Costs Of World War Ii Lesson Plan

The Costs of World War II Lesson Plan Unit Title

Lesson Title

The United States in World War II

The Costs of World War II

Driving Historical Question(s) 1. What were the human, economic, and political costs of World War II? 2. How did World War II impact the world?

Student Objectives 1. Students will analyze sources to understand the human, economic, and political costs of World War II. 2. Students will evaluate and explain which cost had the greatest impact on the world.

California Content Standards

Common Core Literacy Standards

11.4: Students trace the rise of the United States to its role as world power in the twentieth century. 11.7: Students analyze America’s participation in World War II. 11.7.6: Describe the major developments in aviation, weaponry, communication, and medicine and the war’s impact on the location of American industry and use of resources. 11.7.7: Discuss the decision to drop atomic bombs and the consequences. 11.7.8: Analyze the effect of massive aid given to Western Europe under the Marshall Plan to rebuild itself after the war and the importance of a rebuilt Europe to the United States economy. 11.8: Students analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II America.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1: ​Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting the insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2: ​Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.6: ​Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7: ​Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8: ​Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9: ​Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Vocabulary Students will all have a copy of their unit vocabulary with the following academic vocabulary words included: World Bank: ​A bank founded in 1944 by the United States and 43 other nations in order to provide loans to help countries from World War II and develop their economies. United Nations (UN): ​An international organization founded in 1945 to further the causes of peace, prosperity and human rights. Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ​A document adopted by the United Nations in 1948 affirming basic human rights, including the right to life, libertys, and equality before the law, as well as freedom of religion, expression, and assembly. War Crimes: ​A violation of internationally accepted practices related to waging war. Sovereignty: ​A nation’s independent authority. Iron Curtain: ​An ideological barrier that existed between the Eastern and Western Europe from 1945 to 1990. Third World: ​Originally, a group of nations that had not gained independence from colonial rule and were not aligned with the West (First World) or the East (Second World) after World War II; more broadly, the developing nations of the world.

Anticipatory Set

TIME: ​5 min.

This is the last lesson of the World War II unit, and leads into the Cold War unit. Students will have a thorough background of the war and will now be analyzing and synthesizing everything they had learned the past unit. To introduce the costs of the war lesson, the chart with the civilian and military deaths will be displayed as students are coming to class. The numbers are staggering and will draw the students into the lesson. We will have a brief discussion and the students will log into their Chromebooks and make a copy of ​THIS HyperDoc and add it to their Google Drive.

Content Delivery

TIME: ​1.5 hours

Background Information: ​Depending on the reading level of the class, have students read “The Bombing of Civilians” information silently on their own or read aloud with the class. Students can annotate the reading as well and highlight important information. This background information will help them with Section 1. This should take about 5 minutes. Modeling: ​Display the HyperDoc and work with students as a class on the first question that asks, “Which country has the most casualties?” Why? The class can discuss together why the Soviet Union has the most casualties. Lead the class to a discussion of the population percentage. This should take 10 minutes. Partner Work: ​Once they understand the chart, they can continue to work with a ​partner on Section 1. Section 1 should take students about 15-20 minutes. After completing Section 1, have a brief (5 minute) discussion on it. Section 2: ​Depending on the reading level of the class, have students read the background information on Section 2 - The Economic Cost silently on their own or read aloud with the class. Students can annotate the reading as well and highlight important information. Again, have students work with a partner. Section 2 has less questions and should only take about 10 minutes with a 3-4 minute class discussion. Section 3: ​For this section, have one student read each country’s political costs aloud. Students can annotate the reading as well and highlight important information. Then have students work with a partner to answer the questions. Section 3 should take 15-20 minutes. Then have a class discussion about Section 3.

Critical Thinking Question: ​Before having students write their response to the Critical Thinking Question, have students vote on which was the most costly part of World War II - human, economic, or political. Record their tally on the board and gives students an opportunity to defend their answer. After they have compared and contrasted the three major costs, students will be able to write their responses. Usually, students will write these on their own, but if it is an EL or Struggling Reader class, this may also be done with a partner. This section will take the longest, and may need to be completed as homework depending on the length of the class period. This vote, debate, and write will take a half an hour minimum, and may be adjusted depending on the class.

Student Engagement - Critical Thinking and Student Activities

TIME: ​Embedded into Content Delivery

Throughout this lesson, students will be thinking critically with their classmates. Depending on the class, students can either choose their partners, or the teacher can strategically choose students of different learning abilities to work together. The main Critical Thinking Question (Section 4) is where students will be thinking critically and synthesizing information to form an argument and be able to defend their claims.

Formative and Summative Assessment

TIME: ​Embedded into Content Delivery

Formative Assessment: ​By stopping at the end of each section and leading a class discussion, this serves as a Formative Assessment. An effective teacher will know which students are struggling and/or not engaged based on these discussions and can spend time one-on-one working with these particular students. Summative Assessment: ​Section 4, which is the Critical Thinking Question is a summative assessment. This question requires students to analyze all the information on the HyperDoc and synthesize an argument as to which cost (human, economic, or political) was most costly. Students then must use specific information from the HyperDoc to defend their answer.

Lesson Closure

TIME: ​2 min.

Students will vote before they before they begin Section 4 on which cost (human, economic, or political) was most costly. This will also serve as an Exit Ticket.

Accommodations for English Learners, Students with Special Needs, etc. For English Learners, they will have a ​COPY of the Unit Vocabulary. This will help English Learners and Students with Special Needs understand the readings that are embedded into the Costs of World War II HyperDoc. Additionally, students can annotate and highlight directly onto the document. Depending on the class, teachers can strategically choose students’ partners to place them in pairings of different skill levels.

Resources ● Students will need access to an Internet connected device like a Chromebook. ● Students will need access to Google Drive and a copy of the ​HyperDoc. ● It would be useful to use a Google Extension such as ​GoGuardian​ so the teacher can view what students are doing on their computers.