Last updated: October 12, 2021
Lesson Plan
1st Kansas Colored Infantry 5th & 6th Grade
- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- State Standards:
- Missouri - #1History; Theme 1-B Explain connections between historical context and people's perspective at the time in American history. D. Using an inquiry lens, develop compelling questions about American History prior to c. 1870.
Kansas - KCCRS RI.5.3 - Additional Standards:
- Explain relationships between two or more individuals based on infor. in text. Oklahoma - 8.9.3 Compare perspectives & experiences of both free & enslaved blacks including a)everyday life of free b)everyday acts of resistance to slavery.
- Thinking Skills:
- Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Applying: Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to a prior experience. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts. Creating: Bring together parts (elements, compounds) of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for NEW situations. Evaluating: Make informed judgements about the value of ideas or materials. Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.
Essential Question
How do you determine if someone can contribute to a cause?
Objective
Students will be able to demonstrate social-awareness as it relates to social inequities and inclusion into society.
Preparation
Fort Scott National Historic Site video:1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 4:23
Read article in American Heritage magazine, 1992, Volume 43, Issue 1.
Read biography of James Henry Lane from the Kansas State Historical Society.
Show students various quotations from the following: Major General James G. Blunt, July 26, 1863; Lt. Colonel John Bowles, July 20, 1863; Brigadier General John McNeil, November 2, 1863; Colonel James M. Williams, April 24, 1863.
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1. Meet the Document
2. Observe its parts
3. Try to make sense of it
4. Use it as historical evidence
You can find downloadable worksheets that walk elementary students through these exact steps to analyze various types of primary sources at Worksheets are available for the following primary source types (PDF files):
You can find many primary sources to choose from on - our online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives.
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Analyzing a Photograph of Amelia Earhart
National Monuments Express National Values
Analyzing a Student's Letter about the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Analyzing a Photograph of Jackie Robinson
Evaluating a Needlework Sampler as Historical Evidence
Analyzing a Photograph of Sally Ride
Examining Where Rosa Parks Sat
Finding American Symbols
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Fight for Civil Rights
How Can People Make a Difference?
Patent Analysis: Thomas Edison's Lightbulb and several otherpatent activities and many more - Dozens of new activities have been created for elementary grades this past year!
Read background information about the 1st Kansas Colored in article from American Heritage magazine, 1992, Volume 43, Issue 1.
Read short biography to class of James Henry Lane
Share quotations from various military leaders concerning the 1st Kansas Colored. Looking at the picture in the link below, what is the significance of thenames added to the flag?
What is depicted in the pictures shown in the following link?
Battle History of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment
a.Island Mound, near Butler, Missouri (October 28, 1862)
b. Reeder Farm, near Sherwood Missouri (May 18, 1863)
c. Cabin Creek, Indian Territory (July 1-2, 1863)
d. Honey Springs, Indian Territory (July 17, 1863)
e. Poison Springs, Arkansas (April 18, 1864)
f. Flat Rock Creek, Indian Territory (September 16, 1864)
g. Timer Hills, Indian Territory (November 19, 1864)
Materials
Lesson Hook/Preview
Ask students what things they have volunteered to join: sports, camps, clubs, etc. Ask them what motivated them to join these activities: to be with friends? To support a cause?, etc.
Discuss their responses and then segway into volunteering for the military. Ask students to define what it means to be a volunteer. Speculate and discuss what would motivate someone to volunteer to join the military.
Procedure
Show the NPS/FOSC video: 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 4:23.
Read article in American Heritage magazine, 1992, Volume 43, Issue 1.
Read short biography of James Henry Lane to class.
Share quotations from various military leaders concerning the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry.
Quotes about 1st Kansas Colored
Union officers recognized the excellent combat reputation of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry:
Major General James G. Blunt - July 26, 1863:
"The First Kansas (colored) particularly distinguished itself, they fought like veterans and preserved their line unbroken throughout the engagement. Their coolness and bravery I have never seen surpassed."
Lt. Colonel John Bowles - July 20, 1863:
"In conclusion, I feel it but justice and my duty to state that the officers and men throughout the entire regiment behaved nobly, and with the coolness of veterans. Each seemed to vie with the other in the performance of his duty, and it was with the greatest gratification that I witnessed their gallant and determined resistance under the most galling fire."
Brigadier General John McNeil - November 2, 1863:
"On Saturday I reviewed the First Arkansas Volunteers, First Colored Infantry Kansas Volunteers, and Rabb's Battery. The negro regiment is a triumph of drill and discipline, and reflects great honor on Col. Williams, in command. Few volunteer regiments that I have seen make a better appearance. I regard them as first-rate infantry."
Colonel James M. Williams - April 24, 1864:
"The officers and men all evinced the most heroic spirit, and those that fell died the death of a true soldier."
Sources: U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Library of Congress
Have students create motivational/propaganda posters to encourage African Americans to join the Union Army. Posters need to include reasons why African Americans could join and how their lives would be made better because they joined. Display students posters either digitally or around your classroom and have students examine each poster for accuracy in promises and reasons. Leave comments that fall into one of the following categories:
Glow: Compliment, students must write about something they like about the poster.
Grow: Change/Question, students must write about a specific aspect they may need to be revisited for accuracy, clarity, or because they do not understand the intent.
Discuss: How do you think the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was treated after they joined the Union Army? Who do you think led the troops? How do you think people reacted to their Battle at Island Mound in Missouri? What significance was the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry to race relations at the time?
Concluding discussion: How does taking part in something that is bigger than yourself provide you with a greater understanding of yourself and your perspective of what other people are capable of?
Lt. Colonel John Bowles - July 20, 1863:
"In conclusion, I feel it but justice and my duty to state that the officers and men throughout the entire regiment behaved nobly, and with the coolness of veterans. Each seemed to vie with the other in the performance of his duty, and it was with the greatest gratification that I witnessed their gallant and determined resistance under the most galling fire."
Brigadier General John McNeil - November 2, 1863:
"On Saturday I reviewed the First Arkansas Volunteers, First Colored Infantry Kansas Volunteers, and Rabb's Battery. The negro regiment is a triumph of drill and discipline, and reflects great honor on Col. Williams, in command. Few volunteer regiments that I have seen make a better appearance. I regard them as first-rate infantry."
Colonel James M. Williams - April 24, 1864:
"The officers and men all evinced the most heroic spirit, and those that fell died the death of a true soldier."
Sources: U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Library of Congress
Have students create motivational/propaganda posters to encourage African Americans to join the Union Army. Posters need to include reasons why African Americans could join and how their lives would be made better because they joined. Display students posters either digitally or around your classroom and have students examine each poster for accuracy in promises and reasons. Leave comments that fall into one of the following categories:
Glow: Compliment, students must write about something they like about the poster.
Grow: Change/Question, students must write about a specific aspect they may need to be revisited for accuracy, clarity, or because they do not understand the intent.
Discuss: How do you think the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was treated after they joined the Union Army? Who do you think led the troops? How do you think people reacted to their Battle at Island Mound in Missouri? What significance was the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry to race relations at the time?
Concluding discussion: How does taking part in something that is bigger than yourself provide you with a greater understanding of yourself and your perspective of what other people are capable of?
Supports for Struggling Learners
Ask students to guess why the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was controversial.
Ask them to come up with ways that those that are not accepted can be and ask them to guess whether or not those that served would be accepted by all after the Civil War.
Enrichment Activities
Have students create hero profiles of members of the 1st Kansas Colored volunteer Infantry Regiment
*Name of a service member
*Dates served
*Places traveled/battles fought
*Why they think they joined and served
*HOW THEY BELIEVED THAT THE REST OF THE U.S. RESPONDED TO THEM and
WHY: Evidence, experience, educated guess.