World War I Curriculum
Guide
8th Grade
Social Studies
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WWI Curriculum Guide
1. WWI MANIA!!! 1914-1918 Write Down the 5 main causes of WWI (Slide 2)
Militarism -
Alliances-
Nationalism-
Imperialism-
Assassination-
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2. How would you explain Europe’s languages and nationalities? (Slide 6)
3. What does Pan- Germanism mean? (Slide 8)
4. Who was killed in Bosnia that was the “spark” that started WWI? (Slide 13)
5 THE POINT OF NO RETURN: After the assassination of the Archduke describe how the war begins.
(Slide 15-16)
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6. Who were the Allied Powers and who were the Central Powers? (Slide 17)
Allied Powers
Central Powers
7. What type of warfare was used during WWI? Describe it briefly. (Slide 20)
8. Turn and Talk: What was a rodent who caused problems in the trenches? How does the primary
source quotes help describe the conditions in the trenches during WWI? What are your thoughts?
(Slide 25)
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9. With unsanitary conditions and wet ground identify what the man in the photograph on slide 27 is
suffering from.
10. Read for Meaning: Please read the following three statements before you read and agree or
disagree with them. Then as you read keep the statements in the back of your mind and find
information from the text for or against the statements. There may be proof for and against in the
same statement.
Proof For
Statements
1.The conditions during WWI
exhausted the soldiers
Agree
Disagree
2.The gas attacks did not have a
large effect on the soldiers in
WWI.
Agree
Disagree
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Proof Against
3.The main message the author
gets across in this passage is that
it is an honor to fight and die for
your country.
Agree
Disagree
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.-Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
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Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori. (“How fitting and sweet it is to die for one’s country.”)
11. Looking at the picture on slide 30 what do you think the masks are being used for?
12. Using the graphic organizer below identify the new technologies that made WWI more deadly.
(Slide 31)
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NEW
TECHNOLOGY
13 What was America’s response to WWI originally? (Slide 38)
14. United States comes closer to war Slides 39-43:
Explain why the British and German Blockades of their coasts were a problem for the
United States? (Slide 39)
What occurred in 1915 in the Atlantic Ocean? (Slide 40)
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Elaborate on what Germany communicated to Mexico in the middle of WWI. What was
that document called? What was the result of this, blockading U.S. trade, and the
sinking of the Lusitania? (Slide 43)
15. Describe what happened in Russia after the Royal family was executed in 1918? (Slide 50)
16. What was so important about the Russians dropping out of WWI? (Slide 51)
17. Describe Communism and who created the idea. (Slide 52-54)
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18. Think, Pair, Share: What are your thoughts about communism after watching the animated world
map from 1917-2000 on slide 55?
19. What did the Allied and Central powers use to support their cause, and put down the country they
were against during the war? How does the story behind the picture support this? How can you relate
this to put downs and gossip here at the middle school? (Slide 56)
20. What was the Selective Service Act? (Slide 57)
21. What was one simple thing that Americans did to help the war effort? (Slides 60-64)
22. Explain what Americans did in order support the effort in conserving food for the troops besides
cutting back on their consumption certain foods. (Slide 65)
23. What was some of the American Women’s’ Role in the war effort? (Slide 68)
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24. Why were liberty bonds so important? (Slide 69)
25. Where did the United States fight in WWI? (Slide 74)
26. What was a big risk for Allied Ships in the Atlantic Ocean? Elaborate on how the Allies tried to
avoid the risk. (Slide 75)
27. What Battle in June 1918 was the first battle involving U.S. troops and was the turning point of the
war? (Slide 77)
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28. Use the Graphic Organizer to demonstrate why the treaty of Versailles set up WWII (Slide 87)
Treaty of
Versailles
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29. What was Wilsons plan for peace called? (Slide 88)
30. What were the feelings on the treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations in the U.S.? What
happened? (92)
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