Research and have the students read articles from geographically diverse papers about a central event, such as the Battle of Gettysburg or the signing of the treaty at Appomattox. Discuss how a period paper from a Union state would differ in its presentation from a paper from a Confederate state. Try bringing in the perspective of a state in contention before the war, such as Kansas.
Give students an assignment to write an article about an event where sympathies were widely divided. For example, have each student write a newspaper story detailing the events surrounding John Brown's execution for his raid on Harper's Ferry. Students who sympathize with Brown's abolitionist aims are likely to write a different story than those who disparage armed insurrection. Comparing stories can give the students a good idea of the Civil War paradox of close friends and family being on different sides of the issue.
Reinforce the local, small-press nature of journalism at the time by acquiring a simple hand press and having kids design small papers of their own. Explain the rarity of Daguerreotype and the difficulty of photography in the field. Showcase the work of photographer Matthew Brady.
Kids can use soft balsa and cuticle sticks to carve woodcuts for printing. After explaining the process of setting movable type, bring kids to a pressroom of a modern paper for a contrasting field trip.
After reviewing a number of Civil War era articles, have students write a story about a local event using the "eyewitness," descriptive style often found at the time. Contrast with modern editions where the personal is removed whenever possible. Compare the length of a story in a Civil War weekly with the column inches found covering the average story in a modern daily paper. Compare further, if desired, to articles in newspaper online editions. Have kids "convert" a modern story into a story that would fit into a paper from the 1860s.
Have students discuss the particular difficulties of being one of the 500 or so civilian journalists covering the battles during the Civil War. Detail the distances and the lack of telephone or Internet communication. In 1860 over 50,000 miles of telegraph line covered the U.S. Hand students a chart with the alphabet in Morse Code and have them compose and tap out messages to a partner to see how easily they are decoded and how accurately they are transcribed. Computer programs can also translate student messages into Morse Code.