Pink and Say, and Then Some...Civil War Books Students Can Connect With

Most elementary teachers who teach about the Civil War know the book, Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco.  Through the main characters, the story shows the nations' dividing views of African Americans at that time.  It, also, shows how compassion, friendship, and trust are built when there's a common need and differences don't matter.

Books like that one, help students to personally connect to the story because they can easily connect to the characters.  Here are some of my favorites:

The Last Brother:  A Civil War Tale, Trinka Hakes Noble

Gabe, an 11-year old boy, has followed his "last brother," a 16-year old, by joining the Union Army. Worrying about his brother, after 3 days of battle, he goes off to practice his bugle calls and meets his mirror image, Orlee, a Confederate bugle boy.  The next day, as he is in the battle, he faces it with a new vision after having made that new friend.  The story shows the hardships and sadness of how that war divided as a people.

                                                                                        

Drummer Boy:  Marching to the Civil War, Ann Warren Turner

A 13-year old farm boy joins the Union army after hearing Lincoln speak in his small hometown. He narrates the story as he talks to President Lincoln about how the realities of war changed his idealistic views inspired by Lincoln's words.  Great discussions develop as students place themselves in his place and consider what they hope or think they will be doing at that age, how their lives would be if they were in that situation.

Lil' Dan, the Drummer Boy:  A Civil War Story, Romare Bearden

A great story to compare and contrast with the previous one!  

Lil' Dan is a young slave boy who loves to play the drum.  After black Union soldiers tell him he's free, he joins them and uses his drum to save them from a Confederate attack.  It gives a voice to African Americans and provides a different view and motivation for their fight.

The book comes with a CD with Maya Angelou narrating...wonderful!



Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy, Seymour Reit

The writer used Edmonds' memoirs, U.S. army records, and the National Archives to write this story.  Through Edmonds' story we find out about the role of women in this war, and the courage and determination Emma Edmonds showed.

When I share this story, among all the others mentioned here, I read excerpts from the beginning chapters. Students are quickly hooked...especially the girls!



The Wagon by Tony Johnston... Take 1

Anytime I can use a children's book to help students connect with content, it's a good thing. When teaching about the Civil War and the role slavery played into it, The Wagon by Tony Johnston is one of my very favorites. Not only does it show the lives of slaves, but it does it through a 12-year old slave boy. Coupled with the author's beautiful use of words, this book is, also, a mentor text to use when teaching students about voice and word choice. From the beginning, students start reacting to the use of language and the injustices of slavery, "One Carolina morning, I was born. Everything was beautiful that day, Mama said, especially my skin like smooth dark wood. But like all my family, birth to grave, my skin made me a slave."

In our first read, I ask students to listen for facts shared as the story is read by "reading between the lines." In their reader's log, students create a page and I create an anchor chart to record our thinking:

Source: The Wagon, Tony Johnston

And the story says…                                                     Response:

“birth to grave, skin made me a slave”                            born a slave just because of skin color?

“could not go where I pleased”                                      not free

“8 plantings” – 8 yr old had to work                               I guess no playing for him

My Thoughts...

The first 3 or 4 pages are slow moving because I stop reading at the end of each page to model, discuss, and record. After students, understand what I want them to do, I stop after 3 pages and have them turn and talk to a partner about what they recorded. I ask for volunteers to share and we continue adding to our group chart. After reading the story, students, individually, finish by recording their thoughts.

The next day students practice this same skill by working in cooperative groups using other picture books: Henry’s Freedom Box by Helen Levine, From Slave Ship to Freedom Road by Julius Lester, Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson, Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.