The Great War to End War

A WebQuest on WWI for 11th Grade Social Studies

Designed by Meghan M. McGlinn, Northwest Guilford County High School mmmcglinn@yahoo.com
and Dr. Jim McGlinn, UNC Asheville
mcglinn@bulldog.unca.edu

WWI: Soldiers in Merville, France

Introduction

World War I (1914-1918) The 20th century was the bloodiest century in the history of humankind. WWI alone caused the deaths of 26 million people and half of these were civilian casualties. Now the bugles of war are opening the 21st century. As American citizens who will live out your lives in the 21st century, what can you do to end the cycle of horror and destruction which has accelerated in the last?

One thing you can do is to become informed about this first world war. By taking a close look at this war, and understanding it's causes and major events, you may be able to see how your generation might avoid making the same mistakes. As the saying goes, "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

In this project your task is to study WWI and create a newspaper set in that time which reports on aspects of this war that you find significant or in other ways interesting. The big question that unifies your paper is "What can we learn from this war to enable us live informed and peaceful lives today?"

Task

December 4, 1918

Your group will write and publish a newspaper on WWI from a specific date [between 1914-1920]. You will need to write from the American perspective (remember the US didn’t enter the war until 1917 but, certainly was very aware of the events going on in Europe) and incorporate events and information that correlate with the date you have chosen. Some exceptions may be made for weekly or monthly papers, rather than daily papers. There is no required length for the paper as long as you effectively fulfill the requirements. The paper is due on March 12 and you will begin presenting your papers to the class on that day. It will be created on large sheets of unlined, white paper which should resemble a standard newspaper in size/shape. Most papers will include at least a front and two inner middle pages.

The paper must include:
1. Creative title, city, state, date, price
2. Banner headline that reflects the day’s biggest story
3. News from the home front (local/American news story)
4. World news story
5. Feature or sports story
6. Either a story about women in the war with focus on one person or group,
7. Or a story about African-Americans or Native-Americans in the war with focus on one person or group
8. Illustrations with captions to accompany stories
9. Editorial/opinion piece relating to the banner headline/main news story
10. A product advertisement, a recruiting ad that uses propaganda about the war effort, and a political cartoon
11. A poem or copy of art work from the period with a brief analysis of each.

Your newspaper must include 5 of the following (this is your chance to be creative and imaginative – also try to be historically accurate in terms of fitting the time and circumstances):
1. comic strips
2. recipes
3. horoscope
4. movie listings
5. entertainment
6. obituaries
7. classified ads
8. personal ads
9. legal notices
10. fashion outlook
11. advice columns
12. fitness/diet advice

Process

1. First you will be assigned to a team of 5 students. You should identify persons for the roles of editor, artist, and reporters. You will have individual roles, but everyone shares the responsibility for the complete paper.

Editor:
Develop consensus on what will be in the newspaper.
Go through the list of requirements and make sure each portion has been assigned to a group member – in general the artist should be more responsible for aesthetic aspects of the project.
Keep track of daily attendance, goals, and accomplishments.
Write the Editorial piece.
Assist the reporters on other articles as needed.

Artist:
Design the advertisements and the political cartoon.
Collect the pictures; include captions with the help of the reporters.
Collect a copy of art or poetry from the time and write a review.
Oversee the design of the newspaper and layout.
Assist the reporters as needed.

3 Reporters:
Research and write news stories for the following beats (some reporters will have to take more than one beat or else share a beat with another):
Home Front; World News; Features/sports; Women; Diverse Cultures; Miscellaneous.

2. Once you have identified your roles and individual research assignments, work independently to read and take notes on the General Overview sites. (Day 1)

3. Come back together to discuss the general overview and the theme or dominant message of this issue of your paper. (Day 1) Determine the date of your newspaper and the major topics of the key articles. Also the city/town in which it will be published to determine the tone of the paper.

4. Work independently on researching, gathering information, and writing your reports. Be careful to take notes on the information you find and to write up your stories using you own words. Avoid Plagiarism. (Day 2)

5. Meet back with members of your group to give progress reports and share your information with each other, begin designing the paper. (Day 3)

6. Put together the newspaper. Have articles, captions, and other text typed and pasted on the layout. Edit for grammar and spelling. (Day 4 & 5)

7. Plan your presentation and present your paper to the class. (Day 6 – March 12)

RESOURCES:
Here are the websites to use when you do your research.

General Overview of the War Everyone should read these sites and take notes about important and interesting aspects to share with your group.

The Great War 1914-1918 - A comprehensive site by Tony Novosel including timelines, histories, countries involved, cultural aspects including poetry and art, stories, women's contributions, links. (visited 01/03/06)

World War I: Trenches on the Web - 'An Internet History of the Great War' by Mike Iavarone, a comprehensive site that includes weapons, documents, maps, photos, art, country information, and more. (visited 01/03/06)

Timelines of the Great War A variety of timelines are presented here to enable you to identify what happened on a specific date. By Mike Iavaronne. (visited 01/03/06)

Tuesday, 8-Jun-1915 - The Boston American This is the front page of the Boston American newspaper showing headlines and articles from Trenches on the Web, Mike Iavaronne. (visited visited 01/03/06)

Photos of the Great War: WWI Image Archive - Over 1800 images including troops, weapons, aviation, war destruction, places, refugees, and more. (visited 01/03/06)

Specific Topics Use these sites for conducting your individual research. You might also need to conduct your own searches on Google or AltaVista.

Home front
Tuesday, 8-Jun-1915 - The Boston American This is the front page of the Boston American newspaper showing headlines and articles from Trenches on the Web, Mike Iavaronne. (visited 02/25/03)

American Cultural History 1910-1919 This site summarizes the decade and includes links to women's suffrage, African-American status, working conditions, presidents, and more. Peggy Whitley, June 2002. (visited 01/03/06)

World War One Songs American, British, and German war songs played on Real Audio. Page designed by Mark Best. (visited 01/03/06)

American Vintage Blues Gibson girls, suffragettes, and modish men. (visited 01/03/06)

Panama-California Exposition ~ San Diego ~ 1915-1916 This exposition shows the manufacturing progress and other aspects of American culture at this time. (visited 01/03/06)

World News
WWI: Primary Documents Archive - This site links to official and unofficial documents including treaties, official papers, medical reports, personal reminiscences and more. These can be accessed by year. Designed by Alan Albright and Micheal Shackelford. (visited 02/24/03)

Canadians in the Great War Extensive coverage of the Canadian war effort and events. By Tony Novosel, 07/11/02. (visited 02/26/03)

France in the Great War Extensive coverage. By Tony Novosel, 07/11/02. (visited 02/26/03)

German Historical Museum Collections include documents, arts, posters, weapons, uniforms, pictures. By Tony Novosel, 07/11/02. (visited 02/26/03)

Selected Historical Events Includes accounts of a sea chase and various battles. By Mike Iavarone, 01/15/2000. (visited 02/26/03)

Pacifism During the War This site describes the pacifistic philosophy of Bertrand Russell (a British philosopher) with links on pacifism. By Sanderson Beck. (visited 02/26/03)

Features/Sports
Special Feature There are many interesting features here including battles, soldiers, songs, and weapons. By Mike Iavarone. (visited 02/26/03)

The Soldier's Experience This site includes stories about the experiences of different soldiers in various battles and also German and Italian Poetry. By Mike Iavarone. (visited 02/26/03)

First Hand Accounts Various battles are described. By Mike Iavarone. (visited 02/26/03)

Fads and Fashions Gibson girls, suffragettes, and modish men. By Peggy Whitley, June 2002. (visited 02/25/03)

Biographies Thumbnail biographies of some of the leaders during the war are presented here with pictures. By Mike Iavarone. (visited 02/26/03)

Letters Home This is a personal web page that contains letters home from WWI and also narratives of life on the farm in the early 1900's. By R. Staley. (visited 02/26/03)

Related Essays This site contains essays about the Postal service, the Red Cross, the YMCA, and athletics during and after the war. By R. Staley. (visited 02/26/03)

Art, Artists, Poets

Art of the First World War - A collection of 110 international paintings on various aspects of the war
including men, weapons, suffering, and death. Developed under the patronage of UNESCO. (visited 02/24/03)

Military/War Art and Artists - This site covers art and artists of WW I, WW II, and the Vietnam War,
includes painting, photography, and film. John Gilinsky,1999. visited (02/24/03)

Poems of Glory and Despair This site features the poetry of Wilfred Owen, Sigfreid Sassoon, Robert Graves, Isaac Rosenberg and more. By Tony Novosel, 07/11/02. (visited 02/26/03)

Poetry, Imagery, and Art of the Great War This site has very extensive coverage of poetry and art during WWI. By Tony Novosel, 07/11/02. (visited 02/26/03)

Diverse Cultures
Women in the Great War Here are profiles of nurses, politicians, farm laborers and others. By Tony Novosel, 07/11/02. (visited 02/26/03)

African-American Soldiers This site gives a general description of African-Americans contributions to the WWI war effort. By Melvin Sylvester. (visited 02/26/03)

African-American Hero This site tells the story of the heroic courage demonstrated by Freddie Stowers, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during WWI. Internet Consulting Group of Georgia, 1999. (visited 02/26/03)

Black Soldiers in WWI This site gives a brief history with links to the Buffalo Soldiers and the Harlem Hell Fighters. (visited 02/26/03)

The American Indian in the Great War This is a masters thesis on the subject by Diane Camurat. It is a detailed history. (visited 02/26/03)

Choctaw Code Talkers Here is a brief description of the Choctaw Indian's use of their native language as a code that couldn't be broken during WWI. There are links to individual soldiers and more. By the Choctaw Nation, 2000. (visited 02/26/03)

Evaluation

You will be given individual grades for the content of the articles, so make sure that each article is signed. Group grades will be given for the style of the paper and the Presentation.

	Beginning 10	Developing 20	Exemplary 30
Content of the Articles in the Newspaper	Articles are readable, but revision or correction is needed.	Articles are generally well written, with only a few errors, historically accurate, in the author's own style and voice.	Articles are well written, historically accurate, in the author's own style and voice.
Style of the Newspaper	The paper looks rather plain, not especially interesting. Articles cover some of the required topics.	The paper is generally organized well but could be more creative in style and layout. Most of the required topics are covered very well.	The paper is neat, creative, looks authentic, realistic. Clear and interesting lay out. All of the required topics are covered very well.
Use of Class Time	Poor use of class time. Minimal cooperation with other group members.	Did not take full advantage of class time. Group members could have worked together more cooperatively.	Good use of time. Group members worked together cooperatively, and worked efficiently.
Presentation of Paper to the Class	Presentation was lacking in clarity and cooperation of group members.	Presentation could have been clearer. Not all group members presented effectively.	Paper was presented clearly so that everyone could hear and understand. Group members cooperated on the presentation well.

Conclusion

World War I exacted a tremendous toll on the countries and persons involved. It did not turn out to be the "War to end all wars." Why not? Why was this war so quickly followed by World War II? What have you learned that will enable us to be more effective at waging peace?

Credits & References

Clip art of tank from Microsoft Clip Gallery 5.0.

Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original authors' names are retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original authors' names, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let us know and provide the new URL.

Last updated on 02/26/03. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page.