More for the Mind: Home > Shell Shocked Home > Shell Shocked: Lesson 2
Lesson Two: The 1917 Investigation
Approximately one hour
Opener: (5- 10 minutes)
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- Play “Keep the Home Fires Burning,” a popular song from the era. If possible, show the lyrics to support the song while it is playing
- Put the song in the context of WWI
- Link yesterday’s lesson on the soldiers’ life in the trenches to today’s lesson on what happens when they come home
Activity: (10-15 minutes)
- Read “The 1917 Investigation” by Geoffrey Reaume as a class or individually
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- Identify the three themes that will be discussed: patient experience during 1910s-1920s, the experience of shell shock, and ‘home front’ experience with returning soldiers
Activity: (30-40 minutes)
- In groups or individually, students utilize the resources on the History of Madness website to build their knowledge of the three topics outlined
Closing: (5 minutes)
- Briefly discuss information students found online to check for misconceptions and answer questions. Ask students to review their notes in preparation for the cumulative activity next class.
Reaching All Learners
- Students could work in pairs in the computer lab to help each other with reading, comprehension and to talk about the significance of the material
- Students can work with partners to proof read each other’s work, using the rubric to critique each other’s letters
- Letter format could be posted for easy reference
Resources for ‘The 1917 Investigation’ lesson:
Opening
- “The 1917 Investigation,” pages 72-77 in Accounts of Abuse of Patients at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1883-1937, Geoffrey Reaume
- “Evacuation Of The Sick And Wounded Organization Of Medical Units”
- 1918 poem: “Mental Cases”
- 1917 address on “The Repression of War Experience”
- Smith, Grafton Elliot and Tom Hatherly Pear. Shell Shock and its Lessons. 1917.
- “War Nerve Cases Difficult to Treat.” New York Times. 1921.
- “Family Care of Mental Patients” 1936
- Remembrance of Patients Past