The boys have been creating Lap Books as we make our way through American History! I think, for some children including my own, Lap Books can be an excellent tool for teaching. Not only do they encourage creativity, they are a great way to reinforce and record the information that is being studied. Yes, Lap Books do take extra work for both the kids and (especially) mom, but I think that it is time well spent, and it is a sacrifice I am willing to make. That said, I am usually very selective on which Lap Books I decide to create, choosing only quality materials, and topics my children love, to make it worth the extra time.
The next on our list of Lap Books is the boys’ Civil War Lap Book which they made while the girl’s created one based on the Addy American Girl series. I have been very pleased with the high quality mini-books from the Time Travelers series – though I do make some modifications to incorporate our Catholic Faith.
 |
| B is for Battle Cry and Safari Toobs: Union Soldiers & Confederate Soldiers |
Core Text
From Sea to Shining Sea (Chapters 16-17 – The Civil War Part 1 and Part 2)
From Sea to Shining Sea Worksheets
Additional Books read by the Boys:
Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad
Escape North! The Story of Harriet Tubman (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
If You Grew Up with Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (Dell Picture Yearling Special)
Just a few words, Mr. Lincoln: The story of the Gettysburg Address
Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers
Abe Lincoln and the Muddy Pig
Abe Lincoln Remembers
Abraham Lincoln: Lawyer, Leader, Legend
A Picture Book of Robert E. Lee
Civil War On Sunday (Magic Tree House #21)
B is for Battle Cry: A Civil War Alphabet
Cassie’s Sweet Berry Pie: A Civil War Story
Thomas Finds a Treasure: A St. John Neumann Story
Willy Finds Victory: A Blessed Francis Seelos Story
 |
| The boys took turns reading various picture books, including Cassie’s Sweet Berry Pie: A Civil War Story, to the little ones… |
. . . If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad
Go Free or Die: A Story About Harriet Tubman
Brady
Young Abe Lincoln: The Frontier Days: 1809-1837
Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House
Meet Abraham Lincoln (Landmark Books)
Stonewall
The Long Road to Gettysburg or Gettysburg (Civil War Times Illustrated Special Edition)
The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale (Tale of Young Americans)
My America: My Brother’s Keeper: Virginia’s Civil War Diary, Book One
Robert E. Lee: Young Confederate (Childhood of Famous Americans)
Behind the Blue and Gray: The Soldier’s Life in the Civil War (Young Reader’s Hist- Civil War)
Ghosts of the Civil War
If You Lived At The Time Of The Civil War
Classic Starts: The Red Badge of Courage
Abraham Lincoln and the Heart of America – Jim Weiss Audio
Coloring Books:
- A Soldier’s Life in the Civil War (Dover Pictorial Archives)
- From Antietam to Gettysburg: A Civil War Coloring Book
- Story of the Civil War Coloring Book
Activities and Games: (A list of ideas… We don’t own all of these.)
- Civil War Days: Discover the Past with Exciting Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes
- The Civil War for Kids
- Prof. Noggin’s Civil War
- Build Abe Lincoln’s Log Cabin with Lincoln Logs
- Safari Toobs: Civil War Union Soldiers
- Safari Toobs: Confederate Soldiers
- Scramble Squares Civil War
- White Mountain Puzzles Civil War
- Batlle Cry
- 1807-1870 Robert E. Lee
- 1811-1860 St. John Newmann
- 1820-1913 Harriet Tubman
- 1824-1863 “Stonewall Jackson”
- 1861-1865 Lincoln – 16th President of the United States
- 1861-1865 Civil War
- July 1-3, 1863 Battle at Gettysburg
- 1863 Emancipation Proclamation
- April 9, 1866 Civil Rights Act
I asked the boys to choose a few people or events from the list above to add to their History Through the Ages Record of Time timeline book during this unit. The listings in bold are the ones that they choose to include this year. Here are a couple pictures:
Left Flap:
- The Christian Commission
- Carpetbaggers
- The Liberator
- The North Star
- Accoutrements, Accessories & Possibles of the Civil War Soldier
- Antietam: The Bloodiest Day
- The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
 |
| The Liberator |
 |
| Accoutrements, Accessories & Possibles – with descriptions on the back of each and stored in the Pocket/Pouch |
 |
| Antietam – “The Bloodiest Day” |
- Fort Sumter: The First Conflict
- Federal & Confederate Weaponry
- Battle of the Ironclads
- Causes for Conflict
- Gettysburg: The Turning Point
- Women of the Civil War
 |
| Battle of the Ironclads |
 |
| Federal & Confederate Weaponry |
 |
| Gettysburg: The Turning Point |
 |
| Women of the Civil War |
 |
| Rose’s favorite in Pink-uh!!!! |
Additional Catholic Mini-Books:
- The Irish Brigade & Irish Brigade Flag (download my mini-book)
- Father Corby at Gettysburg – Pop-Up (download my mini-book and cover)
- The Words of Absolution – Latin Copywork (download my mini-book)
- The Nuns of the Battlefield (download my document)
- Bringing Civility to the Civil War Comic Strip (found here)
Of course we listened to The Fighting 69th while assembling the Lap Books! 🙂
The boys completed this Unit Study during our 4th quarter and then moved on to Unit Six – The Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression, which I’ll (hopefully) be sharing with you all soon. We are also currently studying World War II and the 20th Century over the summer, squeezing it in before we return to Ancient History in the fall!
Your timing is perfect for me! We just started the Time Traveler's Civil War lap book and I LOVE your idea of incorporating our Catholic Faith. I agree that it's worth the extra time and effort (and I have 7 kids under 14!). It really sticks with them and helps them make connections. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas. God bless your beautiful family!!!
I love this, thank you for sharing your mini-books and documents what a great lap book and Civil War study!
Once again you have outdone yourself in creativity and generosity by sharing all of this with us. God bless you. Your boys sure are growing.
Are you using a particular curriculum? When you say Unit 5 and 6, are those just units you came up with yourself or it it from a curriculum? It looks like you use RC History, but I know they aren't done with their last volume…Just curious as I am always on the look-out for good curriculum. Thanks.
Thank you Amy! 🙂 It sounds like our families are very similar – our oldest turns 13 tomorrow!
Thank you Michelle! And I was just looking through an old photo album last night and thinking the same thing… They are growing up so fast… God bless you too!
Thanks Kathy! It really was such a fun lap book to create! 🙂
We started out using RC History's Volume One in 2008-2009 and then moved on to Volume Two in 2009-2010. At that point Volume Three from RC History wasn't published yet, so we worked on some of the units as they were published in 2010-2011. (You can see a post from our study of the Vikings here.)
In 2011 I decided to come up with my own plans for American History for the 2011-2012 school year. I choose From Sea to Shining Sea as the core text for the boys and searched through many resources for additional books to purchase or borrow from our library. I based my "Units" on the Time Travelers series so that I could incorporate the Lap Books – modifying them as needed to add some Catholic Historical People and Events as well.
In December of 2011 I had another baby which really slowed us down, at least for History, and it has taken us two years to complete my plans – though we added in a Presidential Election Lap Book and Unit Study and are also currently working on a quick overview of World War II and The 20th Century.
Creating my own plans made me appreciate all the hard work it has taken to create an amazing program like RC History! I am really looking forward to returning to it next year, especially now that some of my children are older.
Wow! I've only been following your blog for about a month and I hadn't realized you had done these awesome American History plans. This is what I've been looking for and trying to do myself with no luck. I feel very blessed to come upon this. Thank you so much for sharing!
These are fabulous, Jessica! (and great job, boys!) I love that you included Fr. Corby! I agree that lapbooks are worth their great effort as they are so nice for reviewing lessons learned and a great keepsake to look back on. And we all enjoyed listening to the 69th you posted!
How do I buy this?
Just updated the links in the post. 🙂