Implementation of ‘Letters and postcards from war times’ (SOI-RO-48)
My name is Matei Dan and I am involved in the Romanian User Group of the Europeana Education project.
Man and Society
As a History teacher, I have chosen a teaching scenario that can be integrated within the curricular area “Man and Society”. According to the National Curriculum of the History of Romania, this topic is suitable for students in the 7th – 8th grade (13-15 years old).
I have chosen for implementation the scenario “Letters and postcards from war times”. Why? Because we discover with emotion the thoughts and feelings of World War I participants as they were recorded in the notes, letters or diaries written in the trenches, field hospitals, captivity or around the front line, documents carefully preserved in the precious vault of family memories gathered with care in the Europeana collections. I have used just part of this beautiful didactic scenario during the History lesson of the 8th grade (the lesson was 50 minutes long).
The world with and without war
In the first part of the lesson, the students used the Europeana resources to read Charles Patrick Flanagan’s letters from World War I.
I also searched the Internet for letters of the Romanian soldiers on the Eastern front. Divided into working groups, the students discussed how the world would look without wars. Then, they were guided to make postcards representing a world without conflicts.
In the second part of the lesson, the students discussed the two World Wars, focusing on the role played by Romania during these major military conflicts of the 20th Century.
Conclusion
Overall, the lesson objectives have been met, the students have learned to use the Europeana resources and find information about the indicated topic. They have improved their teamwork, on-line research skills and language skills.
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario?
Letters and postcards from war times created by Heathcliff Schembri
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like:
- ‘Letters and Postcards from War Times‘, implemented by Justin Nicholas Micallef
- Implementation of ‘Globalization, national and European identity‘ by Marcin Jabłoński
- ‘Europe and me‘, implemented by Maria Manuela Gheorghe
Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.
CC BY 4.0 – The featured image used to illustrate this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution. It can be found on the Finnish National Gallery website. The original image has been resized and labelled to illustrate this article.