Remembrance Day Lesson Plans For Middle School Students

Remembrance Day lesson plans are important to add to your teaching plan at some point during the next month.

I feel so privileged to teach and live in a country where I’m free to go outside my home, have a job I love, and do the things I enjoy. This freedom was earned through the efforts and of service men and women, but the fight for freedom still continues in other areas of the world. Their efforts are something worth remembering and appreciating. Unfortunately, there are still wars happening around the world that Canadian service men and women are involved in.

The weeks around Remembrance Day is a great time to remember and acknowledge the contributions of veterans and current soldiers who fight in the name of freedom. I’ve built a unit to support you in teaching these important lessons to your students. This Remembrance Day Unit helps our students further understand and appreciate the impact and legacy of war heroes.

This Remembrance Day unit plan comes packed with media analysis and opportunities for reading, speaking/listening, writing, and drama activities. Each lesson and activity comes complete with detailed lesson plans and step by step instructions for your classroom use. The graphic organizers and worksheets are open-ended to support all learners and include full answer sheets for your reference. I’ve also included instructions if you are a paperless classroom.

The following Remembrance Day lessons are included:

What is Remembrance Day?

In this minds on activity, students make connections to an included reading on Remembrance Day. Discussion prompts and graphic organizers are included and will serve to support further learning in this unit.

Music Lyric Analysis

Students use the included graphic organizer to analyze the meaning of a song of their choice. Links and resources for 5 modern songs are included to give students practise in their analysis skills before a final song analysis for assessment. Rubrics and feedback sheets are included for this assignment.

Poem and Song Analysis

Building on their analysis skills from the previous assignment, students will compare a song and poem surrounding the concept of peace as related to the overarching theme of War and Peace in Remembrance Day. After analyzing both pieces of work through the included worksheet, students complete a Venn diagram for a final assessment. Rubrics and feedback sheets are included for this assignment.

Video Analysis

In this assignment, students engage with another form of media, television clips and commercials. Building on their understanding developed in the previous tasks, students will analyze four media clips and have a final assessment of a television commercial analysis. Talking points for lessons and discussions, as well as assessment pieces are included.

How Does the Poppy Relate to Remembrance Day?

Using multiple sources, students will learn about the history of the poppy and why it became so symbolic of Remembrance Day. Questions to guide thinking help support your students’ understanding are included.

World War 1 Trench Life Simulation

This optional activity uses an online simulation of life in the trenches to have students better understand the life of soldiers in World War 1. Links and assessment resources are included.

Choral Reading

This choral reading assignment has students revisit some of the poems discussed earlier and present in choral reading. Resources to support students in their practice, as well as the option for students to work independently in a dramatic task are included.

Modern Day Armed Forces

Students will take a look at the efforts and work of soldiers around the world today. Students will work individually to respond to video interviews with the Canadian Armed Forces and discuss their answers as a class. After understanding their modern day efforts, students will complete an assessment piece on the Invictus Games using the included graphic organizer and checkbrick for assessment.

Opinion Writing

In this assessment paragraph, students will use their learning thus far to respond to a news article written on the importance and celebration of Remembrance Day. This tasks asks students to articulate their opinion of this article using their knowledge built throughout the unit. This assignment can be used as a cumulative task in their learning throughout the unit. A rubric for assessment is included.

Photo Analysis

Students will work in a jigsaw activity to look at and discuss 10 different images associated with War and Remembrance Day before writing their ideas down in a graphic organizer. After viewing and discussing all the images, students will select one that resonates best with them to develop a paragraph reflection for assessment. Images, questions, and rubrics for assessment are included.

I know your students will have meaningful discussions this Remembrance Day when completing the activities in this unit. Using this unit will provide resources, examples, images, and discussion points to make real life connections to Remembrance Day for your students. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.