Grade 8 students bring a soldier’s experience to life

A Grade 8 class recently put the finishing touches on a unique project combining English, History, and a touch of role playing.

After reading the novel Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, an account of the First World War, the students created an imagined soldier who fought at Vimy Ridge and survived to tell the horrific tales.

The boys then put together a scrapbook as if they were that soldier. Each scrapbook includes a variety of items, such as letters to loved ones, photos, maps, and mementos. The result is vivid and oftentimes heartbreaking accounts of what life was like for a Canadian soldier during the Great War.