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5th grade · Social Studies · Unit 3 of 9

World War I

The Great War and Alabama's part in it

What your child practices

Why the United States entered World War I, the Allies and Central Powers, and how Alabamians served, from the 167th Infantry and James Reese Europe to training camps and the Port of Mobile.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 5.5 · the causes and consequences of World War I, the alliances, and Alabama's contributions to the war effort

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Lusitania sinking (1915) and the Zimmermann Telegram (asking Mexico to attack) pulled the US into World War I.
  2. James Reese Europe's army band brought jazz to France.
  3. War jobs in northern factories helped start the Great Migration. The war ended November 11, 1918, now Veterans Day.

Example: What do Americans call November 11 today? The armistice ended World War I on that date. It honors people who served. Answer: Veterans Day

World War I in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 3 of 9 in 5th grade Social Studies, after The Progressive Era and before Boom, Bust & the New Deal.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    War bonds were a way for Americans to…

    • pay no taxes
    • lend money to the government to pay for the war
    • buy cars cheaply
    • avoid the army

  2. Question 2

    Many Alabama women helped the war effort by…

    • fighting in trenches
    • leaving the country
    • nursing, working in factories and selling war bonds
    • doing nothing

  3. Question 3

    The 167th Infantry Regiment, the old 4th Alabama, fought in France as part of the…

    • Tuskegee Airmen
    • Union navy
    • Red Stick army
    • Rainbow Division

  4. Question 4

    Osmond Ingram of Alabama was the first US Navy sailor killed in action in World War I. He died while…

    • building a road
    • flying a plane
    • trying to protect his ship from a torpedo
    • teaching school

  5. Question 5

    The Zimmermann Telegram was a secret German message asking…

    • Mexico to attack the United States
    • Britain to surrender
    • Alabama to secede
    • France to join Germany

  6. Question 6

    A map of Europe in 1914 would show the Central Powers mostly…

    • on islands in the Pacific
    • in Antarctica
    • in the middle of Europe
    • in South America

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