CONTENTS:

I.  Artifacts (1-19)

II. WWI Lesson Plan  (go to "downloads" menu on left: select > WWI lesson plan)

III. Scavenger hunt

IV. DBQ ( go to "downloads: menu on left of screen: select> WWI DBQ

V.  Activity

 

I. Artifacts

1.WWI gas mask

2. U.S.A. Canteen

3. Spoon and fork

4. German Soldiers Helmet

5. Pair of Wool Leggins with canvas duck leggings

6. Pair of canvas leggings

7. U.S. Wool uniform jacket

8. Photo of U.S. soldier; Edwin E Reatley

9. Patriotic Rally Program

10. Letter from soldier; Frank G. Barclay

11. Photo of three soldiers

12. "Songs of our Country"

13. "Sing" by Central Liberty Loan Committee

14. St. Lawrence Chronicler (SLCHA publication)

15. Picture: Staff and Pioneer Infantry AEF, 1918

16.Book: "Speak French" for soldiers

17. Booklet: "The Illustrated War News"

18. Two WWI postcards

19."The Zimmerman Telegraph" 

 

II.  WWI Lesson Plan

Topic: In Flanders Field by John McCrae

Target Grade Level: middle and high school

Type: full class, teacher directed with cooperative group work

Time: up to 60 minutes

Materials:

     Book: In flanders Fields, The story of the Poem by JohnMcCrae; author:

              Linda Granfield, publicher: Doubleday, ISBN: 0-385-32228-3

      Handouts:

              - In Flanders Fields & Reply/Jigsaw Questions on back

              - Blank Canadian Flags: maple leaf and poppy

        Photograph: stained glass window from Presbyterian Church, Potsdam

     Visual: battle casualties in France along the line of trench warfare

     Model: HWOL: Hundred Words or Less Writing Assignment

                      (photographs found in kit on website at www.PotsdamPublicMuseum.org)

     Standard Social Studies textbook with map of France with the line of

            trench warfare

     Red and green colored pencils or fine tipped markers

     Optional: calculators & Poppy Pins from Veteran's Day

Target learning Styles: Auditory, Visual, Reading/Writing, Social/Group    

 Concepts / Themes                                                                                   Social Studies Standards

 History: conflict, empathy, belief systems, culture                           1 & 2

Geography: places and regions                                                                                 3

Civic, Citizenship and Government: decision making                              5

*****************************************************************************

 

1. Objectives:

 

 

 

 

a. To empathize with a soldiers experience in WWI by interpreting primary sources.

 

 

 

 

b. To participate in the democratic process by justifying and voting on the design of the Canadian flag.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2. Set/Launch:

 

 

 

 

            a. Analyze the visual of casualties along the line of trench warfare.  Use a standard social studies textbook to locate the battles represented on the map.  Split the class in half: 1 side will add up the casualties for the Central Powers while the other does it for the Allies as you work your way through the visual.  Do one battle at a time finding them on the map (if possible) while emphasizing the staggering numbers of casualties sustained by both sides.  ASK STUDENTS WHY? New warfare techniques inflicted enormous casualties: machine guns, tanks, planes and gas to name a few.  After going through the visual, each side should have a total number of casualties.  Contrast those with the numbers in the Civil War (about 600,000 in 4 years; WWI in France, just in those 6 battles in less than 2 years was over 2 million).  Then, calculate the number of actual miles gained and by whom (Central Powers  gained 1 mile).  This usually evokes horror among the students and provides a powerful “set” for the poem which is set in Flanders Fields (see Input below).

 

 

 

 

b. View the photo from the Presbyterian Church. Ask the students to read the inscription on the window and relate how events that happen far away affect us at home.   Being here in the US doesn’t make us immune from European conflicts.  Some of our boys never come home, but we should never forget their sacrifices.

 

 

 

 

c. Hand out poppy pins that are traditionally distributed on Veteran’s Day and ask students what their significance might be. Relate to the stained glass window inscription and transition to the input and poem activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Input: Useful information to discuss before reading the poem.

 

 

 

 

            a. Flanders is the region that is by the border of northern France and Belgium around Ypres.  See map in text or the In Flanders Fields book.

 

 

 

 

            b. John McCrae, author of the poem, was a young Canadian doctor who enlisted in the service shortly after the war broke out.  After arriving in France he soon saw first hand the horrors of war and was overwhelmed by the massive casualties he tried to treat (hundreds a day), most unsuccessfully due to the nature of the wounds.  (He eventually died of disease in France due to exhaustion and the deplorable conditions under which he was forced to work.)

 

 

 

 

            c. One day, McCrae witnessed a friend being killed by an explosive and was deeply moved to write about it.  He discarded the poem he scribbled down, but it was retrieved by a friend who felt this needed to be shared since it was so simple but so powerful.  It somehow made it back to Canada, was published and started a sort of “poppy mania” in Canada.  Poppies became the symbol of remembrance in Canada from that point on and they have since been worn on Remembrance Day in Canada and Veteran’s Day in the United States.

 

 

 

 

            d. When the war was over, there was some thought about putting the poppy on the Canadian flag since the maple leaf had not be adopted as the official symbol of the flag yet. Since Remembrance Day was created in Canada after the war, poppies became the symbol of the fallen soldiers during WWI and that idea spread throughout Europe. November 11^th is Remembrance Day in Canada and Veteran’s Day in the US because that is when the Germans surrendered to the British and the French in a train car in France at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  That’s why the date of that holiday never changes.  Veterans are adamant about that because the Great War was supposed o be the “war to end all wars.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Guided Practice:

 

 

 

 

            a. Read the poem In Flanders Fields (preferably using the book by Granfield               since the illustrations are beautiful and will help students to understand the symbolism in the poem.)

 

 

 

 

            b. Interpret the poem: You may do it together as a class or do it as a jigsaw activity.  If  jigsawing, divide the class in 3 groups assigning each group a stanza of the poem to interpret based on the questions on the reverse of the poem handout. A suggestion may be to do it homogeneously since the last stanza is difficult because of the symbolism in it.  Put the students on the clock for a few minutes to complete the questions from their stanzas only. Circulate around the room and check for understanding making sure all answers are correct before the class shares responses.

 

 

 

 

            c. Have a representative from each group come up and share the answers to their stanzas using an overhead (They could have written their group answers on the overhead prior to getting up in front of the class so they would be more prepared).  The rest of the class would record their answers on their sheets so everyone has the same answers to the questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Modeling:

 

 

 

 

a. Explain HW writing assignment and show model of the HWOL (Hundred Words or Less).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Closure:

 

 

 

 

            a. In a Jot-Pair-Share, complete this 3 -2 -1 activity.

 

 

 

 

·        3: List 3 battles in France along the line of trench warfare.

 

 

 

 

·        2: Name 2 holidays associated with Nov. 11

 

 

 

 

·        1: Explain why poppies are given out on Nov. 11^th

 

 

 

 

b. Check for understanding as a class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Independent Practice: (HW)

 

 

 

 

            HWOL paragraph summarizing In Flanders Fields

 

 

 

 

Extension Activity for the Following Day

 

 

 

 

To build on the Flanders lesson and further develop students use critical thinking skills:

 

 

 

 

1.      Review yesterday’s lesson and the scene as it is 1919.  WWI is over and the Treaty of Versailles has just been signed.

 

 

 

 

2.      Distribute handouts of blank Canadian flags; one has a poppy and the other has a maple leaf.  On the reverse, have students contemplate their choice of design for the flag.  Students must be able to JUSTIFY the design based on history.  As a teacher, you may decide to have students debate the designs before they students finally settle on their individual choices or you may have them do this individually without sharing their thoughts and then have the debate.

 

 

 

 

3.      Once the written statements are completed on the back, students should color their flag appropriately, cut it out and cast their “ballot” (the cut out flag) in a box.  This is their ticket for a break or a closure to wrap up class.

 

 

 

 

4.      Once all the ballots have been cast, draw them out of the box and create a pictograph of each of the flags.  As they go up on the chalk board (with tape or magnets) or on the bulletin board with tacks, the “vote” will unfold before the students.  One horizontal row will be for poppies, the other for maple leaves.

 

 

 

 

5.      Calculate the winner and discuss the results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

III. Scavenger Hunt

 

IV. DBQ

 

V.  Activity

 

Community Resources:

 

MEMORIAL WINDOW IN POTSDAM