First World War Presentation Suggestions

Hey guys! I was wondering if you guys could help me with something. Well I'm doing a presentation on the First World War, so I kind of need some ideas. As most of you know, I am best in WW2, so some help would be greatly appreciated!

Requirements:
1. Has to be under ten minutes
2. Can't be inappropriate
3. No access to a computer in the classroom due to a technical problem(Lap top battery is whack)
4. For high school students

Things I do have:
1. French Adrian Helmet
2. A Transparency Projector with transparencies
3. Basic school supplies
4. A DVD player and TV in the classroom
5. A CD player

So this is what I got so far:
1. Introduction to WW1
2. Events leading up to war
3. Status of the great powers, weapons, strategies, etc...
4. Progress of the war(Somme, Verdun, Amiens and 100 Days Offensive, etc...)
5. Aftermath of war(Treaty of Versailles, Article 231, WW2)
6. Trivia game(with candy!)

I was wondering if you had any suggestions to make this presentation interesting! If you do then you have my heartfelt gratitude as a teacher.

Presentation - nice! As an upcoming teacher ( I hope) I can advise you a few things.
1. Find some funny or unbelievable stituations. Like playing football durnig Christmas 1914-1915 by both of sides.
2. I WW was aterrible war.
3. Don't rush. Some ppl may be bored, 'cos they don't know/understand everything. That's why I was making presentations in this way:
facts--something off-topic--facts--something off-topic--- etc.
4. If you have a helmet, why don't you get entire uniform? When I was making presentation about WWII I and my friend wore Soviet and German uniforms.

Hmm, should I try music... or would that be too distracting?
Come on people, I'M OPEN TO ANY SUGGESTIONS!!!!! Any interesting stories perhaps about WW1?

P.S. Thanks cephalos!

Music is good way to attract attention. Like playing songs which soliders were singing, etc, etc. Not too much - you are supposed to talk.

the whole WW1?

Yeah all of it! OK, I'll try music! I wonder which songs though? I don't know many songs and marches from WW1. Thanks guys!

I have one music from the french side; its a pre-war revanchist song about Lorraine and Alsace which were taken by germany during the franco-prussian of 1870-1871.

As this war has an obvious link with the first world war, you should consider to take an eye on it  ;)


Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine !(French revanchist song between 1871 and 1918)

EDIT:
some picture of french propaganda, and real photos. If you want, I can help you on some suject, like about the eastern front of WW1 (which was very important for the western front), or about the french or russian army... As you want!  :)
I wil also search for more song about WW1.

Last edited February 21, 2011 at 8:25 AM by Red_Stinger

Well thanks do much redstinger! Umm, I can't enlarge some of the pictures... And if you can find some stuff thats not from France, that would be very nice! Thanks a lot already! You guys are all awesome!

EasyWay91 wrote:
Well thanks do much redstinger! Umm, I can't enlarge some of the pictures... And if you can find some stuff thats not from France, that would be very nice! Thanks a lot already! You guys are all awesome!

What do you mean by ''some stuff"?  ;D

And for the picture I cant find an other way to put them online. Can you at least download them?

P.S: I forgot to translate the revanchist song... but since blackbishop dont want me to translate directly in the forum, I can only send you a PM with translation, if you want.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Army_(Poland)
just WWI part. It's kinda interesting when ppl find out that there was not only French, Belgian, Canadian, British and US army fightin' at Western Front.

cephalos wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Army_(Poland)
just WWI part. It's kinda interesting when ppl find out that there was not only French, Belgian, Canadian, British and US army fightin' at Western Front.

There was also african regiments who fought in France, and a russian regiment with the same status as the blue army  ;)
If we want to list every foreign regiment who took part in WW1 in france, well, its a hard work.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! Right now I'm looking for a map of both the western front and the eastern front, maybe even the Italian front! The thing is that I have an actual map, but I rather use a transparency as they are brighter and my map is actually very worn. If you can find a good picture that would be very nice!

Oh by the way I might try to use sounds on the battlefield from WW1 if I can find some. I think the artillery rounds, machine gun fire, and "colorful" language will help my lazy students stay awake. Well they are AP European History students, so I want to immerse them in the first modern war of the 20th century. More exciting for some than Victorian England(Which I have a keen interest in).

P.S As always you have my heartfelt gratitude. Well you guys are officially awesome teacher's assistants!

EasyWay91 wrote:
Thanks so much for all the suggestions! Right now I'm looking for a map of both the western front and the eastern front, maybe even the Italian front! The thing is that I have an actual map, but I rather use a transparency as they are brighter and my map is actually very worn. If you can find a good picture that would be very nice!

Oh by the way I might try to use sounds on the battlefield from WW1 if I can find some. I think the artillery rounds, machine gun fire, and "colorful" language will help my lazy students stay awake.

There is a kind of bunch of map about WW1 online; you should try to look in wikipédia for example.
By the way, its difficult to get WW1 sounds, and almost impossible to find video with sounds, because its kind of risky to film/take pictures in the fight  ;D and there wasnt yet sound for films.

For the Italian campaign, you should try to get an eye on wikipédia for this one, its kinda accurate from what I've seen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Campaign_%28World_War_I%29

Well I would prefer a map in English, and am still looking for them. Can you please just wait a while until I'm positive I can't find a good map! Thanks anyways! By the way I found a bunch of good audio files for the presentation. If you would like to hear them, here is the link:

http://forums.bf2stats.net/real-ww1-sounds-t7480.html