Lesson video
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Hello everyone.
How are you today?
I hope you're doing well.
My name is Ms. Afzal and I'll be a teacher for this lesson.
I'm feeling very pleased about that because we have a really interesting topic ahead of us today.
We are looking at The Great War.
I wonder if you've heard of The Great War before?
I wonder if you know where this took place and when?
Don't worry if you're new to this topic of The Great War.
We are going to be getting right into it today in our lesson.
Our lesson comes from the unit of work, The Great War, how did The Great War affect local people and their communities?
So if you're ready to get into this topic and if you have some sensitivity and some care, 'cause different feelings might arise for people as we talk about war, depending on your experience, or the experiences of people you know.
Let's go gently and take good care as we explore this topic of The Great War.
And if you have some focus, energy, and some enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.
The outcome for today's lesson is I can explain what World War I was.
I hope that sounds interesting to you.
We have some keywords in our lesson and I'd like us to go through them one at a time saying them out loud.
My turn.
Your turn.
Globe.
Allies.
Treaty.
Imperial.
Good to hear those keywords.
Let's find out what they mean.
Globe, the globe refers to the whole world.
Allies.
Countries who support each other during war are known as allies.
Treaty.
A treaty is a formal agreement of support between two or more countries.
Imperial.
Imperial refers to things or people which were part of the British Empire.
So these are our keywords, globe, allies, treaty, and imperial.
I'd like you to share with someone, had you already heard of any of these keywords before?
Did you have any idea about the meaning of these keywords?
Pause there and share with someone if you did.
Thanks for sharing.
Let's be on the lookout for these keywords.
Let's listen out for them.
Let's think carefully about them.
They'll be coming up in our lesson today.
Today's lesson is called The Great War, and it has two learning cycles.
What made The Great War so great and why was The Great War a World War?
Really interesting questions there.
Let's begin by exploring what made The Great War so great.
The Great War began in 1914, and it ended in 1918.
It lasted for four years.
Here's a question from Sophia.
Why was it called The Great War?
Pause here and share with someone.
Do you have any ideas?
Why was it called The Great War?
Thanks for sharing.
Here's Jun.
Great can mean something is very big.
And here's Sam.
It was called The Great War because it was the biggest war that had ever been fought at the time involving many countries from across the globe.
Pause here and share with someone.
Do you remember what our keyword globe means?
Thanks for sharing.
Globe refers to the whole world.
Let's have a check for understanding.
World War I, 1914 to 1918 was referred to as The Great War because.
.
.
Choose from this selection.
A, everybody thought it was great.
B, it affected people from across the globe.
C, it was led by great leaders.
Pause here while you decide why World War I was referred to as The Great War.
Well done if you selected answer B.
Indeed, World War I was referred to as The Great War because it affected people from across the globe.
Well done if you chose this answer.
Here's another great question from Andy.
How did The Great War begin?
Pause here and share with someone.
Do you have any ideas?
Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Let's find out how did The Great War begin?
The Great War began because Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was killed by a Serbian man.
This led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia.
The Great War was fought between the Triple Alliance, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies.
And the Triple Entente, Great Britain, France, and Russia.
And we can see the Triple Alliance in pink on the map.
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies such as Bulgaria and the Triple Entente, Great Britain, France, and Russia, and some allies in yellow.
Let's have a check for understanding.
I'd like you to explain to your partner how alliances led to other countries becoming involved in The Great War.
Pause here while you explain this to your partner.
Perhaps you said something like this.
Other countries such as Russia and Germany got involved in the Great War because they had alliances with the countries being invaded.
These alliances meant they had to support a country during war.
These countries became involved because they had formal written agreements in the form of treaties promising to support each other.
And here's a map showing the different alliances.
Pause here and share with someone as many countries as you can see that were part of the Triple Entente, and they are marked in yellow on the map.
Thanks for sharing, perhaps you mentioned Portugal, Algeria or Romania or some of the other countries.
Britain declared war on Germany because Germany invaded neutral Belgium.
Here's Izzy.
Many years before Britain had signed a treaty agreeing to defend Belgium.
Germany also invaded neutral Luxembourg.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Which is the correct definition for the word treaty?
Choose from this selection.
A, includes the whole world.
B, a formal agreement between countries to fight each other.
C, a formal agreement between countries to support each other.
Pause here while you decide which is the correct definition for the word treaty.
Well done if you selected answer C.
Indeed, the correct definition for the word treaty is a formal agreement between countries to support each other.
Well done If you selected this answer and now it's time for your first task.
I would like you to give one reason why so many countries became involved in The Great War, and a good reason would mention treaties.
So pause here while you have a go at this task.
Giving a reason why so many countries became involved in The Great War.
Don't forget to mention our keyword treaties.
I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with that task of giving one reason why so many countries became involved in The Great War?
Your answer could include something like this, one reason why so many countries became involved in The Great War was because of old treaties.
A treaty is a formal agreement of support between two or more countries.
These treaties were in place before the war began.
Well done if you had an answer like this, and especially if you included the word treaty in your reasoning.
Well done for having a go at this task.
And now we're onto our next learning cycle, why was The Great War a world war?
The British army of four to five million was not enough to fight The Great War.
As the war progressed, Britain was strengthened by forces from across the British Empire.
For many imperial soldiers, this would've been the first time they would've left their country.
And here we can see a photo of some imperial soldiers.
Who's here and share with someone what does our keyword imperial mean?
Can you remember?
Thanks for sharing, perhaps you said that imperial refers to things or people who are part of the British Empire.
Around three million soldiers made up the British Imperial and Commonwealth troops in World War I.
Soldiers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Africa were all involved in fighting alongside the British Army.
And here we can see a chart showing the different countries British Imperial and Commonwealth troops came from.
Pause here and share with someone which country outside of Britain sent the most troops to support the war effort in World War I.
Thanks for sharing, perhaps you spotted that it was India where almost 1.
5 million soldiers were involved in fighting alongside the British Army.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Aisha and Alex are discussing Britain's imperial soldiers.
Who do you agree with?
Here's Aisha.
Many imperial soldiers fought for Britain in The Great War to leave their country for the first time.
And Alex, many imperial soldiers fought for Britain in The Great War because the British army was not strong enough.
Pause here while you decide who it is that you agree with.
Aisha or Alex.
Perhaps you answered like this.
I agree with Alex.
Many imperial soldiers fought for Britain in The Great War because the British army was not strong enough.
For many imperial soldiers, it was the first time they had left their home country.
Soldiers from many countries across the globe fought for Britain during The Great War.
These soldiers fought against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and their allies.
And this map is showing the different alliances.
The fighting in World War I took place across the globe in many continents and countries.
This is why it was referred to as a world war.
And on this map we can see the scale of World War I.
Pause here and share with someone some of the parts of the world where fighting took place as you can see on this map representing the parts of the globe directly affected by The Great War.
Thanks for sharing.
Much of the fighting involved British, Commonwealth, and imperial troops took place in France and Belgium.
And here we can see a painting of an attack on the village of Pozieres, France, 1916.
Let's have a check for understanding.
True or false?
The fighting during The Great War only happened in Belgium and France.
Pause here and share with someone.
Is this statement true or false?
Well done if you selected false.
And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.
Pause here while you do this.
Perhaps you said something like this, the fighting in World War I took place across the globe, but lots of the fighting involving British, Commonwealth, and imperial troops took place in France and Belgium.
And now it's time for your next task.
I would like you to explain two reasons why The Great War was referred to as a world war.
You may find it helpful to use this vocabulary in your answer.
And we've got a few of our keywords in there.
Allies, imperial, British Empire, and globe.
So pause here while you have a go at this task of explaining two reasons why The Great War was referred to as a world war.
And you might like to use the words allies, imperial, British Empire and globe in your answer.
I'll see you when you're finished.
It is good to be back with you.
So how did you get on with that task of explaining two reasons why The Great War was referred to as a world war?
Your answer could have included something like this, the Great War was referred to as a world war because soldiers came from across the globe.
For example, the Imperial soldiers fighting for the British Empire came from many countries such as India, Australia, and South Africa.
Although much of the fighting that British and imperial troops were involved in took place in Belgium and France, countries and their allies fought in battles across the globe.
And what a great answer, it's got the words globe, imperial, British Empire and allies in there.
Well done for explaining your reasons why The Great War was referred to as a World War.
Well done for having a go at this task.
In our lesson, The Great War, we've covered the following, World War I took place between 1914 and 1918 and involved countries from across the globe affecting people all over the world.
It became known as The Great War, as it was the biggest war ever fought at the time.
World War I involved the Triple Alliance, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies and the Triple Entente, Great Britain, France, and Russia.
These countries supported each other due to old treaties and alliances.
Much of the fighting that British and imperial troops were involved with took place in France and Belgium.
Well done everyone for taking part in this lesson.
I thought it was so interesting to explore The Great War, its origins, its spread, its impact, the countries that were involved, the treaties that were upheld, the alliances that held strong.
I hope you found this lesson interesting and that you learned some new facts I enjoyed teaching you and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.
Bye for now.
