Loreta Velazquez A WebQuest for 8th Grade Social Studies Designed by Brooke Easterday, Kim McCabe, and Richelle Glus bne5@zips.uakron.edu, kliston@zips.uakron.edu, rmg37@zips.uakron.edu Addressing Diversity Image Retrieved on Feb 15, 2011 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/loreta_janeta_velazquez
Introduction This WebQuest will introduce you to another side of the Civil War that you may not have read or heard about before, the side of the women soldiers. Over 400 women served as soldiers during the Civil War although it was against the law. Over 80 of these women were fatally wounded while fighting in the war. For this assignment you will become familiar with one of the women who served as a soldier disguised as a man, Loreta Janeta Velazquez. You will read about her struggle to become a soldier, how she disguised herself and was able to convince everyone that she was a male soldier, the details of the battles she fought in, how she was discovered and what part she played in the war after her true identity was discovered. Image retrieved on Feb. 12, 2011 from: http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/civilwar/display.asp?id=362&subj=civilwar
Task For this project you will create a diary of a soldier fighting alongside Loreta Velazquez. You will develop the soldiers personality through your writing. You will develop their view of the war, tell of the things he/she faced while fighting. Discuss the battles he/she took part in and where they were located. If you choose to write as a woman soldier in the war you will describe how she kept her identity a secret, how she was treated by the soldiers she fought with and what she hoped to accomplish by assisting in the war efforts. You will also describe what she went through when/if her identity was discovered. This is to be original work, said in your own words but based on the facts that Loreta herself provided in her book. This must contain accurate details and dates of events that you would have participated in fighting alongside Loreta. You must also make a map of where Loreta Velazquez was during the Civil War. map must detail the battles she fought in. You will also complete a timeline of events. Dates and events are to be accurate and detailed.
Process Let's Begin! This WebQuest will ask you to research Loreta Velazquez, create a map and timeline of the events she encountered as well as to write a diary from the place of a soldier fighting beside her as either a man or a woman disguised as man. Process 1-Research Loreta Velazquez wrote a book describing her life and journeys as a woman soldier in the Civil War, a time when women were not permitted to be in the army. For the purpose of researching for this project you will be reading Loreta s book as well as using some of the following sites to develop an understanding of what a soldier would have been experiencing during the Civil War as well as what a woman during this time frame would go through in order to become a soldier. You will also use these references to create a timeline and map of the events that Loreta took part in. Loreta s Book: Image retrieved on Feb. 12, 2011 from: http://americancivilwar.com/amazon/store/women_battle.jpg References for Loreta Janeta Velazquez http://www.shasta.com/suesgoodco/newcivilians/articles/womansoldiers.htm http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/velazquez/summary.html http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/velazquez/menu.html
Image Retrieved on Feb 12, 2011 from: http://www.civilwarstory.nstemp.com/soldiers-life/women-soldiers-of-the-american-civilwar.html Picture retrieved on Feb. 12, 2011 from: http://americancivilwar.com/women/ http://americancivilwar.com/women/ http://www.civilwarstory.nstemp.com/soldierslife/women-soldiers-of-the-american-civilwar.htmlhttp://www.suite101.com/content/women-soldiers-in-the-civil-war-a152789 http://www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-soldiers.html Process 2-Explanation of Diary For this project you will create your own diary as solider fighting along side of Loreta Velazquez in the American Civil War. If you choose to write as a female character talk about the difficulties you faced concealing your true identity, what drove you to want to be a part of the war, and what may have happened if your identity was discovered. If writing as a male character discuss how you would have felt fighting along side women in the war, and why you think it should have been allowed or not. Everyone should discuss the battles she took part in, and use accurate details and dates of events. This
is to be original work, said in your own words but based on the facts that Loreta herself provided in her book. Image Retrieved on Feb 12, 2011 from: http://www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-soldiers.html site below can be used to write a diary online that can be arranged and printed. http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/calendars/day_planner/diaries/create_a_diary_onlin e.php Process 3-Explanation of Map and Timeline In this portion of the assignment, you must use a map and outline where Loreta Velazquez was during the Civil War. You need to be specific and use correct dates and places. This information also needs to be placed on a timeline and you must draw a line, and label it with specific time periods. You also need to make sure that you put all important dates during the Civil War and the location they took place. Image retrieved on Feb 12, 2011 from: http://rawproject.net/oie/ez-war-timeline.htm following websites can be used for your research: http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/ http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1861.html
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/civil_war/timeline_of_the_american_civil_w.htm You may use the Inspiration Program or this site can be used to develop your timeline and can then be printed: http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timelines/
Evaluation Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades. Category 4 3 2 1 0 Content/ Facts accurate for all events. accurate for almost all events. accurate for most events (75%). often inaccurate for events. not clearly given. Dates An accurate date has been given for each event. An accurate date has been given for almost every event. An accurate date has been given for 75% of the events. Dates are inaccurate and are missing in some events. Dates were not given. Resources diary contained at least 8-10 events related to the topic. diary contained at least 6-7 events related to the topic. diary contained at least 5 events related to the topic. diary contained less than 5 events. diary had no events. Readability overall appearance of the timeline and diary are exciting and easy to read. overall appearance of the timeline and diary are somewhat exciting and easy to read. timeline and are relatively readable. timeline and diary are not easy to read. timeline and diary are not readable. http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=customizetemplate&bank_rubric_id=30 §ion_id=2&
Conclusion Excellent job, you have now completed the WebQuest! Hopefully now that you have gone through each process you can now understand why the Civil War is an important part of our history and the battles both men and women faced. You acted as a historian, researching different information, and hopefully learned some significant facts that you may not have known previously. If you are still interested in researching the Civil War or the women, like Loreta Velazquez, who played important roles, then you may access information at libraries or different Civil War websites. Good luck!