World War 1 resources

I find World War 1 both fascinating, and sad at the same time. This was a war started because everyone was itching for a fight, and in the end, nothing was resolved well. It’s a modern war we don’t tend to talk about too much because there are no clear bad guys. World War II has clear bad guys. Let’s look at some World War 1 resources I pulled together as we got ready to study the war again in our history lessons. These are just extra World War 1 resources to go with my general World War 1 unit.

(there are affiliate links here)

World War 1 resources: random information

Since I’m interested in history, I’ve saved quite a few random links that were just interesting. There’s no great over-arching theme, just “Hey, this is a cool World War 1 resource.”

I’m going to attempt to organize this a bit more organized than how it appears on my Modern History Pinterest board.

• 5-4-3-2-1 Countdown for WW1
• WW1 online ideas and videos
• If World War 1 was a bar fight– sadly the original site I found it on, is gone, but the original idea is still all on the pin
• If World War 1 happened on Facebook– my sense of humor is weird
• WW1 Christmas peace

• How to wrestle with a difficult decision, Alvin York
• Woman heroes of World War 1
• 7 amazing World War 1 heroes

World War 1 resources: cool lessons

I’ve been saving World War 1 resources as long as Pinterest has been around, and some I squirreled away in my brain from years of reading books. I’m going to narrow these down to my favorite resources.

Sadness, as I went through and started adding resources, I discovered many of the coolest ideas were on blogs that were defunct and dead, or the post had been deleted. This means most of this comes from the same source.

General World War 1 resource lessons

• Make a gas mask
• Christmas Truce– I find this concept fascinating and have many resources saved for this (also Princess Mary’s Christmas Tin)
• WW1 notebooking pages
• World War 1 helmet
• Analyzing World War 1 war posters
• Causes of World War 1

Trench Warfare resources

I have two different posts on Trench Warfare, we’ve tried this idea twice (Trench Warfare for 1st grade, Trench Warfare for 6th grade), and it’s fascinating.

• Lego Trench Warfare
• Life in the trenches
• Trench Warfare creative writing
• Trench Warfare sandbox

World War 1 battle resources

• Gallipoli Campaign– Angellic Scalliwags has a whole unit on WW1, so expect me to link to several of her posts
• Battle of Ypres
• Battle of Marne

World War 1 resources: books to read

This is not specific to World War 1, but I just discovered BBC School Radio website, and they’ve got some amazing audio dramas. I know, this isn’t a book to read, but if you’re like one of my boys, he loves audiobooks.

But, getting back to my World War 1 booklist. This is an odd conglomeration of books at my library, and books I’ve found over the years at used book stores and sought out. I’m particularly focusing on picture books and easy nonfiction. Something that can make a short lesson you can teach with all ages.

• In Flander’s Field: the story of the poem– I love finding books like this
• 101 Facts About World War 1– I love books like this, you get all sorts of weird factoids to learn
• World War 1: The Western Front– This one is geared for upper elementary, but the concept of it intrigues me
• Proud as a peacock, brave as a lion– a young boy’s grandfather tells what it was like to fight in World War 1
• Knit your bit: a World War 1 Story– stories told about the homefront are great for letting kids think about what the war might have meant for them
• Stubby: a true story of friendship– a story told about a dog who helped a unit from World War 1

Okay, those are the books at the library, now let me bring up the books I’ve found over the years at various stores AND that I specifically bought for studying World War 1.

• Archie’s War– this is hands down my favorite World War 1 book because it covers a fair amount of history and events, in bite-size amounts for kids
• The Donkey of Gallipoli– I loved the emotional story of this book
• Midnight– both this and The Donkey of Gallipoli have resources in the back of the book from the actual people who inspired the stories
• Once a Shepherd– make sure you have tissues on hand when you read this book, darn, looks like it’s out of print, so keep an eye out, but man it made me cry so much when I read it
• The Great War– I loved this book for getting more information and it’s a great resource for upper elementary or middle school.

As I go through my bookshelves and find more books, I’ll add more World War 1 resources

• “A World War 1 Story, Part 5” by In Memoriam: PhillipC is marked with CC BY 2.0.
• “A World War 1 Story – Part Two” by In Memoriam: PhillipC is marked with CC BY 2.0.
• “World War 1 World War 2 re-enactors Rotherham (115)” by Paige…, is marked with CC BY 2.0.
• “World War 1 Austro-Hungarian Postcards” by One Mans Treasure is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.