In this activity, students will summarize battles and present them to the class. Students can find battle information in three different parts of our virtual exhibition. The Realities of War has information on the most important battles for Canada, The End of the War to Versailles highlights key battles of the last 100 days of the war, and on this page, The Cost of Victory, students can find information about all the battles that the RMR participated in by clicking on the regimental flag.
Using these pages, they should find information on the length of the battle, battle details, Canadian innovations, battle strategies, courage, losses and achievements. Students can also summarize the RMR involvement in these battles.
OPTIONAL: The First World War in Colour: The teacher can show restored photos from the First World War. The colourized photos can often make war a little more relatable to students.
Activity Instructions
Students will present their findings informally in small groups, with 2-3 minutes per team. As each team presents, the teacher can display the exhibition with information, as per the links above.
Class discussion
After the informal student presentations, the teacher can ask the class to discuss the following points (first in small groups and then as a whole class) for 5-10 minutes.
What do all these battles tell us about WWI?
- How difficult was it for Canada? For the Canadian Corps? For the RMR?
- How difficult must it have been for the soldiers individually, some not much older than you?
- How did technology help the war effort? How did it hinder the physical and mental well-being of soldiers?
- How successful was Canada in the end of the war?
- What were the major accomplishments of the RMR?
Once the class has finished discussing the challenges and victories for Canada and Canadians on a local, national and international level, ask the students to now try and imagine what it must have been like for the families of the men and women who were part of the war effort (soldiers, nurses etc.).
Students can take notes directly in the Student Guide – there is no need to print the activity! To use the fillable function, be sure to download the PDF.
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