World War I: People, Places, and Events

Objectives

• Students will obtain information using traditional and online resources.
• Students will judge the accuracy of online information.
• Students will list their sources in a bibliography.
• Students will create a presentation about their World War I topic.

Materials

• Bibliography handout
• Internet access
• Reference materials

Procedures

1. List World War I topics, such as the following, on chart paper: leaders, submarines, flying aces, the role of women, the League of Nations, soldiers, battles, inventions. Invite students to add to the list of topics.
2. Ask each student to choose a topic, and encourage them to choose a topic that they are interested in learning more about.
3. Brainstorm resources where students can look for information. (For example, the Internet, books, encyclopedias.)
4. Have students list what they already know about their World War I topic. Then help them develop questions that will guide their research.
5. Students may benefit from looking at photographs to help them generate questions about this era.
6. Encourage students to use both online and traditional sources for their research.
7. Ask students to create a product or presentation to share their research information.
   Some ideas include:
   • writing a biography and then reading it dressed as that person.
   • creating the front page of a newspaper, complete with headlines and short articles.
   • making a diorama that shows some war event.
   • drawing maps that compare the geography of Europe before and after the war.
   • writing a report about how inventions, such as the telegraph, machine gun, and aeroplane, had an effect on the war.
8. To show that their work is authentic, students should create a bibliography.
9. Distribute the bibliography handout.
10. Students invite other classes to view and hear about their World War I research.

Assessment

Use the following checklist to evaluate students' work in completing this lesson.

Student should be able to:

____ write questions about the research topic.
____ use traditional and online resources to answer the questions.
____ compile the research into a well-organised, creative project.