Slaughterhouse Five

You and your partners have just been captured by the aliens known as Tralfamadorians. They have placed you in one of the exhibits on their planet. The only way they will let you go is if you and your partners tell them all about the war their favorite former captive, Billy Pilgrim, fought in. 

You and your partners will research three different aspects of WWII: what events lead to the start of the war, what soldiers faced on the front lines, and what conditions were faced by the POWs (prisoners of war). 

After research is completed, you and your partners will make a PowerPoint presentation displaying the things you have learned through your research that will be presented to the class.

Assign each group member one of the three categories: what events lead to the start of the war, what soldiers faced on the front lines, and what conditions were faced by the POWs (prisoners of war). 

Each member will individually research their category online and will gather information from websites that end in .edu or .org (NOT wikipedia). While individually researching, each member will gather five interesting facts about their category and find images to go along with them.

After this, come back together in the group and discuss what everyone found. Then begin putting together a PowerPoint presentation that will be shared with the class. The PowerPoint should include the five interesting facts from each member and the photos that were found while searching for these facts.

Discuss ways that at least one fact that each member found can relate to the story of Billy Pilgrim and what he faces as a POW in WWII throughout the story of Slaughterhouse Five.

20 Points Total:

Content:

4 Points - 5 ideas that are well researched and stays on topic

3 Points - 5 ideas that are not all on topic

2 Points - less than 5 ideas

1 Point - no ideas presented

PowerPoint:

4 Points - easy to follow and find information on slide

3 Points - PowerPoint has too much going on

2 Points - PowerPoint is messy and difficult to follow

1 Point - no PowerPoint

Photos:

4 Points - at least one photo per slide that pertains to the information presented or to the book

3 Points - does not meet the required amount of photos

2 Points - photos do not pertain to material

1 Point - no photos

Relating to the text:

4 Points - each student is able to relate information back to Slaughterhouse Five

3 Points - only 2 members of the group relate information back to the text

2 Points - only 1 member of the group relates information back to the text

1 Point - students do not relate research to text

Presentation:

4 Points - students are confident in what they are talking about, demonstrating their knowledge in topic

3 Points - students stumble a bit through presentation but are overall demonstrating adequate knowledge

2 Points - students read directly from slides

1 Point - students do not present information 

This activity was designed to encourage research that helps better understand the situation that Billy Pilgrim was in throughout Slaughterhouse Five. Through this activity, knowledge has been gained about all of the conditions Billy Pilgrim may have gone through during his time as a POW. 

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Childrens Crusade: a Duty-Dance with Death. Dial Press, 2015.

Google Images