Exploring World War One

Last week, I discovered the book The Trenches - a fictional account of a Scottish teenager who enlists in the army at the beginning of World War 1. The book is written in diary form and chronicles the life of Billy Stevens, from boyhood to trench warfare in Belgium. I thought our class might find the book interesting, so I bought it. Flash forward to today's morning paper, where I read that John Babcock - Canada's remaining World War 1 veteran - had died yesterday at the remarkable age of 109.

I brought the class to the carpet, where I read the article and we looked at the pictures. Right away, the children were fascinated with Mr. Babcock's story. Many students talked of grandparents and great-grandparents who served in the Armed Forces and fought in World War 2. As soon as I began reading The Trenches, the boys and girls sat riveted. Later in the day, our student teacher Miss Esling read a few more pages. The boys and girls didn't want her to stop. Judging by their enthusiasm and the many excellent questions asked, it's clear that they're deeply interested in the history of World War 1 .

Please extend this interest at home by talking to your child about World War 1 and what you know about it. There are World War 1 sites for children, which I will try to hot link later. You may wish to Google World War 1 and let your son or daughter learn even more.

Now that I see there is such an interest in World War 1, I will create some engaging reading and writing activities on the topic as we move into the third term.

Have a lovely weekend.

E. Hawkins

P.S. We had a wonderful African Heritage Assembly today. Your children were fantastic. There is so much blossoming talent in our class. I took some snaps during dress rehearsal, which I'll upload soon.

Here is Samuel Barber's haunting Adagio for Strings used to accompany a poem brimming with wise words. Turn up the volume and let the music fill your home.