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"On both sides in 1915 there would be more dead on any single day than yards gained in the entire year. And there would be nearly four more years of attrition—not to determine who was right, but who was left." Stanley Weinraub
Silent Night - The Christmas Truce of 1914 - Group Work : This group work is based on a chapter of Stanley Weintraub's incredible book - "Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914". A perfect follow-up to All Quiet on the Western Front, this book shows the possibilities for peace that a so sadly missing from Remarque's novel. I assign two chapter2 to my students - a part of the intro and a "The Dead". We then spend two days talking about it. The first day, this lesson is Group Work. There is a quiz on the chapter, "The Dead" and the group work references that chapter as well as All Quiet on the Western Front.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Overview
In addition the the excerpt, "The Dead", the students are also given a handout with general background on the truce and a letter written afterwards by one of the participants.
As always the class begins with a quiz. Reminder: Grade or glance through the quizzes right away - students that have not done the reading, should not be in a group. They can finish their reading in class and do the Group Work for homework (in addition to whatever reading is assigned).
Please see the actual Group Work below for precisely what's in it and my page on Group Work for more of the "why" do it. Here are some of the points that the Group Work goes over.
Some main points of the Silent Night Group Work
Connection of the event to German mythology
The wrong men were fighting - an echo from All Quiet
How authorities were threatened by the truce.
Why was the truce born out of burying the dead?
How does a specific incident with burying the dead relate back to All Quiet and Paul?
How did a little corporal named Adolf Hitler react to the truce.
How does this all relate back to Alma from The History of Love and her determination to "survive in the wild"?
Of course there is much more in the actual Group Work.
Christmas Truce handout
Christmas Truce handout
This handout - which is given to the students with the chapter from Silent Night, gives them a general background on the truce - and they are instructed to read it before the excerpt - as well as a letter written by one of the British soldiers who participated in the truce.
Here is the description from Amazon: SILENT NIGHT brings to life one of the most unlikely and touching events in the annals of war. In the early months of WWI, on Christmas Eve, men on both sides left their trenches, laid down their arms, and joined in a spontaneous celebration with their new friends, the enemy. For a brief, blissful time, remembered since in song and story, a world war stopped. Even the participants found what they were doing incredible. Germans placed candle-lit Christmas trees on trench parapets and warring soldiers sang carols. In the spirit of the season they ventured out beyond their barbed wire to meet in No Man's Land, where they buried the dead in moving ceremonies, exchanged gifts, ate and drank together, and joyously played football, often with improvised balls. The truce spread as men defied orders and fired harmlessly into the air. But, reluctantly, they were forced to re-start history's most bloody war. SILENT NIGHT vividly recovers a dreamlike event, one of the most extraordinary of Christmas stories.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
Group Works are great for Remote Learning - but they do take a lot of logistical preparation.
Silent Night 2 - War Games (a video), a radio story, and two songs : Today we reflect on The Christmas Truce of 1914. We begin by watching a short (28 mins) animated film on the Truce, which in turn was based on a children's book: "War Game". While the students are watching - they relate it to t ideas we've just covered - and looked at from the beginning of the year. We then listen to a beautiful NPR story on The Christmas Truce, a folk song written about the truce from the perspective of a participant, and finally - we form two trenches and serenade each side - in English and German, with the song "Silent Night".
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
I remember the poignant sadness that I (and the rest of the class) felt when during the teaching of this unit - it was announced on the news that the last survivor of the the Christmas Truce had passed away. A few years later, the last survivor of World War 1 passed away as well. Everything changes; nothing is lost.
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