Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: World War II: Causes & Consequences Name: Brian Dail
Content Area: World History, Culture, and Geography: The Grade Level: 10
Modern World
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):

10.8 Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.

1. Compare the German, Italian, and Japanese drives for empire in the 1930s, including the 1937 Rape of Nanking, other atrocities
in China, and the Stalin-Hitler Pact of 1939.
2. Understand the role of appeasement, nonintervention (isolationism), and the domes tic distractions in Europe and the United
States prior to the outbreak of World War II.
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.
6. Discuss the human costs of the war, with particular attention to the civilian and military losses in Russia, Germany, Britain, the
United States, China, and Japan.

Big Ideas/Unit Goals:

Students will be able to utilize critical thinking skills, in oral and written communication, to answer the following essential
questions:
1. What were the major provisions of the Treaty of Versailles?
2. Why did fascism emerge in the 1920’s and 1930’s?
3. How did the World respond to the Axis Powers’ aggression in the 1930’s?
4. Is appeasement an effective foreign policy? Why were European states willing to give in to Hitler’s demands during the
1930’s?
5. What were the justifications and repercussions of the Nazi policies that led to the Holocaust?
6. Has global society today learned the lessons of the Holocaust?
7. Do hard times create strong leaders?
8. Could a war such as World War II occur again? How and why?
9. How does war and conflict affect individuals and society?

Furthermore, a unit goal is for students to have the capability of discussing and debating the human costs of World War II
from the perspective of all the countries involved in the conflict.

Unit Summary:
During this unit, World War II: Causes and Consequences, students will learn and analyze both the long term and short term
causes of World War II. The unit will begin explaining and exploring the challenges of the interwar period in Europe, focusing
on the 1930's. These challenges led to empire building and policies of isolationism and appeasement. We will be researching
and interpreting the actions of the countries involved in this world conflict. Students will learn about the Allied and Axis
powers, and be able to locate them on a world map. We will also be learning detailed information on the military leaders and
the role they played during the war; leaders we will explore include: Churchill, Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Mussolini. During
this unit students will learn some disturbing but necessary details concerning Nazi Germany's racial policies and the
Holocaust; which resulted in the murder of six million Jewish civilians. At the end of the unit we will discus as a class and in
essay format the human costs of the war for each of the major countries involved in the brutality.

Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level:
1. Questioning- to determine what the class
already knows on the subject matter.
2. Video/Class-wide Discussion- short video
on the causes of World War II; followed by a
class-wide discussion to determine how much
students knew on the origins of the conflict
before and after viewing the video.
Formative:
Map Quiz- Students identify Allied and Axis Power
countries on a map.
Graphic Organizer- Groups of 2-4 students create a
compare/contrast matrix chart on the leaders OR
countries of the Axis Power, relating to empire
building.
Critical Thinking Questions- for students to
complete individually. This exercise gives students an
opportunity to use what they have learned about
Summative:
Cumulative Unit Exam- Students will be given
an end of unit test. Study guide and review will
be administered prior to the exam. Test will
include both multiple choice and short answer.
Essay- in class short essays relating to the big
ideas of the unit. Students will be given 5 short
essay questions and will choose 2 to reply on.
 World War II and incorporate their personal thoughts
and opinions into the subject.
Survey (Multiple Choice)- 10 question quiz
Lesson 1 (Teacher Lecture)
Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence Lesson Activities:
-The purpose of this (Assessments): - This lesson will focus around the PowerPoint presentation ‘The Role of Appeasement’. The
lecture is to detail the -Questioning/ in-class lesson will begin describing the long and short-term causes of World War II and then leading
long and short term discussion. into Nazi aggression in the 1930’s. Students will be show a video on Nazi aggression
causes of the war. - Survey/ Quiz accompanied with a ‘guided notes’ handout that will be helpful for studying for the summative
Specifically for students - Group work (political exam. At the conclusion of the video and discussion, students will break up into groups and
to understand the role of cartoon) given a political cartoon pertaining to appeasement, and turn in at the end of the period as
appeasement relating to group work.
Nazi aggression.
Lesson 2 (Webercise/ iPad Lesson)
Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence: Lesson Activities:
-The purpose of this lesson is -Questioning/ Group - For Lesson 2 students will be responsible for completing a Webercise activity. This exercise
for students to acquire Discussion includes 6 of the major leaders during World War II. Each leader has selected website links
detailed knowledge regarding -Map Quiz (matching for students to navigate and learn detailed information. Each leader’s section has questions
the political, diplomatic, and leaders to counries) students must answer after reading the material on each leader.
military leaders of World War - After students complete the Webercise they are required to choose one of the leaders to
- Critical Thinking Writing
II.
Questions write a one page critical thinking essay on.
Lesson 3 (Graphic Organizer)
Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence: Lesson Activities:
-The purpose of this lesson is -Graphic Organizer= quality -Students will be placed in groups of 3-4. They will be assigned handouts with detailed
for students to create a of the Compare/Contrast instructions to complete and Compare/Contrast matrix chart, choosing between the Axis
compare/contrast chart as a charts. Powers leaders OR the Axis Powers countries (Japan, Germany, Italy) strive for empires. Six
group. In collaborative group different resources are given to students to complete each group’s chart.
work gain extensive
knowledge of the Axis Powers
Unit Resources:
https://quizlet.com/274265521/battles-of-world-war-2-flash-cards/
https://study.com/academy/lesson/world-war-ii-the-start-of-the-second-world-war.html
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/political-leaders-of-world-war-two/
https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/the-holocaust-a-learning-site-for-students
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/german-soviet-nonaggression-pact
http://www.openculture.com/2015/06/the-staggering-human-cost-of-world-war-ii-visualized-in-a-creative-new-animated-documentary.html
https://quizlet.com/3418387/world-war-ii-vocabulary-flash-cards/
https://lizardpoint.com/geography/europe-quiz.php?qid=3150

Useful Websites:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-churchill-led-britain-to-victory-in-the-second-world-war
https://www.historyonthenet.com/world-war-2-timeline-2/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/japan_quest_empire_01.shtml
https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy/The-Fascist-era
https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007695
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/racial_state_01.shtml
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/world-war-two-and-eastern-europe/blitzkrieg/