Lesson Plan Course/Level: World History/10th Grade/5th Period Essential Question: How did the conditions on the war

front affect soldiers during WWI? Standard(s): 16b. Describe conditions on the war front for soldiers; include the Battle of Verdun. MYP Unit Question: How does an understanding of the past help us to navigate changing environments in the contemporary world? Area of Interaction: Environment Significant Concept(s): Time, Space, and Place Approaches to Learning: Transfer ( making connections including using knowledge, understanding and skills across subjects to create products or solutions, applying skills and knowledge in unfamiliar situations)

Bell ringer: For the bell ringer, students are reviewing the main underlying causes of World War One. After this, we will discuss the different perspectives of the two alliance systems (central powers and allied powers) for entering the war. After talking about these different perspectives, we will discuss what is considered a good country and also a bad country. After discussing these traits of good and bad countries, we will decide as a class which were the good and bad countries and the effects of World War One. Activator: Students are shown a video clip about how modern soldiers are affected by PTSD. Students are to answer, Based on the video, What do you think post-traumatic stress disorder means? Mini-Lesson: Students are given a background information on Trench Warfare and Battle of Verdun. Students will have a guiding handout in order to take notes. Work Period: Students will be given different primary sources on Trench Warfare and World War One. Students are to analyze these documents and think of some of the effects of Trench Warfare on the soldiers either individually or in pairs. Summarizer: What do you think would have been the most difficult condition for a soldier on the war front?

Description of Video First, I asked students to turn to page 820 in their textbook. On this page, it was a chart with the different motives behind the different countries that entered World War One. The first question I asked my students was, why did the triple alliance (Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary) enter the war? The first student answered that Germany and Austria-Hungary wanted to punish Serbia for killing the Arch Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. I then asked the students why Italy was involved in the war. The students then responded because Italy had an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Germany and were associated with them. I then asked why Russia, France, and Great Britain entered the Great War. The students answered that they were an alliance, which I agreed with but then asked them why this alliance entered the war. Then, one student responded that France and England were afraid that they would have to have to fight against Germany eventually. I then reminded them of the charts they worked with the other day. They were bar graphs showing the amount of money that the alliances spent between 1890 and 1914. We then talked about the large amounts of money that were being spent by European countries for military expenses. I then asked the students which side Serbia would be on or fight with? The students eventually answered Russia, Great Britain, and France for protection considering Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The next part of the lesson, we discussed what it meant to be either good or bad. I asked my students to describe what a good country was. My students responded that a good country was a country like the United States. I then asked the studen ts why they thought that the United States was considered a good country. They responded that the United States should be considered a good country because we help people with their problems. But they also said that if a country was doing something beneficial for a country, it was to do a good deed and not to expect anything back in return. I then aske d what would be considered a bad country. They responded that a bad country was a country that only cared about themselves. And I then asked for an example of a bad country and they responded with North Korea. I asked them why they thought North Korea was an example of a bad country and they responded that because North Korea killed innocent people. The students also felt that North Korea violated their citizens natural rights by dictating what they do and not allowing them to have contact with people outside of North Korea. Now that we had discussed our perspective on what is considered good and bad. I asked them which of the alliances they considered a good alliance. One of the students responded Russia because they were like a big brother to Serbia protecting them against Austria-Hungary and Germany. I then asked the students if anyone thought that they (Russia, U.K., and France) could be considered bad. No one responded, so I talked to them about what actually happens in war. I asked the students about what happens during a war. They most generally responded that people died or were killed. I then asked them if it was good to kill innocent people, and they responded no. So, then I asked the can we really consider Triple Entente good? There was a mixture of responses from the class. I then asked them to think about the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and how they could be considered good? A student responded that they were good because they wanted power. I then asked them to elaborate on wanting power, and students responded that thats why they assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand because they were nationalistic. And according to them, that made them good. Last, we talked about the effects of the war. When I posed the question, Is there really a good or bad in war? I then pulled a PowerPoint slide with different statistics on the war that showed 8.5 million soldiers died, 21 million soldiers wounded, 10 million

civilians died and the total costs estimated at $350 billion. The students agreed that there wasnt really much good in a war where that much destruction comes out of it. And although in history, we characterize the people or countries in the war as good or bad, the overall act of war is usually negative. Analysis of Video For this assignment, I wanted to focus on what perspectives my students see as good and bad. I also wanted to go more in depth on how our perspectives are created on what is considered a good country or what is considered a bad country? I decided to go this route for World War One, because I believe that it is usually taught that there is strictly black and white when it comes to war. There is a good country and there is a bad country. Students have also been trained to think that in war, there is always a cle ar winner and loser. And in almost all cases, United States is the winner. I started the class off with the review of the two different alliances because I know for my students remembering countries and who they are allied with can be difficult. After reviewing, I felt like the students were ready to have a conversation on why they entered the war. I used the textbook as their source because it was a reliable source that each student had access to in class. The reason I had the students look up different motives for the countries for entering World War One was to understand that countrys perspect ive behind entering the war. Im not sure how much students got from looking up this information. I would like to put more emphasis that each country felt like they have a valid reason for entering the war. I do think the students did understand that each country wa s going to war for their personal reason. It was interesting to see how students respond to what they considered a good or bad country. I was not surprised when a majority of the students responded that the United States was considered a good country because it is what we are taught. I am slightly surprised that no one opposed the perspective that United States was a good country. This leads me to wonder if students have been taught any other perspectives of the United States besides a positive point of view. It was also interesting to me that students almost unanimously decided that North Korea was a bad country and not any other country. Its fascinating to see s tudents bring content that they have learned outside the classroom via family, television, etc. and bring it into the classroom. In order to improve this lesson, I would spend more time emphasizing why the different countries eventually joined World War One. If students had more information on each country and their background, I think they could have made decisions better on who they thought were right in the situation. This is important, because in World War One, it can be argued that each alliances had their flaws. Once the foundation was better set, I think the students perspective on which alliances were good or bad would ha ve been much more powerful. Also, spending more time describing what and why we think countries are good and bad would have been more powerful for this lesson. In the future, I will complete this lesson again with the minor changes discussed above. I would like to plan to do an activity around good and bad perspectives in the beginning of the school year. This way, throughout learning history, my students can understand that history is a lot of gray. Every person, event, or conflict is not necessarily going to fit into our ideas of good or bad and can differ with other peoples perspectives.