US History Lesson Activities

The US Role in World War I

The Lesson Activities will help you develop these 21 st century skills:
 Critical thinking
 Problem solving
 Media literacy

Directions
You will evaluate some of these activities yourself, and your teacher may evaluate others.
Please save this document before beginning the lesson and keep the document open for
reference during the lesson. Type your answers directly in this document for all activities.
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Self-Checked Activities

Read the instructions for the following activities and type in your responses. At the end of the
lesson, click the link on the Summary screen to open the Student Answer Sheet. Use the
answers or sample responses to evaluate your own work.

1. Why We Go to War

Think about what justifies a nation going to war. If you were a political leader, what
conditions would, in your judgment, justify a declaration of war? Write an essay that is at
least 200 words long.

Type your response here:

How did you do? Check a box below.

Nailed It!—I included all of the same ideas as the model response on the Student Answer Sheet.

Halfway There—I included most of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet.

Not Great—I did not include any of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet.

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2. Propaganda

Explore what propaganda is. Then, using online resources, select any war poster that was
displayed across the United States during World War I and answer the following questions:

a. Who is the creator or sponsor of the poster?

Type your response here:

b. Describe the subject of the poster. What is its message?

Type your response here:

c. What the desired outcome of the poster? How do you know?

Type your response here:

d. Is this poster propaganda? Explain your answer.

Type your response here:

e. How do you think posters like this one can help us better understand a historical time
period?

Type your response here:

How did you do? Check a box below.

Nailed It!—I included all of the same ideas as the model response on the Student Answer Sheet.

Halfway There—I included most of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet.

Not Great—I did not include any of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet.