WW1

M Y

PITCH

M O V I E

S O C I A L

S T U D I E S  

The Premise

Many historians regard WW1 as one of the most significant societal turning

points in history. It is generally considered the beginning of the modern

historical era. The way our world is organized into nation states, the ongoing

conflicts in the Middle East, the rise of communism, and perhaps most

obviously, the continued hostilities of WW2 all stemmed from the events

leading up to, during and after WW1! 

Yet, the huge importance of this war has been regulated to textbooks and

history classes and is largely ignored in popular culture today. When you

consider that new block buster movies are produced about WW2 every year,

it lends the question, why not WW1?  

There are several potential answers to this but perhaps the most evident is

that WW1 is complicated. Who were the good guys? who started the whole

mess anyway? Even career historians struggle to agree on those. Another

reason could be technology. No war is glamorous, but the tanks, aircraft and

machines of WW2 led a a style of fighting that was dynamic, mobile and at

times unpredictable.  WW1 was a slow grind of trench stalemates fought

over years as soldiers died over same small patches of ground. 

That said, there are stories about WW1 that deserve to be told. There are

tales of heroic individuals, dramatic statecraft and strategic victories. Entire

government systems collapsed under the weight of the fighting. There are

examples of tragic loss and triumphant victory. There was injustice on

massive scales. There was courageous humanity and kindness displayed

among enemies in the heat of battle.

In this project, you are going to explore some of these stories through

exploring a number of historical sources. Then you taking on the challenge

of finding one part of this larger story that deserves to be told, and

developing a movie pitch. You will have a lot of choice in how you do that.

Learning

IntentionsThis project focus on the Curricular Competencies from both Socials 10 and

Explorations of Social Studies 11:

Shape of the UnitPart 1: Guided Exploration;

Students will engage in guided research on a variety of text, video and

photographic sources, exploring some of the most powerful stories of WW1,

Task:  Keep an running Research Journal

Part 2: Movie Pitch Brainstorm

This is where you get to put on your movie producer hat. Surely, after doing

the research, you will have found a story or two that seems worth telling. 

Task: Complete the Movie Pitch Brainstorm worksheet.

Part 3: Movie Pitch

Students will choose from a variety of options to create an engaging movie

pitch that will serve as a demonstration of their learning. 

Task: Design a cool "Movie Pitch" project

While you explore, keep a journal: If you can, use the Word Doc: Running

Research Journal as a template. Paper is fine too and we can find a way to

submit later.  There is no set rules for a research journal, just suggestions (see

below.) Your ideas are the ones that matter.  Try not to summarize every

detail. It is what you pull out of it that matters.  Take a look at the Rubric as

well. 

At least 8-10 source entries is the minimum. You should also include at least

a few text / image sources in there. Those are more difficult to analyze,

which means they are much richer in what they reveal. 

  Source 1:  (Title of the source) 

           -  What is this artifact / source?

           -  Who made it and why?

           -  Why is it important?

           -  What does it say about the people, time or events going on when it   

               was in use or created?

            - Why did it catch my eye? 

If you have online access, you can easily do this entire project digitally.

Simply search for the video sources on you tube or click on the PDF Source

links . If you don't have online access, you can access a full document version

of this project. Even if you can't get to the videos, there are plenty of

fantastic text sources. 

How to keep a Research Journal

Text Source

Video Source

Running Journal Quick Reference

Best- My Journal shows thoughtful, detailed responses that show how hard I was thinking about these sources. Ok : My Journal shows I looked at the sources and was able to provide some general or surface level thoughts and ideas. Starting out - I engaged in some of the sources and wrote a few things.

Guided Exploration 1

Doomsday Doc. 

WW1 Uncut - BBC 

01SOURCE

02

03

To begin with a general

overview, check out youtube's

"Doomsday - WW1 Short

Documentary. There are 3

parts, each about 8 minutes

long. 

Dan Snow hosts an amazing

series of videos on the more

personal aspects of WW1. Watch

one, or watch them all!  Write a

journal entry for each one you

watch. Youtube: WW1 Uncut

BBC. They are short, well

produced and engaging! 

SOURCE

SOURCEWW1 Oversimplified This is a two part series of

videos that offer a comedic and

animated breakdown of the

big events of the war. They

would not be strictly

considered an 'academic'

source, but the do a fairly good

job of providing a big picture.

They are about 7 minutes each

SOURCE

04One thing you should

know about WW1 

Title says it all: Check out The

One Thing You Should Know

About WWI on Youtube. Its less

than 4 minutes long

Guided Exploration 2

Francis

Pegahmagabow

Christmas Truce 

05SOURCE

06SOURCE

06

Canada's most decorated war hero

who would become and

community leader advocate for

Indigenous rights in his later years.

Google him and learn about his

accomplishments. We recommend

checking out Youtube: The Best

Sniper Of World War 1 - Francis

Pegahmagabow 

An incredible story: enemy

soldiers putting down their

weapons to celebrate in no mans

land? Or a story that became a

myth? Check out on Youtube:

A Sign Of Friendship In The

Midst Of War   

Is he a hero, responsible for a

scientific breakthrough that

allowed modern agriculture to

feed millions? Or an evil genius

who created one of the most

cruel weapons ever devised? 

Youtube: The Father Of Poison

Gas - Fritz Haber 

SOURCEFritz Haber 

Guided Exploration 3

Women of WW1

Vimy Ridge 

07SOURCE

09

When we study war history, we

often focus a lot on the battles and

the men that fought them. We

don't always consider the

enormous mechanism that feeds, 

supplies and arms them, as well as

provides acute medical care for

wounded. Check out

Youtube: Department of History |

World War I, Episode 3 | Women at

War

08SOURCE

The Battle of Vimy Ridge is

widely considered the most

decisive victory of WW1 and was

conducted be the Canadian

Expeditionary Force. Read the

exploits in the Vimy Ridge

Source Package .  If you have

access, you can always Youtube a

to dig deeper into this topic.  

A big picture look at the

timeline of the Canadian WW1

experience, with lots of side

line details. As you read this,

you may wish to look for

snippets you could dig into

more in your independent

research

SOURCE

Canada Timeline 

Guided Exploration 4

Halifax Explosion

10SOURCE

11

12

Amidst a war full of tragedy,

the Halifax Explosion brought

the devastation to Canadian

Soil. Read this thorough

collection of primary sources

which recount the event from

people who were there. 

There is no better way to

understand the human

experience of WW1 better than

the letters soldiers sent home.

Check out the PDF package

"Letters from the Front." You

don't need to reed them all: Pick

one or two that stand out!  

Check out the PDF, "Soldiers'

Artifacts." It has a great image

collection of museum items

that can tell us fascinating

things about the people who

fought the war. Pick one or two

to write an entry on.

SOURCE

SOURCESoldiers' Artifacts

Letters Home

13SOURCE War Propaganda

In war time, information is used

as a weapon to 'sell the war,'

recruit solders, or control a

restless population. There are

lots of examples in the PDF "

Propaganda." Pick one, or several

and analyze for your journal. 

Deeper Exploration  #?

Podcasts

Hard Core History: Blueprint for Armageddon by Dan Carlin  

Available wherever you get your podcasts, this is over 16 hours of

intense audio story telling that covers every aspect of the war. If

you finish this podcast (not hard to do once you are into it) you

can take over teaching this course.

Also Check out:

https://blog.feedspot.com/world_war_1_ww1_podcasts for a list of

other great podcasts about this topic. Plug in your headphones,

go mow the lawn and finish school work at the same time!

Films:

While there aren't a ton of great WW1 movies out there (Yet!)

there are a few. Check titles that might be worth checking out:

"1917"  "War Horse"  "Galipoli" " All Quiet on the Western Front" or

the Canadian made "Passchendaele"  

  

At this point, you likely have learnt a fair bit of WW1 history and engaged in

some  deep historical thinking and analysis. If you didn't take any time to

look at any of the primary sources, I strongly suggest going back and

looking at a few. This requires deeper thinking than passively watching a

video.  

Now, you might know exactly what you want your Movie Pitch to be about

and are ready to go to the next stage. Great! HOWEVER, if you are still

unsure, or are feeling like you aren't ready to stop learning about WW1,

then please, by all means, check out some of these heaving hitter

sources.These are much more in depth, and in some cases, may be trickier

to access, but that is part of the skill set of a good researcher. 

HEAVY HITTERS:

Books:

There are a lot of great reads here. Go ahead and googLe: best

books about WW1. One of my favourite all times books is called 

"Three Day Road" about a cree sniper returning to Canada.

Another great shorter one is "Private Peaceful" and of course, the

classic Hemmingway novel "A Farewell to Arms"

Independent

Research

At this point, you may want more specific information on a story / topic you want to focus on. Now is the time to go

rogue: Find sources and research away. Just KEEP TRACK in the research journal.

Movie PitchTitle:

What do you want to call your movie? (you can always come back to this one)

Setting:

Where / when will this film take place? Try to be historically specific to real

times and places. Describe the setting in some detail. Set the scene! What

does it look / feel like?

Characters:

Who will be the star or your story? Describe them: Who are they? what are they like? What are they trying to

do? This can be real life people or fictional. (Bonus if you can pick which

actors who would play them.)

Major Plot Points:

The short version: What happens in this film? Beginning, middle and end?

You can answer these by starting a new section in you running journal, or if you

have a print copy, write it into the spaces.

Every great movie, book or story has a deeper meaning, or a thematic question. Sometimes this is called the 'moral of the story.' One way to conceptualize this is to ask "what is this movie REALLY about?" Consider the examples:

Right now you might be thinking, "but I just chose this topic because its interesting." Great! Chances are it's interesting because there are some deeper, human connections you are making OR a larger significance in your imagination.

Dig into that a little deeper! What historical truths will be revealed in this movie ?

Why might it be important to others? What is this story REALLY about?

Theme / BIG question...

Movie: About? No... REALLYabout?

Jurrasic Park Dinosaurs attacking!Is playing with evolution for profit and

spectacle such a good idea?

Hunger Games Katniss and Peta beating mean tributes

How can oppressed people fight back against tyrannical leaders?

Saving Private Ryan D-Day / World War 2 How do you measure the value of a life in a time of war?

Frozen 2Elsa Freezing stuff

(and Anna not getting enough credit for

being the real hero of the story)

Are there past injustices in our history based on fear and greed?

Part 2: Project Options

Movie Poster 

Script Sample

Storyboard

A

B

C

D

E

Prop / Set Design

Using your artistic talents,

create a movie poster that

depicts your movie's central

questions and captures the key

moments with historical

accuracy.

Using digital media or free hand,

Storyboard a key scene from your

film that captures historical

accuracies and realistic characters

storyboardthat.com is great! 

Write a 1-2 page script  or

narration that captures a key

moment or event in your film

with historical accuracy. 

Choose 3 musical pieces for your

soundtrack. For each, write a

historically accurate paragraph

description of the events the song

would accompany.    . .

Create an important prop from the

movie, or a scaled down set model

of a key setting/event. Close

attention to detail and historical

accuracy is key. Describe what role

this prop/set plays in your movie. 

Soundtrack

OPTION

OPTION

OPTION

OPTION

OPTION

Do you have a better idea? Fantastic: Do it!

Make something cool: Here are some choices. Submit to me however makes sense to you!

Project Rubric / Assessment

CriteriaGrows:

Areas for continued improving

Glows: Ways you

exceeded expectations

My research journal showed I explored a full set of sources

(at least 8-10) including some primary sources.

My journal entries were

thoughtful, specific. They included key take-aways, important connections and

deep questions.

I kept an organized journal that clearly tracks the sources I looked at.

My Movie pitch connects

closely and accurately to a real life historical person /

place / event in WW1

My Movie pitch has a deeper theme / question that

connects to a larger historical truth / theme.

My Project connects to my movie pitch in a meaningful

way.

My Project shows creativity, good planning and careful

execution.

    A - 90- 100%

B - 75-90%

 C    60-75 %

My research, movie pitch and project have exceeded most expectations in the above rubric, and show strong research and analysis competency. My research, movie pitch and project were fully completed and meet the expectations in the above rubric, with a few areas with room for growth I made an effort to complete a significant portion of this project and have significant areas that still could use some growth.

Marks Breakdown