Battle of the Wilderness Text Structures Reading Comprehension
Grade Level: 5+
 

Use this Activity:

Discuss -

  1. Why do you think General Lee chose to intercept Grant in the dense forest of the Wilderness instead of waiting for a more open battlefield?
    Consider how the terrain could help or hurt each army strategically.
  2. What challenges might soldiers have faced while fighting in such thick undergrowth and forested areas?
    Think about visibility, movement, communication, and the danger of forest fires.
  3. How does the casualty count—especially the high Union losses—reflect the difficulty and brutality of this battle?
    Discuss whether the environment or battle tactics were more responsible for the outcome.
  4. What might Grant have learned from this battle, and how could it have shaped his decisions for future campaigns?
    Explore how setbacks can affect leadership and long-term military planning.
Reading Groups - This passage serves as an excellent tool for enrichment-based reading groups in language arts or social studies.
Morning Work - The activity takes most students about 20 minutes to complete, making it an ideal solution for morning work.
Homework - This activity is a great way to assign homework in social studies or language arts.
Whiteboard - Have students come to the whiteboard to annotate important information or to write the correct text structures next to each paragraph.