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World War Too Much?

Julianne Horowitz

World War Too Much?

There are so many units during which I find myself begrudgingly cutting content or skipping activities for the sake of moving on to the next unit within a reasonable amount of time. But that’s the nature of the beast, right? World history in 180 days = mission impossible. 

However, WWII is one of those spots in the curriculum where I always find myself over-indulging because my students can’t get enough of it! I don’t want to temper their interest by rushing through the one topic they’ve willingly read about & watched films about in their own time.  

So this year I’m adding more, again, to Unit 7/1750. Something that is not explicitly included either in our state framework or in the WHP framework are battles of WWII.  Military history was never really my thing, but since students love it, I have tried to include it 20 different ways in the last 15 years, and was never satisfied with it.  This time I went “OER-Style” and loved it.

Building off of our graphic biography work, I assigned quick “one-pagers” on ten well-known WWII Events in Europe, and then had students present them in a timeline fashion.  It served as the war-story-telling they craved, they had so much fun creating them, and it was so easy for me!  Plus, we had a wall-long visual from which to determine turning points, make WWI-WWII comparisons, and find change & continuity.  As a final activity, I asked students to decide which of the Frames would make the best lens for examining the significance of these events.  They voted by adding cut-out Frame icons to the bulletin board and defended their decisions verbally.  There was noticeably less teeth-pulling this year and I was more impressed with their contributions than I thought I would be.

Here’s what the wall looked like:

Samples

Here’s a top-notch submission about the Dresden bombing from a kid who has only recently started even being awake in my class:

Here’s what more of them looked like - simpler artwork but clear effort/engagement:

And then this kid - usually sooo literal - explained that the red flag ribbon was supposed to represent “Do Not Cross” tape because Germany couldn’t take over the Britain Isles. So proud…

And of course, there were a few that lacked artistry but I still see evidence of enthusiastic research here:

Atlantic Charter won in the “community” category when we voted (note the stick-on frame icons):

What other pieces of your course do you overindulge in for the kids' sake?  How do you work it in without breaking your energy bank?

  •  , I'm so inspired by what you've shared! While some teachers I know spend 3-4 weeks on WWII alone,  I always skipped most of the battles because they weigh down what I believe are the more significant causes/effects of this war (some we still see today). I used this animated map to lead a quick discussion of the battles so I could focus on the bigger picture.  I love this activity! The way you've incorporated graphic biographies into a story-telling format is brilliant. It also doesn't seem as if you truly overindulged in teaching WWII battles, rather, students engaged in higher level thinking activities and did a lot of the work as they shared with the rest of the class. This is absolutely BRILLIANT!  You should be so proud of what your students did with this activity. Thank you so much for sharing.

  • in reply to Kathy Hays

    That map is crazy! I have few students who will love that.  I’m actually thinking, with the right tech, they could create one of those!  Wheels turning Kathy, thank you … I’ll need to add even more days next year.

    I agree about the “bigger picture” aspects of the world wars; that’s where my focus is too.  Giving the kids a little more of what they wanted (military spot lights) helped me rope them into those bigger ideas more easily.  They seemed more willing to buy into the trends and the cause-effect discussion when using their work as the base.

  • Bravo! If and when I get to teach the 1750 course (or just 10th grade global as we call it here), I'll definitely be coming back to this thread! In particular I think it's cool that you realized there was some aspect of this history that wasn't your cup of tea and still managed to take your students' interests and leverage them to some very high quality work. 

  • in reply to Julianne Horowitz

    You are so correct! Notice the number of times "I" is in my post, vs. doing what's going to interest the students. You did such a nice job of balancing their wants with your desire to take the the learning to the next step, and it sounds as if your students responded exactly how you had hoped. 

    Glad you like the map. It was a fun find about 10 years ago, and students loved it. I'd love to see one created by students. That would be amazing!

  •  ,

    Pushing Global 9 up to WWII last year had really had a positive impact this year for me in Global 10. I'm 3-4 weeks ahead of my traditional pace in G10. It has allowed me to really get into some document work that has been a challenge in previous years. We spent a day with a Robespierre speech on the virtues of France earlier in the year and talking document analysis and reliability. Spent 2 days on the Sadler report as well. 

    As it relates to WWII, I spend a little extra time between the wars and look at how the Great Depression of the US is actually part of a global depression. I also spend an extra 1-2 days talking about Japanese aggression in the early 30's as a counter perspective to the Eurocentric view of the Nazi's starting WWII in Poland. From there, its as streamlined as possible. I do talk "turning point" battles but try and keep the pace going. I do spend extra time with the Nuremburg Trials. I like the juxtaposition of the Nuremberg rallies under Hitler in the 1930s and the trials being held there years later. Also, Robert Jackson was the lead U.S. prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trails. He is a local WNY native and there is a federal courthouse here in Buffalo in his honor. It's a way of tying in some local history.

    I guess in a way I'm not veering off course too much. I've always felt rushed through the Cold War. I'm hoping to have more time to get into Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, and Afghanistan this year. Making connections from say 1979 in Afghanistan and how it falls on the timeline of 9/11. 

    Love the work you've shared! Seems like your students totally bought in on it!!

    Rob V

  • Hi  ! I love seeing the examples of student work in your classroom! And the stick-on frames stickers are so perfect! I have definitely encountered the same issue with World War Too Much myself but I love seeing the quality of work you drew from your students. So impressive and worth it!

    I had this bright idea to condense Origins Era 5 but then, after assigning the Era 5 Overview article, I overheard some kids saying how excited they were to learn more about the Mongols and Era 5 re-expanded. I decided it was worth using their enthusiasm to dig deep into some primary sources and try out the quick sourcing tool. I simplified it even more so they could be successful independently. Then, we worked together as a class to start a response to the Mongol Primary Source guiding question. I was inspired by  's Mentor Monday post about live demonstrations of writing so we shared the task of writing--it was about half me and half student contributions. Here's what my three classes came up with--in about 25 minutes we were able to walk through the pre-writing process of collecting evidence, contextualizing, claim-writing, and then introducing sources and evidence with some simple analysis.

    In the end, I'm thrilled to have spent time looking deeply at primary sources and practicing academic writing even if it means making adjustments to the calendar.

  • in reply to ERIN CUNNINGHAM

    Hi Erin! Your investment definitely looks like it paid off!   If kids are excited about Mongols, then I say give them Mongols!  I also love that you used Mike Burns' idea so quickly after reading his post - sounds like your students appreciated your willingness to indulge them, try out a new strategy, and just see what happened.  Awesome!

  • in reply to Rob Valenti

    Hi  ,

    3-4 weeks in "teacher time" is HUGE! I'm glad you are enjoying it by trying out some extra document work, I always appreciate the strategies you share.  Also, hats off to you for incorporating local history - it's very Bob Bain of you, and I'm inspired to do a bit more of that myself.  I often relate the APUSH curriculum to Long Island and our community in particular, but I forget to do that in WHP - thank you for the nudge.

    No matter what I add or cut, I always feel rushed near June.   I was really happy with the way my one-pager activity turned out, but I'll be kicking myself later when I want to try to squeeze in the Climate Project extension :) 

  •  , these are fantastic!! We are slogging along through World War I right now, but I feel what you are talking about as to how much you can feature as an instructor and the choices that you have to make as to what to value, and what to move on from. According to the description list below, we are getting ready to do our own one-pagers next week. I will use some of these images to prompt kids to move beyond the superficial. Hopefully, this week will produce something worthy of the Horowitz Hall of Fame!! Heart eyes

    1. Check out your ePortfolio, by the end of next week, you should have your five artifacts that represent your best evidence of learning for this unit. If you only have two, find 2 or 3 more to include.

     2. Pass your editing sheet and your tablet with the ePortfolio to one of your partners for feedback. Record "Wows" and "Wonders" for your partner.

    Objective:  Students will demonstrate their learning by creating their own images, patterns, and questions relating to a particular chapter, essay, or primary source document.  By actively reading and creating a one-pager, you will better understand the main idea within a reading assignment.

    Description:  A one-pager is a single-page response to an assignment.  It provides an opportunity to be both brief and creative in illustrating your grasp of a particular reading. 

    Connections:  A one-pager connects the verbal and the visual.  It connects the writer’s thoughts to your thoughts.  It connects words and images.

    1. Use unlined plain white paper.
    2. Create an overall essential question that provides a focus that, for you, summarizes the period and conditions people faced leading up to and during World War I from the materials & topics you have examined & analyzed in this unit and write it on the paper. This question will reflect all the materials you have analyzed and you will use it as a springboard to explore your own ideas.  The questions should have meaning to you and connect to the theme of the readings. Your question must be original.
    3. Create a visual image or images. You can draw either one image or several to illustrate the central theme of your one-pager. Your primary, central image should illustrate how World War I impacted either community, networks, or production & distribution (you get to choose one to feature). How were they changed and how did their old elements persist?
    4. Cluster around the image(s) dominant impressions, feelings, or thoughts regarding what you have read. What words come to mind when you see this image?
    5. Make a personal statement about what you have read. This could be a critique or review of the actions taken by historical figures or assess political, social, or economic issues.  The personal statement could also simply be something you found particularly interesting.  THIS MUST BE AT LEAST THREE COMPLETE SENTENCES.
    6. Create two questions and answer them. DO NOT ask questions that require a one-word answer (e.g. In what year did Stalin die?).  Your questions and answers must be in at least two complete sentences.
    7. Create the one-pager in such a way that your audience will understand something of your thinking about what you have read.
    8. Your one-pager MUST include color (pens, markers, and/or pencils are acceptable).
    9. Your One-Pager is due on Thursday and will be submitted in hardcopy and as an image (jpg) or pdf.

    See sample work below

    DO NOT MERELY SUMMARIZE!

    DO NOT THINK HALF A PAGE WILL DO!  

    DO NOT USE LINED PAPER!

  • Hey Julie, thanks for tagging me in the post.  I really like seeing the hand-made visuals.  I think sometimes we get bombarded, overwhelmed, and excited about our one-to-one model with devices that we forget how valuable creating work by hand can be for students.  I've been trying to incorporate those types of activities at least once in each unit. Going point on taking advantage of how examining WWI and WWII together lends itself to a clear CCOT opportunity. I'm going to make sure to do that as well at the end of the week.