The Great War: World War I Then and Now

Week 2 Endings and Innocence Lost, Lesson 6

Lesson Title: The War, January 1915 - April 1917: Life in the Trenches
Grade Level: 12 Time/Duration: 90 mins.
Lesson Overview: Trench warfare was a hallmark of World War I. This lesson will encourage
students to consider what life in the trenches during World War I was like for both Allied and
Central power soldiers.
Standard(s): Tennessee US. 28, W.23, W.24, W.25, and W.28
Color Key:
Web Resources
Lecture Types
Instructional Models/Strategies/Pedagogical Resources
Primary Sources
Essential Questions:
What was trench warfare? What were its advantages? Disadvantages?
What was a soldiers life like in the Trenches?
What were some diseases experienced by soldiers in trenches? Why?
Instructional Objectives:
1. Students will relate Historical Events to their own lives.
2. Students will discuss the lives of soldiers in trenches.
3. Students will analyze how conditions in the trenches affected the soldiers, their will to
fight, and their conception of the war and war in general and how their attitudes affected
moral and the outcomes of battles.
Academic Vocabulary:
Barbed Wire
Gas Masks
Going Over
No Mans Land
Trench Foot
Introduction:

Bell Ringer Have students think about their time in high school so far. Ask them to
write in their journals about how long theyve been in school and whether they feel like
its been too long or too short. Ask them to consider whether they feel like lots of things
have happened or not very much has happened in that space of time. And finally, have
them write about whether they have enjoyed their time in high school or not and explain.
(~10-15 mins.)

Lesson Sequence:

Guided Discussion/Lecture This lecture will cover various aspects of life in the
trenches. Images of trenches will be shown and how they were constructed and why will
be discussed. Additionally, soldiers spent several years sleeping and eating in perpetually
wet and muddy trenches. What they ate and how they slept, as well as what they did in
their down time will be covered. Various diseases and methods for avoiding them will be
explored. How much time they spent fighting and how much downtime they had and
what they did with it will also be discussed. Particular attention will be paid to the ways
soldiers would often communicate with enemy soldiers in areas where the opposing
trenches were very close to each other. PowerPoint included.(~50 mins.)
Class Activity students will first be asked to reflect on what they wrote about their time
in high school. As 12th graders, these students will have spent almost 4 years in high
school the same amount of time some soldiers spent in the trenches. In small groups,
students will be asked to compare and contrast their four years in high school with the
four years the soldiers spent in the trenches in their journals, with various prompts
provided by the instructor to encourage their critical thinking. (~20 mins.)

Closure:

Wrap Up Answer additional questions and assign homework.

Homework Students will be given two primary source documents one will be a
letter written by a soldier describing his experiences at the front and the other will
be a letter written by a volunteer nurse working with the Red Cross (excerpts to be
taken from http://www.vlib.us/medical/MaMh/MyAunt.htm and
http://www.ahistoryteacher.com/guide/wwi/letters5.html) and will need to read
them in preparation for a Socratic Seminar the following day.

Extension/Enrichment/Re-teach:
Extension: Students will be asked to extend their understanding of the information multiple
times throughout the lecture as they consider questions posed by the teacher. Students will
also be required to extend the historical information they are learning to their own lives in
personal and meaningful ways.
Enrichment: The lesson is designed so that students with various learning styles will be able
to engage with the content in a way that they feel comfortable information will be
disseminated both visually and orally. Graphic organizers will be available for those who
wish to use them. Those with learning and other disabilities can be easily accommodated
with various learning aids and additional help as necessary.
Re-teach: Re-teaching will take place every day at the start of the lecture, following the bell
ringer, so that students will be reminded of what was discussed the previous day. If
homework is assigned, as it is in this lesson, discussing it at the start of class the following
day will serve as a re-teaching element.

Evaluation/Assessment:
Informal Formative Assessments will take place throughout the lesson. As students engage
with the presented material through open discussion with the teacher and other students and
through specific questions asked throughout the lecture their responses, participation, and
engagement levels will be assessed by the teacher.
Formal Formative Assessment: Students will be given a grade on the previous weeks
homework that will be based on their level of engagement with the assignment and the
quality of their content.
Summative Assessments will take place at the end of the week when responses to the
various in-class activities that were recorded in the students journals will be reviewed and
graded.
Instructional Materials/Resources/Equipment:

Computer, premade PowerPoint, internet access, speakers.

Packets of primary sources from a soldier on the front and a volunteer nurse.
Compare and contrast worksheets or other graphic organizers, such as a web diagrams or
content mappers as necessary.
White Board, markers, etc.