Voices from World War I

Soldiers of the 5th Division resting by the side of the Montauban road near Mametz, France, while on their way to the trenches. Most of the men are wearing sheepskin jackets and woollen gloves and are carrying full kit and .303 Lee–Enfield rifles. Australian War Memorial: E00019

A digital education resource on the significant places where Australians fought during World War I and the experiences and perspectives of those who fought there. Included within the digital resource are five presentations:

• The Causes of World War I
• Gallipoli
• The Western Front
• The Middle East
• Women at War

The focus is on the experiences of Australian servicemen and nurses, the sensory reality of life in the trenches and in other campaigns. What were they eating, hearing, seeing, feeling?

The presentation format allows students to navigate around the topics in self-directed learning, or in small groups, but also supports an explicit teaching moment with the whole class.

All of the presentations include a broad range of primary sources and contextual information to support student understanding, and the presentations on specific campaigns include three student activities with accompanying student worksheets.

PRESENTATIONS AND STUDENT WORKSHEETS

The Causes of World War I

Presentation

Gallipoli

Presentation Learning Activity 3 resources: Research Hints Documenting Selected Collection Items from Australian War Memorial about Gallipoli

The Western Front

Presentation Learning Activity 3 resources: Research Hints Documenting Selected Collection Items from Australian War Memorial about The Western Front

The Middle East

Presentation Learning Activity 3 resources: Research Hints Documenting Selected Collection Items from Australian War Memorial about The Middle East

Women at War

Presentation Learning Activity 1 resource: Reasons why Australian men and women served in World War I Learning Activity 2 resource: Think, Pair, Share Worksheet Learning Activity 3 resources: Research Hints Documenting Selected Collection Items from Australian War Memorial about Women at War

Note to Teachers

There are several ways that these resources could be used with your students:

• Each presentation could be shown individually in class, allowing for a class discussion of the primary sources and themes contained in each presentation concurrently. Students could then be assigned some or all of the learning activities to complete as homework.
• Pairs of students or small groups could be assigned one of the presentations to view in class, take notes and complete the student activities and then report back to the class about what they have learnt.
• Individual or pairs of students could be assigned one of the presentations to view at home, complete the student activities as homework and then discuss what they have learnt with other students in the class who were assigned the same presentation to study.

Produced by the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria.

The History Teachers' Association of Victoria would like to thank the Victorian Government’s Office for Veterans and the Victorian Veterans Council for providing the funding for this project through the Victoria Remembers grant.