I. Learning objectives

To identify the major causes leading to the First World War

To list the six countries involved in the First World War

To describe how the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente were formed

To explain the features of the big six countries

To evaluate the significance of the causes leading to the war
II. Prior Knowledge:
 The underlying and immediate causes of the First World War
III. Suggested no. of lessons: 6
IV. Suggested learning
activities
1. The teacher will check the prior knowledge of the students by asking questions about
the First World War.
Questions:
(1) What do you know about the First World War?
(2) Can you tell any one or two things you have learned about the First World War?
(3) What do you know about the causes of the First World War?
2. This warm-up exercise aims at presenting an overview of the First World War.
Activity 1
3. The teacher will present an overview of the First World War and give students
time to go through the background information.
4. Teacher introduces the “MAIN” causes and asks students to match with the
explanation of the causes leading to the First World War.
Activity 2
5. Show a blank map of Europe. Students are required to locate the six countries.
Activity 3
6. After reading the information in each dialog box, students are required to identify
which country the information is referring to.
7. Teacher may ask students to read the information about the countries in Activity 3
in pairs and then fill in the name of the country.
Activity 4
8. After reading about the six countries, students should be able to identify the two
opposing camps and the reasons for the formation of two alliances.
9. Activity 4 serves as an extended activity of Activity 3. Students are required to
make use of the information in Activity 3 and explain the conflicts among the major
powers. Students are asked to put information related to the armaments race,
imperialism and nationalism in the tables in Activity 4.
Activity 5
10. In Activity 5, students are required to colour the two opposing camps before the
First World War, namely the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary)
and the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia).
Activity 6
11. Teacher should allow students some time to go through the events leading to the
First World War. Students are required to match the event with the correct date in
Activity 6.
Activity 7
12.
It is essential that students spend some time to re-familiarize themselves with the
other causes leading to the First World War apart from the “MAIN” causes. In this
stage, students are allowed to use their textbooks or exercise books to revise
what they have learned earlier.
13.
Activity 7 - Option 1 is an extended task of Activity 6. Teachers may choose to let
students work on this activity in groups or individually.
14.
For a less capable class, teacher may choose to work on the alternative i.e.
Activity 7- Option 2. Instead of asking students to work on elaborations by
themselves, the alternative task requires students to match two sets of
information, making them into a coherent sentence giving due attention to
historical context.
15.
Students are required to make good use of their prior knowledge in this activity.
An example has been given in this part to ensure students understand the task.
16.
If time is sufficient, teachers are recommended to ask students / some of the
groups to present their work, which will help students learn from each other
especially for Activity 7 – Option 1.
Activity 8
17.
Activity 8 is an optional task for more capable students. To strengthen their
analytical skills, students are required to write a mini-essay (for example, not more
than 100 words) as individual or group work depending on their level of ability. An
open-ended question is set to help reinforce their critical and argumentative skills.
Remarks: This is a teacher’s guide only. Teachers are highly-recommended to
modify the guide according to the needs, interests and ability of their students.