This month in Modern World History, 9th grade students worked on creating propaganda posters as a part of their unit on World War One.
Just a few weeks ago, students began the unit by learning about the initial causes of the war. Next, students focused on the conditions of the war, namely the conditions of trench warfare. Classes then spent a full period analyzing propaganda posters used during wartime. The students were prompted to consider the symbolism and concepts of “total war”. Now, students have been tasked with working in groups to design their own propaganda posters.
“The main goal of the propaganda posters project was to help students understand the concepts of total war through multiple perspectives,” said Modern World History teacher, Mrs. Stewart.
“What was fun about this project was that students picked both a perspective and a goal out of a hat so no two posters were the same in any of my 3 Modern World History classes,” Stewart continued.
For example, students may have selected Russia as their assigned perspective, and recruitment as a goal for their poster. Then, they would be tasked to draw a poster as if they were trying to recruit Russian soldiers during World War One.
This project was a unique way to get students to think about the war, by focusing on topics that aren’t usually talked about much. Mrs. Stewart also acknowledged how this project ties into the South Windsor schools Portrait of a Graduate.
“This project is aligned to the Portrait of a Graduate through student engagement and social consciousness, and adapting multiple perspectives from both sides of WWI, ” Mrs Stewart said.
For many students, it can be difficult to learn and retain information simply by listening to a lecture from a teacher. This hands-on project helped Modern World History students more deeply understand the importance of propaganda, and the impact it had during WWI.
“This was one of my favorite projects this year because I enjoyed drawing and working in a group,” said 9th grade student Zachary Gilbert. “Making my own poster with a deeper meaning helped me understand propaganda more,” he said.
The propaganda poster project not only helped students develop a deeper understanding of the WWI unit, it was also enjoyable to create the posters. Many students were creative with their poster, using big bubble letters or drawing an animal or object to represent their assigned country. The artists of the Class of 2029 created fantastic posters that not only display their understanding of propaganda during WWI, but their artistic abilities as well.
“Students did an excellent job in creating propaganda posters with catchy slogans and images to persuade its intended audience,” Mrs. Stewart said. “I will definitely be hanging them up around the classroom!”
Modern World History students will continue their focus on WWI through the midterm exams in late January, and there are plenty of projects to come where students will continue to express their creativity.
