wwii research project (diary)

Information Competent Learners: Access > Research > Analyse > Evaluate > Create

Module Three: World War II Research ProjectYour Name: ………………………………………………………

Your task: Research a World War II topic of your choice and write a diary from a particular person

Details: You will research a group of people’s experience of WWII, and then write a diary from the point-of-view of someone living during this time.

You will choose one of the experiences below and do your own research to find out as much as you can about it. The topics on offer are:

Experience of British/German soldiers

Experience of British/German citizens

Experience of women/changing roles

Experience of Jewish citizens

Once you have done your research, and learnt all there is to know about your topic, you will create your own character and write their diary.

You will use the facts that you learn in your research to create your diary, which will describe your experience and feelings about what is happening during the war, and include details about key events (Battle of Britain; rationing; concentration camps; etc) and important people (Winston Churchill; Hitler etc).


Choosing your topic for your diary

You are going to write a diary using one of the topics below as your focus. Read these short introductions to each topic carefully, and decide which you would like to choose to research in more detail.

Experience of Jewish citizens

For this topic, you should research into the experience of people of Jewish faith, in particular those living in Germany.

You may want to find out about: why Jews were persecuted by the Nazis; how they were persecuted; what happened to those living in Germany; what Jews did to escape Germany; the holocaust; Auschwitz; survivors’ stories.

Experience of women/changing roles

For this topic you should research into how the role of British women changed during World War II.

You should find out about: the experience of women during this time; the role of women in society before the war; how their lives changed; what they did while men were away, fighting in the war; the impact this had on their lives; how this changed their day-to-day lives; what this meant for women’s rights.

Experience of British/German citizens

For this topic you will find out about what life was like for British or German citizens during World War II.

You could find out about: what happened to men who did not want to fight in the war; rationing; jobs and work; The Blitz; evacuation of children to the countryside; whether many civilians died.

Experience of British/German soldiers

For this topic, you will find out about what it was like to be a British or German soldier.

You should find out about: the different roles in the armed forces; what these roles involved; what life was like; the different battles soldiers were involved in; what it was like to fight in battle; how many soldiers were killed.


General WWII facts

Use the information sources on your table to help you answer the following questions.

Q.1 World War II began on which date? 1 September 1939

10 June 1945

18 January 1914

Q.2 The war began because Germany invaded which country?

Greece

Denmark

Poland

Q.3 Which country joined Germany’s side, called the Axis Powers, first?

Australia

Italy

Japan

Q.4 Great Britain fought alone against the German’s Axis Powers, until other countries joined to help. Those that joined Great Britain were called what?

The Allied Forces

The Friendly Forces

The Apple Fortress

Q.5 In what year did the German forces surrender?

1948

1945

1950

Q.6 Which country was the last to surrender in World War II?

Russia

Italy

Japan


Planning your research

Use the template below to brainstorm four keywords and phrases to do with your topic. You will be able to use these to help you find information during your research when checking indexes, contents pages, skimming/scanning information and using search engines.


Research using books

Book title Author Publisher

My notes (use this box to make notes of important facts, ideas and information from this book)

Book title Author Publisher

My notes (use this box to make notes of important facts, ideas and information from this book)


Research using the internet: Bibliography table

When doing research on the internet, you must record the websites that you use too. Use this table to record the websites that have helped your research.

Title of website Author

Website address Year published Date accessed

My notes (use this box to either print and highlight, or make notes of important facts, ideas and information)





Research using the internet

List of search engines you might want to use to find websites:

– Google; Yahoo!; Ask; Bing; Lycos

How about searching across them all? You can use these multi-search engines to search lots of search engines at the same time

– Dogpile.co.uk; Webcrawler.com; search.Yippy.com; Zuula.com

Search strategies

• Search using key words/terms that you have identified. You do not always have to search by typing in a whole question.

• Use quote marks (“second world war”) to search for an exact phrase

• Use Google search tools

– Advanced Search gives you more options to search the internet, such as by language, exact phrases and reading level

– Wonder Wheel shows you related, similar searches

Questions to ask when assessing a website

– Who wrote this? (look at the URL or About page)

– When did they write it? (when was it updated?)

– Why did they write it? (is there a reason for the website? A particular audience?)

– Where did they write it? (where is the site based?)

– At what level is it written? (is it appropriate for me?)

– How can it help me? (you decide!)


Research using the internet: Bibliography table

When doing research on the internet, you must record the websites that you use too. Use this table to record the websites that have helped your research.








Planning your diary: What should a diary entry include?

Read the diary extracts below. One is taken from a modern, fictional diary and the other from a diary written by someone living during WWII.

What features can you identify in these two examples of diaries?

Think about the following features of a diary:

Give your personal opinion about details or events

Be descriptive of what has happened to you, using different senses such as sounds, smells, tastes, textures and how things look

Use stories to describe events, making things interesting to the reader

Your diary is written as if based on your real-life experience, and so show and write about your emotions and feelings

Extracts from S. L. Shneiderman (Ed.), (2006)

The Diary of Mary Berg, Oxford: Oneworld


Planning your diary: Your diarist

You should think about who your diarist is, what they are like etc. before you start writing, as this will help you once you do begin. Use this table to plan your work by thinking about your diarist’s character.

Name: Age: Where they live: Occupation/job:

Role in the war: Family: (parents, bothers/sisters, wife/husband, children)

Any other details or information about your diarist

What events your diaries will include

Now you are ready to begin writing or typing up you diary.

Remember to include at least four diary entries which relate your experience and feelings about what is happening during the war, and include details about key events (Battle of Britain; rationing; concentration camps; etc) and important people (Winston Churchill; Hitler etc).

wwii research project (diary)

Documents

world war

experience of people

access research

research project

different roles

role of british women

role of women

different battles soldiers