Learning Activity

Our Boys Need Help! Assist the Rainbow Division

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

6

Overview

The students will read a letter about the plight of Alabama soldiers in the Rainbow Division of World War I and will create a list of supplies that were described in the primary document. The students will illustrate the Rainbow Divisions' need for supplies by creating fundraising posters.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 6

SS10.6.3

Identify causes and consequences of World War I and reasons for the United States’ entry into the war.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.6.3

Vocabulary

  • WWI
  • Lusitania
  • Zimmerman Note
  • alliances
  • militarism
  • imperialism
  • nationalism
  • modern warfare
  • isolationism
  • Treaty of Versailles
  • League of Nations
  • Red Scare

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The causes and consequences of U.S. involvement in WWI (sinking of the Lusitania, the Zimmerman Note, Alliance System, Militarism, Imperialism, and Nationalism).
  • The roles of military and civilians played in WWI.
    • Important people involved in WWI (Woodrow Wilson, Archduke Franz Ferdinand).
  • The impact of technological advances of WWI on modern warfare (machine guns, tanks, submarines, airplanes, poison gas, and gas masks).
  • How to locate countries involved in WWI on a map and boundary changes that occurred after WWI.
  • The factors contributing to isolationism in the United States after WWI (Treaty of Versailles debate, Red Scare, League of Nations).
  • Strategic locations of military bases in Alabama.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Locate places on a map.
  • Read and interpret primary source documents.
  • Cite evidence to support historical events.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were many reasons for United States entry and involvement in World War I and there were causes and consequences of this involvement.

Phase

After/Explain/Elaborate
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • Students will analyze a primary source letter to learn about the supplies the Rainbow Division lacked during the last months of the war. 
  • Students will create fundraiser posters depicting the needs of the Rainbow Division.

Activity Details

  1. Review the struggles that the Allies were experiencing during the first three years of World War I (long, unsuccessful battles, extreme weather conditions, trench warfare, lack of supplies, poisonous gases, etc).
  2. Review how the Allies were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the American soldiers, including General Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces. 
  3. Distribute the letter from Leo Strassburger to each student.
  4. Allow students to read, analyze, and annotate the letter.  
  5. Assign the task of creating posters that will encourage Alabamians to donate supplies to the Rainbow Division.
  6. Distribute the materials (copy paper, colored pencils, markers) to create fund-raiser posters for the needed supplies.
  7. Posters should include: Title, illustrations, list of needed supplies, how, when and where to donate materials and/or funds.
Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategies

  • The teacher should monitor the review discussions and encourage all students to participate.
  • The teacher should monitor students as they read and annotate the primary document.
  • If available, students may use a document camera to share their posters.
  • Posters may be graded on creativity, accuracy, and neatness.

Variation Tips

  • Students may work in pairs to create a poster.
  • Students may use images from archives as the illustrations for the posters.
  • Digital posters may be created.

Background and Preparation

Background / Preparation

  1. Students should have prior knowledge about the creation, organization, and deployment of the 42nd Rainbow Division (4th Alabama Infantry to the 167th United States Infantry Regiment).
  2. Students should have prior knowledge of the major battles of World War I.
  3. Students should have prior knowledge of the importance of the U.S. Army's arrival in France in January 1918.
  4. Students should be familiar with propaganda posters and techniques used to sway the public to comply with their messages.
  5. Students should be proficient in analyzing and annotating primary documents.

Digital Tools / Resources

Letters from Leo Strassburger in Montgomery
http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/voices/id/8473/re…

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

lesaroberts
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