World War WebQuest I: World War Topics

The Internet is yours. Use a search engine like Google to explore some topics about WWI, WWII, or both that interest you. Take notes on your worksheet and let me know how it goes.


WWI (1914-1919) Chapter 24 Topics
Alvin York
Armistice
Battles (Marne, Ypres)
Convoy system
Espionage Act & Sedition Act
Fourteen Points
John J. Pershing
New Weapons (tanks, poison gas, fighter planes, etc.)
President Woodrow Wilson
Soldiers of WWI
The sinking of the Lusitania
Treaty of Versailles
Trench Warfare
Zimmermann Telegram



Both WWI & WWII
Cartoons’ or movies’ involvement in the war effort
Propaganda (posters, cartoons)
The Home Front (rationing, victory gardens, civilian defense)
U-Boats
War bonds and other fundraising
Minority achievements:
African-American
Asian-American
Hispanic-American
Native American
Women


WWII (1939-1945) Chapter 27
Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Anne Frank
Atomic Bomb
Bataan Death March
Battle of Midway
Battle of the Bulge
Benito Mussolini (Italy)
Holocaust/Concentration Camps
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
Doolittle Raids on Japan
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eleanor Roosevelt
Fascism
fire bombing of Dresden (Germany)
Franklin D. Roosevelt
General Douglas McArthur
Hideki Tojo (Japan)
Japanese-American internment
Joseph Stalin (Russia)
Manhattan Project
Navajo Code-talkers
New Weapons (rockets, jets, etc.)
Oskar Schindler
Pearl Harbor
Rosie the Riveter
Underground Resistance Movements (in France, Poland, and other countries)
USO (entertainment for the troops)
Warsaw Uprising
Winston Churchill (England)
Women in the military (WACs, WASPs, etc.)

World War II WebQuest II: The War Online

I blogged about Ken Burns' documentary about WWII simpled called The War a while ago. I'm not sure whether will have time to watch it in class but there are excellent online resources at the website.
So go ahead and explore. Go to the Search & Explore part of the website by clicking here, then look for videos, pictures, and other documents about some of the topics that interest you.

Who's (not?) running for president in 2008?

Students:
Choose two Democratic and two Republican presidential candidates for the November 2008 election and write them down on your worksheet along with some additional information. Choose candidates that you're interested in and be prepared to share your findings with the class and to journal about them next class.


Democratic Party Candidates
1. Barack Obama
2. Bill Richardson
3. Christopher Dodd
4. Dennis Kucinich
5. Hillary Clinton
6. Joe Biden
7. John Edwards
8. Mike Gravel

Republican Party Candidates
1. Rudy Giuliani
2. Mike Huckabee
3. Duncan Hunter
4. Alan Keyes
5. John McCain
6. Ron Paul
7. Mitt Romney
8. Tom Tancredo
9. Fred Thompson

The War on PBS

I wrote about Ken Burns' PBS documentaryThe War just before it was broadcast back in July. I was a little weary about the documentary being a little unbalanced, which proved to be unfounded.

I wasn't able to watch it when it was broadcast originally but I recorded it and my wife and I were able to watch the whole 14 hour (give or take) series this Thanksgiving weekend. I have to be honest here and confess even though I've been given a copy of Burns' landmark documentary about the Civil War I haven't watched it. I did enjoy his documentary on Jazz and I think I did catch a few episodes of his baseball documentary.

I knew that The War would be good but I wasn't prepared for how amazing it was. Using very low-tech presentation tools, Burn's Tour-de-Force lets the people who lived the war tell their stories. I really felt a depth of understanding that I haven't in other documentaries. Its coverage of mainstream American's, Japanese American's, and African-American's experience during WWII works so well because Burn's doesn't try to overreach himself and tell every single story. He instead focusing on four American towns and the wars impact there.

It's highly recommended and we'll be watching parts of it in class.

World War I letters--as a blog

After reading up on WWI at Wikipedia and trying to sort out every county involved and who was on which side (Italy’s role is particularly complex), I came across this blog. It’s told from the point of view of Englishman Harry Lamin’s actual letters as a soldier during the war.

Here’s one of his letters:

37/74 M Coy 15 Hut
10th Training Reserves
Rugeley Staffs

February 7th 1917

Dear Kate
I was very pleased to receive your letter. The weather here is very cold and we don’t get much fire. We have been vaccinated this week well last Monday but we have to do all drills just the same. Ethel says Annie’s cold is much better. I can’t get a shut of mine but I am lucky to keep as well as I do. We have four blankets a piece and a bag of straw about 6in. from the floor on three planks to lie on. There are 29 in our hut and there only suppose to have twenty. I think it will be another five or six weeks before I get a pass I am ready for one anytime. Ethel says Connie and Willie are alright he will soon be a year old now and have two letters from Jack he seems to be getting all right. We don’t get too much to eat, bread and jam dripping we have to do the cleaning in turns but the cooking is done at the cookhouse. I have not got any fatter yet I don’t suppose I shall do

Will write soon

With Love

from Harry

What a fascinating idea! I haven’t read much of it yet, but it’s got me thinking about some ideas to do for our upcoming world wars project.

Check it out by clicking here. His full diary is posted at the companion site, which you can link to from the main page (on the left-hand side).

Chapter 24 WWI: "The Great War"

We're finishing up the Great Depression this week and jumping back to WWI. Eventually will cover WWII and compare the two.
Starting on Friday, 11/16, we'll be working on the Ch 24 Crossword. If you need to finish it or check your answers, you can go to www.classzone.com to find it or just click here.