Teach West Virginia or U.S. history through the lives of everyday veterans.

Teachers and homeschool parents now have the opportunity to supplement their history lessons with a unique set of resources available from the West Virginia National Cemeteries Project. Keep reading for more information on how best to use these powerful tools.
 

If you’re looking for ways to breathe new life into 20th century American or state history, the Council has released In the Service of the Nation, a rich and navigable guide that provides several activities covering essential history skills.

Named for the certificate of service many veterans received after World War I, In the Service of the Nation offers six in-depth activities to bring a wide range of veteran experiences into West Virginia and U.S. history classrooms. Featuring a variety of lengths and difficulty levels, these adaptable activities draw from 38 short veteran biographies created by students of the West Virginia National Cemeteries Project, all of which are available online.

Each standalone activity emphasizes different aspects of studying history—so you can perform the activity as written, mix and match, or just use the resources to teach your own version!

Click the link at right to download a PDF version from Dropbox. To request a spiral-bound copy with laminated cover, write to warmack@wvhumanities.org.

You may have read some of the project’s veteran biographies and become interested in attempting something similar with your students. To help you, we’re making available the resources we’ve developed for students participating in the WVNCP.

Writing templates, basic guides to military branches and unit structure, links to research resources by branch or conflict, a data sheet to guide your students’ search for information, even the permission slip we send home at the start of the project—all of these and more are downloadable via this Dropbox link. As the WVNCP continues, new resources may be added.
 

You’re free to use these in your classroom or homeschool group and modify them for your own teaching needs. Be sure to read the included introduction for advice on how to adapt each resource!

The West Virginia National Cemeteries Project is made possible with generous funding from the Veterans Legacy Grant Program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.