Please note that at IB level I deliberately refrain from the following topics which I teach at IGCSE level, but if you wish there are loads of resources on ActiveHistory which you can adapt:
Causes of World War One
Life in the Trenches
A. What was the Social and Economic Impact of World War One upon two of the Countries Involved? |
| 1. |
Wiki Project
In this worksheet, students are allocated different research projects about World War One upon which to produce a wiki page [samples available here]. |
| 2. |
Essay Task
In this worksheet, students consider the types of questions that come up in the exam, and use the wikis produced by each other to plan and then write an answer. |
B. Why did Germany and her Allies Lose World War One? |
This unit directly follows the IB unit on “What was the social and economic impact of World War One upon two of the countries involved?”
As a result it is designed to make use of much of the earlier material.
An important point for students is that "Germany and her Allies" does NOT mean just "Germany", just as "The Western Allies" does NOT mean just "Britain"! |
| 1. |
Essay Project: Gathering the Information [interactive]
Students begin by using interactive running dictation exercise to complete this worksheet. This will enable them to get a thorough grounding in the political, military, cultural and economic reasons why Germany and her allies lost World War One. It will also get them to consider whether Allied strengths, or the weaknesses of the Central Powers, were more important. |
| 2. |
Essay Project: Video Work
If a documentary video is available on this theme, this would be a good time to watch it. I show the documentary "Western Front: 1918" by Richard Holmes, which is not available for commercial purchase, but the Great War Box Set has some excellent material too. |
| 3. |
Essay Project: Linking and prioritising, writing up the essay
Students then use this worksheet to spot connections between the major themes rather than simply discuss each one in isolation. |
| 4. |
Essay Project: Interactive Essay-Planning Tool [interactive]
Students then use this interactive essay planning tool to submit a suggested way of linking the four factors, and get - at the simple click of a button - a very detailed model essay plan suggesting not only the content of each paragraph but also - crucially - how they should be linked together. In addition, hyperlinks are provided throughout the text of keywords so that students can easily conduct extra research. |
| 5. |
Sourcework Project: Why did Germany and her Allies Lose World War One?
A sourcework exercise in the style of the International Baccalaureate. There is also a generic markscheme and suggestions on how to structure each answer. |
| 6. |
End-of-Unit Fling the Teacher Quiz [interactive]
30 possible questions in this quiz based on the information in the worksheets within this unit. |
| 7. |
Play Your Dates Right Quiz
World War One, 1914-1918 - a good way to round the unit off! |
