Stones River National Battlefield has a variety of curriculum based lesson plans for fourth and fifth grade teachers to use in the classroom. Park rangers offer programs at the park that are based on each of these plans, and we can work with the content of many lesson plans and programs to meet the needs of lower and higher grades.

A Teaching With Historic Places lesson plan guide designed for eighth grade and higher is available from the National Register of Historic Places.

LESSON PLANS

Archeology and Artifacts - Students will perform a hands-on exercise that teaches them how archeologists and historians work together to weave stories from objects found in the ground.

Bake, Boil and Fry - Students will learn about Civil War cooking and work on following directions in recipes and working with weights and measures.

The Battle of Stones River - Students will use a story and word bank to build their vocabulary while learning about one of the most important battles of the Civil War.

Care of Prisoners in the Civil War - Two groups of students will capture prisoners from eachother and then work together to arrange for the care of those prisoners while terms of exchange are arranged.

Civil War Bingo - This lesson allows students to play a game while learning history.

Cover The Music - Students will learn about the importance of music during the Civil War by listening to songs and reading lyrics.

Dreaming of Home - Students will listen to letters written by Civil War soldiers to their wives. They will then describe each setting using their five senses and write a poem or letter to correspond with the scene.

Finding My Way - This program teaches students to use maps to navigate to and around the battlefield.

Fortress Detail - A scavenger hunt that teaches students about the importance of Fortress Rosecrans to the Federal war effort.

Generals at the Battle of Stones River - Students will be challenged to think about leadership and analyze command decisions at the Battle of Stones River.

Interview an Infantryman - Students will learn about the daily lives of Civil War soldiers.

It Wasn't The Bullet - A lesson designed to teach students about the biggest killers of the Civil War, diseases.

Letters Home - Students will correct the grammar in a soldier's letter and then write a reply.

Load, Ready, Fire! - Students will learn how to fire a cannon and learn how technology and teamwork made artillery a deadly force on the battlefield.

Memories to Last: Observing Monuments - The learner will develop an understanding of the use of observation and inference by studying the Hazen Brigade Monument.

North vs. South - Students can use debate and graphs to compare and contrast the opposing armies at the Battle of Stones River.

Present Your Colors - Teams of students will learn about the importance of flags by creating one of their own.

Recruiting a Few Good Citizens - Student teams can develop posters and speeches to recruit soldiers to their cause.

Signal Corps - Students will explore Civil War military communications.

Southern Society: Black Society - Students will explore how the lives of African Americans changed during the Civil War.

Southern Society: Common Folk - Students will explore how the lives of poor and middle class whites in the South changed during the Civil War.

Southern Society: The Plantation Class - Students will explore how the lives of wealthy southerners changed during the Civil War.

Whose Side Are You On? - A lesson in the difficulties of staying neutral while two sides are fighting for your allegiance.

Women in the Civil War - Students will discover trials and triumphs of women during the war by reading and discussing their letters and diaries.