Alliances, Ultimatums & the Spark of World War I – Hands-On Lesson for Grades 11-12

The Alliances & Sarajevo Assassination – Readers Theater Script (Grades 11-12) plunges students straight into pre-war diplomacy, making origins of WWI lesson plans feel like live news. Using ten scenes and verbatim excerpts from the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum, the activity shows how one gunshot triggered a treaty domino effect.

Standards Connection

Meets CCSS RH.11-12.1, RH.11-12.2 and SL.11-12.1 by demanding evidence-based debate and collaborative discussion.

Lesson Flow

• 9-page script with 10 scenes & 14 roles (Google Doc/PDF).
• Teacher Guide – scene summaries, CCSS alignment & discussion prompts.
• Student Slides deck – 10 vocab, 10 short-answer, 5 analysis, 5 research extensions.
• Self-grading Google Forms quiz (20 multiple-choice questions).

Optional Extension (Teacher-Created)

*Not included in the product PDF.*

• Alliance-simulation game: give each team secret treaty cards and trigger a mock crisis.
• Source jigsaw: match political cartoons to specific ultimatum clauses.
• 1914 newspaper front-page design using authentic headlines.

Ready to roll? Download the script  |  Try the free Lusitania lesson first.