Christmas+in+the+Trenches+Reinforcing+Activity


 * Please note that the activity focuses on the Content Statement, but is inclusive of some details within the Strand of History as well.**


 * Activity:** How Can We Learn About Our Past?
 * Sources-** //Christmas in the Trenches// written by John McCutcheon and illustrated by Henri Sorensen, Professor Shiveley, Celeste Baumgartner (for providing me with the book), and //http://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_i/christmas_truce.php// for providing a photograph
 * Time:** Around 30 minutes-45 minutes
 * Description-** Students will be presented with a book about the Christmas truce in WWI, a photograph, three short eyewitness account snippets in letters from Albert Moren, Corporal John Ferguson, and Kurt Zehmisch, and a song (artifact), in order to discuss how items such as these can help us to learn about our past. Students will explore both the basics of WWI and the Christmas truce, and focus on how various items, stories, and artifacts are both invaluable and necessary for learning about our past.
 * Objectives-**
 * Students can identify that photographs, letters, songs, and books can be used to learn about the past.
 * Students can classify examples of photographs, letters, songs, and books.
 * Students can explain how photographs, letters, songs, books, and others can help us to learn about our past by describing the example of the Christmas truce.
 * Students can describe basics of WWI and the Christmas truce.
 * Materials-**
 * The__book__ //Christmas in the Trenches// written by John McCutcheon and illustrated by Henri Sorensen
 * Copies for the class of the __photograph__ for students from the children’s //duckster// website
 * Copies for the class of the eyewitness account __letter__ snippets from Albert Moren, Corporal John Ferguson, and Kurt Zehmisch from the back of //Christmas in the Trenches//
 * Copies for the class of the __song__ lyrics and music page provided in the back of //Christmas in the Trenches//
 * The CD provided in the back of //Christmas in the Trenches//
 * A computer or other technological means of playing the CD
 * List of questions you would like for discussion with students, as well as key vocabulary
 * A projector/document camera/overhead or other means of making the book or other items larger and in a shared manner, if possible/desired
 * SmartBoard, whiteboard, large “post-it”, or chalkboard to write on for class discussion
 * An appropriate assessment paper (differentiate as needed, might be helpful to allow students to all make their own idea/be open ended)
 * Key Vocabulary-**
 * 1) 1. trenches
 * 2) 2. Christmas
 * 3) 3. WWI
 * 4) 4. photograph
 * 5) 5. letter
 * 6) 6. song
 * 7) 7. book
 * 8) 8. truce
 * 9) 9. No Man’s Land
 * 10) 10. Germany
 * 11) 11. United States
 * 12) 12. Item
 * Note: The word “artifact” can be introduced and mentioned to the students, but the word will likely prove difficult to them, which is why it is not necessarily placed to be a key vocabulary word.
 * Note: Pointing out the time period (1914-1918), or about a 100 years ago, can help the perspective.
 * Concepts addressed-** artifacts,war, family, WWI, Christmas
 * Procedure-**
 * Exploration/Introduction**
 * 1) 1. Begin by telling students that we are going to learn about how we learn about the past, and that we are going to explore something from the past.
 * 2) 2. Start the lesson off by reading //Christmas in the Trenches// written by John McCutcheon and illustrated by Henri Sorensen. If possible, show the pictures on an overhead/document camera to promote class discussion and ensure the full effect of the book. See what prior knowledge students bring to the lesson by talking together through the story.
 * 3) 3. After reading, then talk about the book together as a class, being sure to point out what the story is addressing, while talking about some of the key vocabulary words.
 * 4) 4. Play the CD provided in the back of the book. The first song is a German and English version of “Silent Night”, and second is a song entitled //Christmas in the Trenches.// Hand out copies of the song //Christmas in the Trenches//, and play it for students. It may be helpful to point out here that the “Silent Night” can help us learn about languages, and the //Christmas in the Trenches// helps us learn about our past.
 * 5) //5.// After this, show the photograph of WWI soldiers to the students.
 * 6) //6.// Read the three short eyewitness accounts from Albert Moren, Corporal John Ferguson, and Kurt Zehmisch, to students.
 * Development**
 * 1) 7. After showing all of these items, develop the lesson into a discussion about the variety of all of the different kinds of items you have showed them, and name them as photographs, letters, songs, and books. Work with students to reach the idea that these items, which are called artifacts, can be used to learn about the past. Briefly talk about what you can learn from them.
 * 2) 8. Show the items one at a time and see if students can classify examples of photographs, letters, songs, and books. Turn it into a sort of game, picking up the item and saying each one together, until the students can name them all with confidence. Reinforce the idea of an artifact. Reach the idea with students that without these, we wouldn’t have been able to learn about the Christmas truce so fully, or be able to really know what happened. Talk about how this rings true for so many other parts of our past.
 * 3) **9.** Push the idea farther and work with students to reach how photographs, letters, songs, books, and others can help us to learn about our past by describing the example of the Christmas truce. Ask students probing questions such as “Who was in the story?”, “What happened?”, “What do you think No Man’s Land or trenches are?”. Even if you have addressed some of these ideas, many are hard to grasp. Continue to work through some of the key vocabulary here.
 * 4) **10.** With students, create a chart on the board where Students can describe basics of WWI and the Christmas truce. Behind each idea, draw a little picture and/or write out the word of the type of artifact we read that helped us to know that part of the story of the Christmas Truce.
 * Expansion**
 * 1) 11. To expand student understanding even farther, work together to think about what other kinds of artifacts might help us learn more about the Christmas truce, and other moments in our past we could learn about. Talk about maybe a video, an item, a newspaper, etc. and help them to understand that these artifacts/items can help us learn about our past.
 * 2) 12. Lastly, reinforce the idea that the Christmas truce as an important part of our history, or our past. If time allows, work with students to research other topics, and see what they can find around the room that might help them learn more about the past and history. Use the additional resources provided if they would be helpful, and access ability is apparent.
 * 3) 13. At the end, have students work on the informal assessment. (See below for assessment idea)


 * Assessment:** Have students create their own “artifact” about the Christmas truce (being one of the four we talked about in class) to demonstrate what they have learned in an informal/formative assessment. Students will be expected to be knowledgeable of the information they have explored in the lesson in the near future and later on, and these will provide summative assessments of their true understanding.

-http://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_i/christmas_truce.php -http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/christmastruce.htm -DocsTeach ________________________________________________________________________
 * Additional Resources:**

Another strand that this book could address would be Geography and the relationship between different places can be shown through this story. Though the strand is not quite as cohesive to the book as history would be for it, using it in this manner could be quite helpful to make real-life connections to around the world and varying time periods, as well as the human connection given in the Content Statement.
 * __Another possible reinforcing activity could be done through:__**


 * Activity Sketch:**
 * Kindergarten**
 * Strand:** Geography
 * Topic:** Human Systems
 * Content Statement:** 8. Individuals are unique but share common characteristics of multiple groups.

In a basic description, students will have a simulation in which the class will be split into both a “red” and “blue” team. This will represent the Germans and the Americans. Before beginning, students could pick an item out the bucket marking the color they are from. These will represent artifacts. Students will also be given a paper that looks like an old letter, and they will draw a picture about themselves. After splitting the groups, they will then come together and share their pictures and artifacts with each other. Then they will split up again. Then the class can come together and talk about what connection their activity has with the story of the Christmas truce. Talking about where the war took place would help to add the Geography Strand aspect in, and talking about how we all shared stories that were similar because we are all similar no matter where we come from would fit well for teaching about the Content Statement. Depending on the focus and direction placed during the lesson, the themes of Geography can be incorporated.
 * Activity Idea:**

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 * Tags (Keywords and/or Key concepts):** There are a number of tags that are appropriate for this book (e.g., culture, immigration, the benchmark, author’s name, other relevant strands, etc.); I have highlighted those that seem to be the most important/most addressed, but the many others would work as well.
 * **World War I**
 * **History**
 * Geography
 * **Christmas**
 * **Trenches**
 * **War**
 * Germany
 * United States
 * Christmas
 * **Relationships**
 * Family
 * **John McCutcheon**
 * **Henri Sorenson**
 * Time Period: 1914-1918
 * Countries
 * Leaders