Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: 10.8 Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War
II
Name: Matthew LeGrand
Content Area: World History, Culture, and Geography: The Modern World

Grade Level:10
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):
10.8 Section 3. Identify and locate the Allied and Axis powers on a map and discuss the major turning points of the war, the principal theaters of conflict, key
strategic decisions, and the resulting war conferences and political resolutions, with emphasis on the importance of geographic factors.
4. Describe the political, diplomatic, and military leaders during the war (e.g., Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Adolf Hitler, Benito
Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower).
5. Analyze the Nazi policy of pursuing racial purity, especially against the European Jews; its transformation into the Final Solution; and the Holocaust that resulted
in the murder of six million Jewish civilians.

Big Ideas:
Geography, Government Leaders, Major Battles, Political Resolutions, and The Holocaust.

Unit Goals and Objectives:
Geography of European and Pacific Theaters: When given a map, students will be able to identify correctly by the end of the unit the locations of all Allied and
Axis powers in both the European and Pacific Theaters.
Allied and Axis Government Leaders: Working independently, students will be able to comprehensively evaluate the strategies of conducting war for two Allied
and/or Axis government leaders.
Major Battles: Students will be able to discuss and evaluate in a small group the costs and consequences of three major battles from each theater.
Political Resolutions: Students will be able to define and understand the significance of the Potsdam and Yalta Conferences, Molotov-Ribbentrop Contract,
Washington Disarmament Conference, and the treaties of surrender by the end of the unit.
The Holocaust: In a small group students will be able to thoroughly evaluate Nazi racial and anti-Semitic policies and the human costs associated with the
Holocaust.


Unit Summary:

The purpose of this unit is to provide students with a richer understanding of the causes, costs, history, and impact of World War II. Focus will be given to the
Holocaust as well as the economic impact of the war in shaping the postwar world. During this unit students will delve into several primary and secondary sources
and receive a deeper understanding of the geographical and geopolitical forces behind the deadliest war in history.


Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level: Brainstorm and quick-write about
political leaders during WWII and the
conditions that enabled their rise to power.
Formative: Guided notes and lecture - Allied and Axis
Political Leaders During WWII
Flashcards Characteristics of Allied and Axis leaders
Made on Quizlet.
Online survey War Aims of Allied-Axis Leaders
Quiz Quotes and policies regarding WWIIs major
political leaders.
Summative: Students will create a Venn Diagram
comparing two political leaders.
Students will write a short compare/contrast
essay using the information from the diagram.

Lesson 1
Student Learning Objective:
Government Leaders:
Working independently,
students will be able to
comprehensively evaluate
the political aims and
ideologies of two Allied
and/or Axis government
leaders
Acceptable Evidence:
Students will create a Venn
Diagram comparing two
political leaders and write a
short compare/contrast
essay using the information
from the diagram.
Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities: Students will receive a presentation along with guided
notes on the background and political philosophy of the main Allied and
Axis government leaders. Students will choose two leaders and read
selected government documents explaining that leaders justification of
World War II and what they hoped to achieve. Students will collaborate
and discuss in pairs their conclusions with those who share the same
leader.

Lesson 2
Student Learning Objective:
The Holocaust: In a small
group students will be able
to thoroughly evaluate Nazi
racial and anti-Semitic
policies and the human
costs associated with the
Holocaust.
Acceptable Evidence:
Students will write a
chronological essay of the
Holocaust and give a
presentation of their
research that explains key
events, locations, and
people involved.
Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities: Teacher lectures a short chronological history of the
Holocaust and on the overall depth of the Final Solution. Students will
read, as a group, excerpts from anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda and also
from primary sources relating to Jews directly involved in the Final
Solution (example Anne Frank or Gerda Weissman Klein) and discuss why
and how the Holocaust occurred. Students will choose between three
texts: The Diary of Anne Frank, All But My Life, or, Night and read over
the course of the unit.
Lesson 3
Student Learning Objective:
Geography: Working
independently, students
will be able to identify
correctly by the end of the
unit the locations of all
Allied and Axis nations in
both the European and
Pacific Theaters.
Acceptable Evidence:
Students will choose 3 Allied
or Axis nations and create a
presentation (PowerPoint,
poster, or brochure) that
explains key geographic
features, borders and
neighboring nations.

Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities: Teacher gives presentation regarding the diverse
geography and geographic features present in the European and Pacific
theater. Following the presentation students will independently
complete a mapping exercise. After completing the mapping activity
students get into small groups and discuss critical thinking questions of
the impact of geography on the scale, intensity, and cost of both theaters
of the war.


Unit Resources:

http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/English35.pdf

http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=1904

https://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill/524-the-defence-of-freedom-and-peace

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mcc&fileName=083/page.db&recNum=0&itemLink=r?ammem/mcc:@field(DOCID+@lit(mcc/083))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK8gYGg0dkE



Useful Websites:
http://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/animatedmap/wlc/flv/liberate.mp4

http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1956984_2029649,00.html

http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2011/holocaust-kids/















Entry Level Formative Summative
Brainstorm and quick-write about political leaders
during WWII and the conditions that enabled their
rise to power.

Guided notes and lecture - Allied and Axis Political
Leaders During WWII

Flashcards Characteristics of Allied and Axis
leaders Made on Quizlet.

Online survey War Aims of Allied-Axis Leaders
Quiz Quotes and policies regarding WWIIs major
political leaders.

Students will create a Venn Diagram comparing
two political leaders.
Students will write a short compare/contrast essay
using the information from the diagram.