BDJMS Students Explore the Civil War

Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School students recently completed a research project relating to their unit on the Civil War.  This project was a culmination of the strategies and skills students have been working on all year.  Baylee Flynn, an eighth grade Social Studies teacher at BDJMS, designed the project to give students a chance to research and analyze topics that most interested them.   Students began the research project by investigating different topics relating to the Civil War and then formulated questions that would aid them in narrowing their topics and research. 

Students began researching their focused topics using both primary and secondary sources, ultimately creating outlines and notes that guided the creation of their projects.  Students used their research to develop a thesis and increase their understanding and fluency in creating bibliographies.  Students discussed how to differentiate between good and bad sources of information and how to choose information that will help strengthen their thesis. 

Students also created a poster to display their learning and analysis and used their posters to participate in a gallery walk.  Students were assessed through a scavenger hunt, in which they travelled to each poster and answered questions relating to their classmates projects.  The final research projects are displayed throughout the hallway of the team in BDJMS for everyone in the school to enjoy and learn from.

“This project gave me a chance to study something I was really interested in,” said current 8th grader Major Roman.  Mr. Roman chose to research Ironclad Warships and how they were used during the Civil War.  Another 8th grader, Victor Jackson, explained how he not only enjoyed the chance to pick his own topic (The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln) and research it, but also doing the gallery walk and seeing other’s hard work displayed.  “I learned a lot about many different aspects of the Civil War that I probably wouldn’t have if it was not for this project,” Mr. Jackson explained.  Overall, students gained a lot of insight into topics and subjects that time does not always permit to be covered.