World War 1–Unit Study

In studying history, I try my best to make it relevant to the children in some way.   As we began studying World War I, I learned of a local cemetery that has a life size doughboy standing guard over the grave of Pvt. Russell Snyder.   This young soldier died October 8, 1918, just weeks short of the end of the war.  His parents paid a hefty sum to have a life like statue built, to honor their son.  The girls and I made a pilgrimage out to his grave to pay honor to him as well.

Time and the elements haven’t been kind to the statue, as you can see.  But Pvt. Snyder still looks proud as he stands guard.

The core of our study came from  this World War I workbook from McDonald Publishing.  Although it is written for 6-9th grade students, I found that it was easily adaptable for Lindsey.

In addition to the workbook, we added notebooking pages from Jimmie’s Collage – World War I Notebook Pages.    These workbook and notebooking pages added a nice section to our history notebooks.

We went on a little excursion to the Spoils of War Museum.

As usual, we did LOTS of reading.

Library Resources:
Assassination in Sarajevo: The Trigger for World War I; Stewart Ross
World War One: An Illustrated History in Colour, 1914-1918; Robert J. Hoare
Super Spies of World War I; Kate Walker
Leaders of World War I; Steward Ross
Bold Leaders of World War I; Red Reeder
Battles of World War I; John Hamilton
Campaigns of World War I; Nick Hunter
The First Book of World War I; Louis Leo Snyder
An Illustrated History of the First World War; John Keegan
The Doughboys: America and the First World War; Gary Mead
American Women in World War I: They Also Served; Lettie Gavin
Those Extraordinary Women of World War I; by Karen Zeinert
When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer; by Beth Seidel Levine
Sergeant Stubby: How a Stray Dog and His Best Friend Helped Win World War I and Stole the Heart of a Nation; Ann Bausum
Rags: Hero Dog of WWI: A True Story; Margot Theis Raven

I was horribly disappointed to find that our local library system didn’t have one single book on Sgt. Alvin York.   I’ll be picking up a couple of books to add to our own library when I order curriculum this year.