This activity has students investigate experiences of servicemen in World War I through primary sources - censored U.S. Army mail postcards and envelopes. Students will compare and contrast these primary sources to examine how censorship affected communication between servicemen and their loved ones, while building an understanding of how U.S. Army mail censorship was implemented and why it was necessary. Using two Project Zero Visible Thinking routines, this activity is designed to spark further inquiry into World War I and the experiences of servicemen. The activity ends with an opportunity to learn more by examining a parody of the form postcard written by a British serviceman in his diary.
Information on how to use this collection in the classroom can by found by clicking Read More ». …
Letter Writing and Censorship in World War I
- Published by:
- Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology
- Created by:
- Tess Porter
- Date Published
- July 13, 2017
- Last Modified
- November 05, 2021
- Description
-
This activity has students investigate experiences of servicemen in World War I through primary sources - censored U.S. Army mail postcards and envelopes. Students will compare and contrast these primary sources to examine how censorship affected communication between servicemen and their loved ones, while building an understanding of how U.S. Army mail censorship was implemented and why it was necessary. Using two Project Zero Visible Thinking routines, this activity is designed to spark further inquiry into World War I and the experiences of servicemen. The activity ends with an opportunity to learn more by examining a parody of the form postcard written by a British serviceman in his diary.
Information on how to use this collection in the classroom can by found by clicking Read More ».
This collection was created in conjunction with the National Postal Museum's "My Fellow Soldiers: Letters from World War I" teacher workshop (July 19, 2017). It focuses on two of the many postcards from this topical collection to demonstrate its use in a secondary classroom. #NPMTeacherPrograms
Keywords: WWI, WW1, the great war, army, military, soldiers, soldier, primary source, project zero, thinking routine
- Notes to Other Users
-
This collection uses two Project Zero Visible Thinking Routines: “Question Starts” and "Connect Extend Challenge." Question Starts” provides students with the opportunity to practice developing good questions that provoke thinking and inquiry into a topic, and "Connect Extend Challenge" encourages students to take stock of ongoing questions, puzzles, and difficulties as they reflect on what they are learning. The questions in both routines are open-ended and should be used to spark peer discussion, so approach this collection either in small groups or as a class.
When assigning or using this collection with students, remove the blue and white resources detailing the routine.
TEACHER'S NOTES
- RESOURCE ONE
- While guiding your students through the "Question Starts" routine, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Ask students to take a minute to examine this object on their own, looking closely at all aspects of the object.
- Step 2: Have students, individually or in small groups, brainstorm twelve questions about the object. Ask them to write these down on a piece of scratch paper. They can use the question-starts to help think of interesting questions; these are attached to this resource.
- Step 3: Ask students to review their brainstormed list and star the questions that seem the most interesting.
- If you use the Assignment tool to assign this collection to students, they can submit their most interesting choices through the quiz annotation.
- Step 4: As a class, select a few to discuss for a few moments.
- Step 5: As a class, ask the students to reflect: what new ideas do they have about the object that they didn’t have before?
- While guiding your students through the "Question Starts" routine, follow these steps:
- RESOURCE FIVE
- This routine works well with the whole class, in small groups, or individually. Keep a visible record of students' ideas. If you are working in a group, ask students to share some of their thoughts and collect a list of ideas in each of the three categories. Or, have students write their individual responses on post-it notes and add them to a class chart. Keep students' visible thinking alive over time: Continually add new ideas to the lists and revisit the ideas and questions on the chart as students' understanding around a topic develops.
- RESOURCE ONE
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