Remembrance Day Lesson Idea
Posted by Trish Weaver on October 18th 2010

World War I Propaganda Posters

Art & Literacy

As Remembrance Day approaches, I find it helpful to have my students reflect on the different roles that Canadians played in World War I.  In this assignment, we look at the role the Canadian Government played in recruiting soldiers, supporting the War Effort, and promoting National Unity during this historical period.

Materials:

Paper, pencil crayons, fine liners

Resources:

Adams, Simon. World War I. New York: DK Pub., 2007. Print.

Brocklehurst, Ruth, and Ian Brook. The Usborne Introduction to the First World War. London: Usborne, 2007. Print.

Steps:

1.            Introduce propaganda posters and discuss how they were used in World War I.  (Brocklehurst resource, page 33;  Adams resource, page 38).  Generate list of uses for propaganda posters.

2.            Show many samples of propaganda posters and discuss titles/slogans, text, images, style, colour, etc. – are images effective?  Does the text contain a strong message?  Is the title/slogan “catchy”?  Have students choose a theme: Recruiting soldiers, Supporting the War Effort OR Promoting National Unity.  Spend some time looking at the posters for that theme considering above discussions and then brainstorm slogans, choose one, and design a propaganda poster to match the slogan.

Submitted by Colette Foran

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Vancouver, BC