my students and to make an attempt to resurrect this fading practice. My focus while working on this with my students was process and product oriented. In other words, the research component was just as integral to the successful implementation of this project as the letters students would ultimately compose. I needed a context in which to introduce this practice, one that would prove to be significant, intriguing, and hopefully unforgettable in nature. My American history classes were studying the Civil War, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to introduce letter writing into the curriculum. The year 2003 was Ohio's bicentennial year, and at the time I thought it would be interesting to concentrate on some of the lesser-known individuals from our state and their role in the Civil War. Therefore, we focused on letters authored by Ohio soldiers during the conflict. Primary Sources That Work Before describing the Civil War letter-writing project, I would like to make a clarification regarding primary sources. Too often, primary sources are perceived as long, dry, boring documents that students will never even look at, let alone read. Some educators may espouse this unfortunate misconception as well, based on past exposure to such materials. As a result, valuable resources that serve as highly effective teaching tools go unused. I realize many educators are avid proponents of primary sources and have great success utilizing them in their classrooms. This project is geared toward those social studies teachers and to those educators not quite convinced of what these materials can offer. My approach to teaching history has always been one of connecting students to the past so it becomes relevant and more interesting to them. My goal is to replace cold facts and dates with personal touches that bring the subject to life, if only for a short while. As Ken Burns noted in a foreword he wrote for Ordinary Americans. We must in our historical excavations be more like emotional archaeologists than clinical scientists, exposing to modern air not just the dry facts of life before us, but the moving undercurrent of real human affections and failings. History, especially personal, ordinary Americans' kind of history . is alive, breathing, contemporary. This is the way history should be told. (1) I enjoy using primary sources as supplemental materials to enhance classroom studies. Always excited and fascinated by the wealth of documentation related to average people and their role in history, I desired to convey this enthusiasm to my students. In this "bottom up" approach to learning history, students acquire a better understanding and appreciation for what is being covered because in essence they are able to find themselves in the past. Once this connection is established, research and learning take precedence over questions about relevance or comments about boredom. The desire to find out more information supersedes all else. When primary sources are used effectively, students generally take over and run with them. This is integral to attaining and maintaining a scholarly atmosphere. Furthermore, students often cannot get enough and seek to discover more information related to what's being covered. This spawns a reciprocal process, as pupils become "teachers" sharing newly acquired knowledge; we learn from each other. In this manner, a higher value is placed on what is learned because ownership of the project is in the student's hands. …