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Whole Class Review/ Bell Ringer/ Formative/ Summative

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Whole Class Review/ Bell Ringer/ Formative/ Summative

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A quick quiz to test your knowledge of WWI causes, alliances, and events. Great for self-check or review.

Quick whole class review game or bell ringer. Could also be used as homework for self assessment before a quiz/test

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Take this World History quiz at Encyclopaedia Britannica to test your knowledge of World War I.

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Interactive Timeline, Could have students create a similar product as a summative assessment.

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Interactive Timeline, Could have students create a similar product as a summative assessment.

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WWI Interactive Timeline

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World War I Timeline Experience - American Battle Monuments Commission

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An interactive World War I timeline of events with descriptions, videos, and photos

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Have students fill out this FREE KWL chart. Have students refer back to this as the unit progresses.

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Editable & Printable KWL Chart in Word FREEBIE | TPT

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Video Explanation of why US joined the war

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Video Explanation of why US joined the war

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Why did America finally join WWI? This video explains the Zimmerman Telegram, submarine warfare, and Wilson’s decision to go to war.

Use: Works well as a mini-lesson explainer video. Pause at key points (Lusitania, Zimmerman Telegram) and ask students to summarize causes in their own words. Could also be homework flipped-lesson viewing.

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A deep look at the events that brought the U.S. into the war, including the Lusitania and German submarine attacks.

Use: Best as a reading station or small group activity. Students can highlight main causes of U.S. entry and put them on a timeline. Good for practicing sourcing skills with a museum text!

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This resource shows what life was like for U.S. soldiers, how they were drafted, trained, and fought overseas.

Use: Ideal for a close reading or jigsaw activity. Students can read short sections about soldiers’ lives and report back to the class. Helps connect the war to human experiences.

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The American Expeditionary Forces | A World at War | Articles and Essays | Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers’ Newspaper of World War I, 1918-1919 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

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[General John Joseph Pershing, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front, in uniform]. Photograph. c1919. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. LC-USZ62-113824. World War I was the first time in American history that the United States sent soldiers abroad to defend foreign soil. On April 6, 1917, when the United States declared war against Germany, the nation had a standing army of 127,500 officers and soldiers. By the end of the war, four million men had served in the United States Army, with an additional 800,000 in other military service branches.

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Life at home during WWI; propaganda, women working in factories, liberty bonds, and rationing. Shows how ordinary Americans helped the war effort.

Use: Perfect for a gallery walk or note taking station. Students rotate, reading about rationing, propaganda, and women’s roles, then record how Americans contributed at home

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Over Here | Explore | Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I | Exhibitions at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

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William L. Houston to Charles Hamilton Houston, September 20, 1918. William L. Houston Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (036.00.00) Never before had the United States mobilized for war on such a scale. Government agencies sought to shape public opinion; private industry geared up war production; home front volunteerism surged to unprecedented heights; bond drives raised funds to finance the war; and labor unions and workers organized to increase national output. For the first time in its history, the nation’s military would be derived largely from conscripts rather than volunteers. General John J. Pershing crafted the largest army in U.S. history from a force that in 1915 was a fraction of the size of the armies contesting in Europe.

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Colorful posters used to persuade Americans to join the army, buy bonds, and support the war. Students can analyze how words and images shaped opinion.

Use: Great for a primary source analysis activity. Students pick a poster and answer: Who is the audience? What is the message? What feelings does it create? Could lead into a create your-own poster project.

A great opportunity for cross content teaching (ethos, logos, pathos)

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About this Collection | Posters: World War I Posters | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

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This collection makes available online approximately 1,900 posters created between 1914 and 1920. Most relate directly to the war, but some German posters date from the post-war period and illustrate events such as the rise of Bolshevism and Communism, the 1919 General Assembly election and various plebiscites. During World War I, the impact of the poster as a means of communication was greater than at any other time during history. The ability of posters to inspire, inform, and persuade combined with vibrant design trends in many of the participating countries to produce thousands of interesting visual works.

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When soldiers returned, they found an America that was already changing. This resource shows how the war shaped veterans, families, and society

Use: Good for a class reading + discussion about veterans. Can pair with journal writing or cross content assignment with ELA

Prompt: What would be hardest about returning to civilian life after war?

Prompt: Write a story from the point of view of a returning war veteran. Explain the hardships etc.

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The “home” that soldiers returned to after World War I was quite different than the one they left in 1917-1918.

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After WWI, many Americans wanted to turn inward. This article explains the rise of isolationism, immigration restrictions, and fear of new ideas.

Use: Useful for connecting past to present. Students can compare post WWI isolationism to present day U.S. involvement in global conflicts. Could be a great critical thinking extension for advanced students!

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Isolationism and U.S. Foreign Policy After World War I

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Beginning with George Washington’s presidency, the United States sought a policy of isolationism and neutrality with regards to the internal affairs of other nations. Early American political leaders argued that with the exception of free trade, self-defense and humanitarian emergencies, the U.S. would do best to avoid permanent alliances that do not serve American interests but instead deflect attention from domestic issues. When World War I broke out in July 1914, the United States actively maintained a stance of neutrality, and President Woodrow Wilson encouraged the U.S. as a whole to avoid becoming emotionally or ideologically involved in the conflict. Americans were more than happy to stay out of the war, and Wilson won a second Presidential term in 1916 by running on a platform of non-interference; the phrase, “he kept us out of war” became a popular slogan used by Wilson’s supporters.

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Explains how WWI, the 1918 flu, and an economic slump led into the excitement and change of the Roaring Twenties.

Use: Strong for a culminating reading or multimedia assignment. Students can make a cause and effect chart showing how WWI & the flu pandemic led to the cultural explosion of the 1920s.

Could also have an extension activity using COVID 19 and how it lead to many technological advancements.

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To combat skyrocketing inflation, the Fed kept raising its discount interest rate to make borrowing more expensive. By 1920, the interest rate had reached 7 percent, what Grant calls "horrifically high."

While the Fed had the right idea, the timing was not good. The surprise post-war inflationary bubble was about to burst. Sector by sector, market by market, prices began to plummet as the once-exuberant consumer demand dried up. And with interest rates sky high, businesses couldn't afford to borrow money to stay afloat.

Grant argues that the Fed absolutely could have intervened by slashing interest rates, and Congress could have passed fat stimulus packages to prop up failing industries, but instead, U.S. leaders chose the path of laissez-faire.

Benjamin Strong, the influential governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the time, was clear-eyed in his prediction of what inaction would do to the economy.

"I believe that this period will be accompanied by a considerable degree of unemployment, but not for very long," he wrote in February of 1919. "And that after a year or two of discomfort, embarrassment, some losses, some disorders caused by unemployment, we will emerge with an almost invincible banking position... and be able to exercise a wide and important influence in restoring the world to a normal and livable condition."

And that's precisely what happened. The depression of 1920 and 1921 lasted 18 months, what Grant calls a "brutally hard, but very efficient depression." The stock market lost nearly half its value, unemployment reached 19 percent, and countless businesses went bankrupt, including Truman & Jacobson, a men's clothing store in Kansas City co-owned by future U.S. president Harry Truman.

The bitter economic pill prescribed by Strong worked as intended, and prices came down. And in 1921, the newly appointed Secretary of the Treasury, wealthy industrialist Andrew Mellon, pressed the Fed to finally lower interest rates.

With deflated prices for goods and lower borrowing costs, "The country was on sale," says Grant. Foreign investors flooded the economy with gold and that provided the capital to get the ball rolling again domestically.

"Free markets were their own beacon," says Grant. "Gold rushed into the country to profit by the coming boom, and sure enough there was a boom, and the 1920s really 'roared.'"

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When WWI, Pandemic and Slump Ended, Americans Sprang Into the Roaring Twenties | HISTORY

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After enduring war, a devastating pandemic and economic depression, Americans were eager for a comeback.

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This short video explains the big story of WWI, how it started, who was involved, and why it mattered. A clear introduction before diving into America’s role.

Use: Great as a hook/intro video at the start of the unit. Gives students the “big picture” so later details make more sense. Could be paired with a note sheet (Causes of WWI) or quick KWL chart.

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History in a Nutshell | World War I | Season 1 | Episode 1

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Before joining WWI, Americans debated whether to stay neutral or fight. This source shows the different arguments and tensions leading up to 1917.

Use: Excellent for a class discussion or debate activity. Students can read the arguments and role-play a citizen in 1915 deciding whether the U.S. should enter WWI. This highlights multiple perspectives.

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Arguing Over War | Explore | Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I | Exhibitions at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

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Americans were deeply divided over how to respond to the Great War and expressed a diverse range of views on the conflict. President Woodrow Wilson declared U.S. neutrality on August 4, 1914, and many Americans saw little reason to entangle themselves in what they viewed as European quarreling and intrigue. As the war persisted and the destruction spread, many Americans could not ignore the crisis. President Wilson and other leading Americans, like industrialist Henry Ford, attempted to facilitate negotiations for peace to end the conflict in Europe. Americans organized and provided humanitarian aid to war victims, particularly the monumental relief operation led by Herbert Hoover to feed German-occupied Belgium.

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Infographic for students to refer to.

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HISTORY CRUNCH - History Articles, Biographies, Infographics, Resources and More

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United States in World War I Infographic

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United States in World War I Infographic - Infographic on the main history and significance of the United States in World War I. Details military history and battles.