From Neutrality to Action: Simulating the U.S. War Declaration of 1917
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If your Grades 11-12 class needs U.S. declaration of war WWI lesson plans, put students inside the chamber with the 1917 War Declaration & Mobilization – Readers Theater Script. Learners voice Woodrow Wilson, Jeannette Rankin and wavering senators while tracking how submarine warfare and the Zimmermann plot shattered neutrality.
Standards Connection
Meets SL.11-12.4 for persuasive presentation and W.11-12.2 for explanatory writing follow-ups.
Lesson Flow
- Readers Theater script (9 pages, 10 scenes, 15 characters)
- Teacher Guide with scene summaries & CCSS alignment
- Student Worksheet deck (25 Slides) — vocab, short-answer, analysis, extensions
- Self-grading 20-question Google Forms quiz
Optional Extension (Teacher-Created)
Not included in the product PDF.
- Hold a mock filibuster: students attempt to delay the vote with historically grounded arguments.
- Create propaganda posters supporting or opposing intervention, then conduct a gallery walk.
Ready to relive April 1917? Download the script and pair it with the FREE Lusitania Readers Theater for a two-day mini-unit.