Lesson Seed 2: Perspective of the Engineers—Before and After

Divide the class into two groups.  One group will read documents written before the invasion while the other group reads documents written after the invasion.  Have students pair with a partner (one before/one after) and share their perspectives. Have students individually make a list of five words describing D-Day and compare them to their partner’s words.

Students can create a before and after chart to describe their perception of the invasion before D-Day and then in the aftermath. Students can identify the apprehension, courage and optimism before and respond to the reality of what they had witnessed. How did the author’s perception change? How did he react to seeing the products of war?