Unit Title: The War To End All Wars Lesson Title: The

Great War Begins

Goals & Objectives
Students will understand why WWI is different than other confrontations.
Students will understand major turning points of the war and life on the
battlefront.
Students will understand the impact new technology had on the battlefield.
Students will recognize how WWI was different than other confrontations by
answering critical thinking questions.
Students will identify different battles of WWI by completing a graphic
organizer on the battles and will evaluate the impact of new technologies on
the battlefield.
California State Content Standards
HSS: 10.5 Students analyze the causes and course of the First
World War.
1. Examine the principal theaters of battle, major turning points, and
the importance of geographic factors in military decisions and outcomes
(e.g., topography, waterways, distance, climate).
4. Understand the nature of the war and its human costs (military and
civilian) on all sides of the conflict, including how colonial peoples
contributed to the war effort.
Common Core Literacy Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2.
Write informative/explanatory texts,
including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/
experiments, or technical processes.
Driving Historical Question
What course did the war take?
How did new technology impact the way the war was fought?
What makes WWI different than other confrontations that happened in the
past?

Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge)

Time: 10 mins
The lesson will be introduced by first having students view a short clip on the
Redcoats and then the teacher will show a clip of WWI soldiers. As the
students are watching the clips, they will be filling out a graphic organizer
provided in the guided notes. After watching the clips, students will be asked
to discuss with their elbow partners the things that stood out to them and
they will be asked to check to see if they wrote the same things. After this
exercise, the students will get the sense that WWI was different than other
wars and that it was not fought the same way as other wars. Students will
then be told to keep an eye out for words bolded in red because they will be
used to fill out their guided notes. These words will be vocabulary or key
terms that are important to the lesson.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development) Time: 2 mins
Students will be given key vocabulary throughout the lesson and will be
bolded in red within the presentation. As students fill out their guided notes,
students will be filling in the notes with the definitions of the vocabulary
words or they will be using a key term in the correct context.
The key terms and vocabulary words for this lesson are as follows:
The Central Powers
The Allies
Poison Gas
Machine Gun
Tank
Submarine
The Schlieffen Plan
The Western Front
The First Battle of the Marne
Trench Warfare
Over the top
No mans land
Stalemate
Verdun, Battle of Verdun
Somme, Battle of the Somme
Casualties
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) Time: 40 mins
This lesson will be delivered through a lecture with guided notes. The lecture
will be given through a Prezi presentation. The teacher will go through each
slide and in each side there will be important information that will be bolded
in a different color to let students know that the information should be put in

their guided notes. Throughout the presentation, there are critical thinking
questions. When the teacher hits a critical thinking question, the teacher will
stop to give some time to the students to think about the question. After the
students have thought about the question, they will be asked to answer the
question in the space provided in their guided notes and then teacher will
continue with the presentation, stopping at every critical thinking question.
The teacher will allow time for student questions that may come up
throughout the presentation.
Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) Time:
As the teacher is giving the lecture, students will be filling out their guided
notes. In order to fill out parts of the guided notes, students will also have to
view videos on certain topics. Using information from the videos and from
the lecture slides, students will have to fill out graphic organizers and fill in
the blank paragraphs. Students will also be asked a series of questions
throughout the lecture. These questions will be embedded in the
presentation. A space in their guided notes will be provided so students can
write down their answers to the questions. Students will also be given the
opportunity to discuss with their elbow partners their answers to the
questions provided. Students will be given the opportunity, at the end of the
lesson, to provide their own analysis of the content.
Lesson Closure Time: 15 mins
The lesson will close with the teacher giving the students the final critical
thinking question. This question will focus on students critical thinking skills.
Students will write down their responses to the question and then they will
have the opportunity to discuss their answers with their partner. After
students have discussed their answers with their partners, the teacher will
ask students to share their responses to the whole class. The lesson closure
will be driven by student discussion and analysis.
Assessments (Formative & Summative)
Entry Level Assessment: Students will have to fill out a compare and contrast
graphic organizer using information that was gathered from the video clips
shown in class and the images provided in the guided notes.
Formative Assessments: Students will be given various formative
assessments throughout the lecture in their guided notes. Students will have
to fill out graphic organizers and fill in the blank paragraphs that correlate
with content vocabulary and key terms. As students are filling out their
guided notes, the teacher will periodically ask students to share what they
have written down to engage students in class participation. After students
have been given time to fill out their fill in the blank paragraphs, the teacher

will go over the paragraph with the class and students will give the answers
in the form of choral response. The teacher will give immediate feedback by
correct the answers as needed or will offer additional support if students do
not understand parts of the topic. There will also be formative assessments
in the form of critical thinking questions. These questions will be embedded
within the lecture and students will have to write down responses in their
guided notes. Students will be given time within the lecture to answer the
questions and the teacher will once again circle the class to make sure
students understand the questions and are answering them correctly.
Summative Assessment: The summative assessment for this lesson will be in
the form of a class discussion. At the end of the lesson, students will have to
think critically about a question. They will have to write four to five
sentences to complete the question and then they will share their responses
with their elbow partner. Then a class discussion about the question will
follow. This assessment will show if students are able to think critically about
the topic and will focus on a higher order thinking skill.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with
Special Needs
Accommodations for ELs: There will be videos incorporated into the lesson to
vary instruction so ELs do not have to rely solely on reading or writing to
understand the content. The bolded vocabulary and key terms will help ELs
to focus their learning because they will know when important content is
being discussed. ELs will also have the opportunity to work with partners to
develop their English speaking skills and they will also need to write down
answers to questions which will help their writing skills.
Accommodations for Striving Readers: Students will have key vocabulary in
the guided notes. The fill in the blank paragraphs will help striving readers
to learn vocabulary and key terms and will help them use the words in the
correct context. The writing portions of the guided notes will help striving
readers develop their writing skills and will help them synthesize content.
Accommodations for Students with Special Needs: Instruction is varied
within the lecture to engage students with special needs. There are videos
embedded within the lecture to engage those who respond to visual and
auditory cues. There are also images and maps embedded within the lecture
for students who need visual representations of the concept. Students will be
able to work on their own for parts of the lesson, which will make students
who are not comfortable working with their peers feel they are in a safe
environment but they are still given the opportunity to engage with those
around them through discussion.
Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)

Modern World History

Beck, Roger B. Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL:
McDougal Littell, 2005. Print.
British Red Coats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulguKSCTZD0
WWI Combat Footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP_0DkpFOKs
WWI Technology Video Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-LxzD6Luj4