WWI Lesson Plans

Uncovering a World at War

Uncovering a World at War
National History Day
Students use newspaper articles to examine Americans' stances for and against joining the war.
https://www.nhd.org//sites/default/files/Chronicling-America-LP.pdf

Americans on the Homefront Helped Win the War

National Archives DOCSTeach
Students match documents to visualize ways that Americans contributed to the war effort on the homefront.
https://www.docsteach.org/activities/teacher/americans-on-the-homefront-helped-win-world-war-i

The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations

National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment!
An investigation into why Congress rejected the League of Nations. Students compare speeches by Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge.
https://edsitement.neh.gov/curriculum-unit/debate-united-states-over-league-nations

U.S. Entry into WWI Text Comparison

Stanford History Education Group
A lesson analyzing the factors that led to America's entry into WWI. Students to compare a textbook entry with a speech from Woodrow Wilson and an excerpt from Howard Zinn's A People’s History of the United States.
https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-lessons/us-entry-wwi

The Zimmerman Telegram

National Archives DOCSTeach
Students examine the Zimmerman Telegram to determine whether the United States should enter the war based on its information and implications.
https://www.docsteach.org/activities/teacher/the-zimmermann-telegram?mode=browse&menu=closed&era%255B%255D=the-emergence-of-modern-america&page=2

Woodrow Wilson and Foreign Policy

National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment!
A four-lesson unit covering the successes and failures of Wilson’s policies and their lasting importance in international relations.
https://edsitement.neh.gov/curriculum-unit/woodrow-wilson-and-foreign-policy

The Great War: Evaluating the Treaty of Versailles

National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment!
Students use primary sources, maps, and supporting documents to examine the treaty and the troubled postwar peace that followed.
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/great-war-evaluating-treaty-versailles

The Opper Project: The League of Nations

Ohio State University
Students learn about the League of Nations and the surrounding controversy through editorial cartoons.
http://hti.osu.edu/opper/lesson-plans/league-of-nations

1914: Identifying Players and Perspectives-A World War 1 Collaborative Activity

MacArthur Memorial
Students use newspaper headlines, quotes, photos, political cartoons, and posters to identify mystery countries and learn the roles and perspectives of European countries at the start of the war.
http://macarthurmemorial.org/DocumentCenter/View/1416

In Their Shoes: WWI Through the Eyes of Early Participants

MacArthur Memorial
Students are assigned a profile of an individual who played a role in the conflict, and they keep a journal from that person's perspective throughout the WWI unit.
http://macarthurmemorial.org/DocumentCenter/View/1862

Woodrow Wilson: War and Peace

PBS American Experience
Lesson complementing the PBS American Experience documentary The Great War, examining President Wilson's reasons for entering the war.
https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/amex29gw-soc-usaenters/the-great-war-the-united-states-enters-world-war-i-american-experience/?#.Wql8QmCGMSV