American Involvement in the War

Name: Bradley Perkins Class/Subject: US History Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: 1. Students will identify the attitudes, actions, and opinions of Americans and the government towards the conict in Europe before American involvement. 2. Students will analyze primary documents in groups and analyze a particular American perspective on the war. 3. Students will be able to identify the factors that drew the United States into World War One. Content Standards:
ILS 16.B.5a (W): Analyze the worldwide consequences of isolated political events, including the events triggering the Napoleonic Wars and World Wars I and II. ILS 16.A.2c: Ask questions and seek answers by collecting and analyzing data from historic documents, images, and other literary and non-literary sources.

Materials/Resources/Technology:
- Powerpoint and Projector - Collection of images, newspaper articles, cartoons, and other primary sources - Group activity question sheet - Textbook

Teachers Goals: - To have students analyze and deduce opinions from primary sources. - To have students learn about the factors that drew America in to World War One. Time 5 minutes Start of Class: Prior to the lesson, students will have read section 2 of Chapter 19 in their textbooks. The teacher will quickly highlight yesterdays lesson on the causes of the war and will then ask for students to name at least ve factors from their reading that drew America into the war. The teacher will write these on the board.
12 minutes

Introduction of Lesson: Teacher will set the scene of the days activity by giving a short talk and powerpoint presentation on the German U-Boat aggression and the Zimmerman Note.

50 minutes

Lesson Instruction: The bulk of the lesson will be a group activity. Students will be split into predetermined groups of ve and be assigned on of the following perspectives: -American neutrality -The preparedness movement -The peace movement Students will analyze photos, newspaper articles, and cartoons that go along with these viewpoints and answer the questions on the worksheet. After giving students approx. 25 minutes to analyze and answer, the class will come back together and one person from each group will share their ndings. Teacher will follow this up with a short powerpoint presentation on the varying perspectives and the eventual American war declaration. Assessments/Checks for Understanding:
The group activity will assess students understanding and ability to analyze primary sources to gain a perspective

55 minutes

Closure/Wrap-Up/Review: Teacher will briey recap the material from the day and ask students to write a quick exit slip answering the question Given the facts of the time, perspective do you think you would have held and why? Self-Assessment: N/A