A colleague of mine had a meeting during his first period
class – on trench warfare day!
Knowing that this was one of my favorite lessons to teach (I know all
the lessons were my favorite, but this one was especially great). I hesitated a brief moment to take up
the offer to teach a period, because I knew how much it would make me miss the
classroom. However, I had to jump
on the opportunity – it was trench warfare after all.
The premise of the experiential lesson from History Alive (http://www.teachtci.com/) is that students,
while sitting in “trenches,” experience what life was like for a private
fighting in the trenches during World War I. While students listen to excerpts read from All Quiet on the Western Front, they are shown images of the various scenes
on a projector. Throughout the
activity, students respond to journal prompts provided by the teacher. After the emotionally charged lesson,
class concludes with a paper fight.
Immediately prior to the infamous paper fight, I share the
story of my great-grandfather, Frank Gaffney, a Congressional Medal of Honor
award recipient. The text of his
citation is available at: http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=916
Other sites about Frank Gaffney:
6.
http://www.niagara2008.com/history126.html
The beauty of this lesson does not come from the images and
emotions of war; it is the level of student engagement. They feel fear, exhaustion, and boredom (in a safe environment).
They metaphorically taste the hunger of stale bread and rancid canned meat ravaged by fierce rats. For a brief moment they can imagine
what life was like in the trenches of World War I. They make a connection to a soldier who experienced it
firsthand. Most importantly, they
begin to make connections between World War I and current military engagements.
My challenge to you: find or create a lesson that allows
students to fully engage and experience a topic. I promise you they will not forget it!
