The lead-up to winter break and the Christmas holidays can be exciting but also challenging and exhausting. We are dealing with unfocused students who truly do need some time off from the classroom, special events regularly pulling students from class time, and dark, cold days outside.
Despite this, and no matter how tempting it is to just start holiday break early and show movies, you still need to make the class time you do have productive. How do you make class time productive yet engaging for students during the lead-up to the holiday break?
Focus on teaching media literacy within a historical context.
Christmas Truce of 1914 Lessons
One way to accomplish this is to use the Christmas Truce of 1914 Media Analysis Unit. This unit looks at the events along the Western Front trenches leading up to and surrounding Christmas of 1914 between the British and German troops.
By using a variety of media types, including readings, video, and music, as well as activities like readers’ theatre, song lyric interpretation, and reflective writing, this resource is exceptionally engaging and will hold the attention of your students.
Through discussion, writing, and oral presentation, students will react to and reflect upon these events and their significance. The interdisciplinary and cross-curricular nature of this unit also makes it great to use with multiple teachers and in a variety of subjects.
Use Media Analysis to Deepen Historical Understanding
When different media forms are used, it helps deepen students’ historical understanding of an event or topic because:
- When different media types are used, it helps students understand that these were real, lived experiences, not just fictional events on a page.
- When students compare and contrast how the same event is portrayed in different media types, they can come to develop a deeper understanding of the event and the historical time period. They can also see what parts each media type focused on.
The Christmas Truce of 1914 Media Analysis Unit works well with students of various ability levels due to the variety of activities and focus on media works. It teaches students about events during the First World War that they may have little or even no knowledge of.
Work is spread over five engaging lessons that will grab and hold your students’ attention while encouraging critical thinking. This resource includes lesson plans, comprehension questions, a standards-based rubric for oral presentations, four assessments, and print and digital formats to assist with various learning environments.
What’s Inside:
- Lesson 1: Historical Context – Lay the foundation by exploring the historical background of the First World War and the events leading up to the truce.
- Lesson 2: Videos + Writing Assessment – Bring history to life with captivating videos and inspire reflection through thought-provoking questions.
- Lesson 3: Reader’s Theatre Script + Oral Reading Assessment – Dive into the trenches with a gripping reader’s theatre script, having students present their reading to the class to boost their speaking skills.
- Lesson 4: Song Lyric Interpretation + Media Literacy Reflection Assessment – Explore the power of music in history and enhance media literacy skills through song lyrics.
- Lesson 5: Student Self-Reflection – Students will write a letter to their teacher explaining the new learning they gained from this unit.
Academic Skills Students Can Build With This Unit
- Media Literacy
- Oral Communication
- Critical Thinking Skills
- Analysis Skills
- Historical Content
Use this unit in your classroom to help students stay focused and engaged during the holiday season and to help them learn about an important historical event.
Learn more about the Christmas Truce of 1914 Media Analysis Unit on Teachers Pay Teachers or Shopify.
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