Highlights of Teaching - World War I:Canadian Soldier Project

Research and presentations are a great way for students of the history department to see and analyze first-hand sources to see what really happened historically.  History teachers of Grade 12 started the month by studying World War I. First hand sources become far more important during this time because of the increase and availability of pictures and videos of events that occurred after and during this period. This activity of research and presentation pave the way of more in-depth understanding of the world of yesteryear.

Students are required to research an individual Canadian world war one soldier. They must research all aspects of their particular soldiers’ lives from where they are from, to where they fought during World War I. After their research, most groups decided to choose soldiers that died during the war because they could not find many soldiers who survived the conflict in Europe. Group members gathered together before class to figure out how to use Canva to combine their presentation materials together.

In the process of the activity, students need to put themselves in the shoes of their aforementioned soldiers. Students are required to show all the aspects of their soldiers’ lives from how they lived to how they survived the day to day aspects of their lives. Through this activity, students not only deepened their understanding of the war, but also had the opportunity to carefully analyze the first-hand sources they saw.

For example, one group selected Canadian soldier Francis Michael Murphy. This solder fought in the Battle of Gallipoli. The students showed how this soldier landed on the shores of Gallipoli, how they stayed on those shores for over six months, and how they eventually died during the brutal trench warfare. In order to make the presentation more vivid, the students used many items that soldier used during the war including the guns and texts that they produced. Let the students learn in different ways and understand history more deeply.