I’m detouring back into historical territory for a bit only because on Monday, I finally get to kick off my favorite historical unit with my seventh graders…wait for it…

The Spanish-American War, American Imperialism & World War I.

(Or, my favorite alternative name for World War I: “Frenchies in the Trenchies!”)

Let the meme usage commence…

Anyways…we had a major snow storm that prevented us from returning back to school after our winter break “officially” ended. We should start on time this coming Monday, which means I only had to shift all my lesson plans ahead a week.

2022 Goals: At this point, I’m optimistic I don’t lose any more school days to the weather and will be able to maintain this calendar…

This is the unit, I think, where the kids really enjoy the lessons, only because of the introduction of modern warfare and when we have our discussions on the “fake news” of the 1890s - “yellow journalism.” They are able to connect yellow journalism to “clickbait” pretty easily. Two years ago, I had my students create a (school appropriate) modern day “yellow journalism” headline on an index card before they left class after we had our yellow journalism lesson.

I had some pretty awesome Hearsts and Pulitzers in 2020…

I didn’t think such a simple “exit ticket” would result in some of the weirdest and hilarious headlines I’d ever read. Apparently, one student claimed that I would be “doing a bunch of backflips in front of the school” and another student said I was giving out “free Starbucks in the parking lot before school.” My friend Lisa, apparently, was “giving out free ‘Fs’ after school.” I proudly displayed their “headlines” outside of my classroom, much to the amusement of other coworkers, as some of their names were also mentioned. I really can’t wait to see what headlines my students create this year!

I love introducing the Spanish-American War with some hilarious Mr. Betts parody videos. These videos got me and my coworkers through a challenging virtual year. The kids claimed they “hated" how cringey the videos were, but I loved laughing at their reactions on Zoom (at least, those who kept their cameras on), and later, they secretly admitted that they loved watching them whenever I played one during class. Needless to say, Mr. Betts created an amazing parody summing up the Spanish-American War to One Direction’s “classic” hit: “What Makes You Beautiful.” The students usually do a two day document based lesson (DBL) on what caused the explosion of the USS Maine, but since we’re pressed for time, and they just finished one on John D. Rockefeller, I decided to shorten it to a historical assessment of thinking (HAT). With a HAT, they are still given historical sources to make a decision, but it’s only one source and they are given two questions to respond to. A DBL, on the other hand, consists of three sources and four to five questions for each source. The HAT will be a perfect way to end the Spanish-American War; they’ll have just enough time in class to finish it…and if they complete the HAT early, they will get to read this article about the theory if World War I was caused by Gavrilo Princip eating a sandwich. This will help the students shift their focus to the second half of this unit.

More than likely, they’ll get a little bit of John Green’s Crash Course (episode #28 - American Imperialism) to summarize everything during and after the Spanish-American War…and only because I really want to hear him admit three things:

that ‘Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain’ became a 19th century “meme.”
that American Imperialism looked like all the other imperialisms (British, Spanish, you name it).
that Hawaii would eventually receive statehood because “white people…and also pineapples.”

Then we’ll start World War I with focusing on the ‘powder keg’ of Europe during the summer of 1914…because World War I will not make any sense if we skip over the “MAIN” causes of the conflict.

Cue Mr. Betts and his parody of “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s Moana.

Austria, Italy, Germany - Triple Alliaaaaaance! Things getting hot - the Triple Entente!

Then, after watching a perfectly summarized History of World I (in One Take) courtesy of History Bombs, we’ll (hopefully) do a recreation of the alliances of Europe on the eve of World War I. The students will be split into representatives of all the major players in Europe - they will have to send messages to each other as they try to join the alliance that will most benefit them before war breaks out. They’ll also need to be able to successfully label a 1914 map of Europe - they were warned that maps were going to go beyond American borders at the start of the school year, so we’ll see how well they do with their European map annotations…

I wish I had more time to talk about the British war poets during this unit, but I may be able to embed Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est when we have our lesson on the weapons technology of World War I and get to the section when we discuss chemical warfare. The poem focuses on Owen witnessing the death of one of his soldiers via a gas attack, so I should be able to make this work. This also reminds me to wear my Wilfred Owen t-shirt for the lesson that day.

Side note: If you’re interested, you can listen to British actor Christopher Eccleston (the Ninth Doctor - and my favorite - from Doctor Who) recite Owen’s poem recorded during the 2013 Remembrance/Veteran’s Day commemorations.

Although I mentioned to a friend that my favorite lesson to teach during this unit is the weapons technology, I truly also enjoy teaching about the home front of World War I. The kids get to learn more about how minority groups and women responded to the war effort. We get to talk about, arguably, the coolest unit in the United States Army - the Harlem Hellfighters and their acts of bravery…and unfortunately, how their efforts weren’t recognized until years later. The role of women, working in dangerous munitions factories and as nurses, cannot go unnoticed, especially as this would set the precedent for them doing the same duties (and beyond) during World War II. The British documentary series Great Britain and the Shaping of the 20th Century has a fascinating segment about the munitions workers known as the “Canary Girls” or the “Girls With Yellow Hands” - as featured in Episode #3: “Total War” from 30:14 to 36:25, but the entire series is worth a watch! These ladies were exposed to instant death if they mishandled the TNT (stories of explosions in the munitions factories were commonplace). Long term effects were everything from infertility, their hair turning red, and their skin color turned yellow - hence the nicknames I mentioned above. Their work, however, was crucial to the Allied war effort; they truly did help win the war!

The unit is wrapped up with a little Stalin, peace, land, bread, and an introduction to Communism, the entrance of the United States thanks to the Zimmermann Telegram (the students will also get the chance to decode the telegram as a unit project worth 80% of their grade), General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing (and my cat’s namesake), the “100 Days Offensive,” the armistice, and of course, the really awkward peace process (Fourteen Points, Woodrow Wilson, Treaty of Versailles, and the failed League of Nations) that would only set the foundation for World War II and the rise of totalitarian governments in Europe - here’s looking at you, Third Reich.

They’ll have two days of turning in missing assignments and working on their study guides and Zimmermann Telegram projects in class before their unit test review day. I always give them a review day - Kahoot is what I typically use for the review game, but I may recreate my Spanish-American War/Imperialism/World War I review questions on the Blooket platform instead (although I don’t know if I will be able to handle the louder chaos that ensues whenever Blooket is used instead of Kahoot).

And then, before I know it, my favorite unit will come to an end, I’ll stream the episode called “Boom” from the History Channel series America: The Story of Us, and it’ll be time to learn about the Roaring ‘20s. This unit is never given enough time, in my opinion, but as you can see, I try to pack a lot of lessons and topics into the curriculum. This is where I’m able to justify talking about European influence, my concentration from grad school if you don’t know this about me by now, and how it would impact America’s rise as a global power at the start of the 20th century. This is the time period I’ve studied in great depth, and it’s one that I’m always “brushing up” on throughout the year. I remember one of my students last year telling me it became her favorite unit because of how happy, passionate, and animated I was when I taught it.

I’ve been in a slump at school and at home, so admittedly, I am really looking forward to teaching this unit - if only to find some temporary happiness during this insane school year. I’m glad I got the extra week off after winter break. I remember crying on the phone to my mother last weekend, admitting to her that I did not have the heart or courage to return to another few months of crazy behaviors, TikTok challenges, unmotivated students, and sheer uncertainty.

So let World War I, despite its grim topics and major devastation, spark some life in me. I will not let any of my students or my personal problems take away from the joy that teaching this unit brings to my heart. Just writing this post discussing my goals and plans for the unit has already vastly improved my mood.

Monday, I’m ready for you.

End of second quarter, I’m ready for you.

End of the worst school year ever, I’m ready for you.

Check out my Twitter account over these next few weeks to keep posted on this unit’s activities if you’re interested! Until next time (and I swear, that promised post on the literature side of things I mentioned last time is on its way)…

much love and many happy returns,

-kate.