The following is a three day preview into a larger unit lesson plan focusing on World War II. The lesson contains high school content areas from 4 major subject areas including Social Studies, Mathematics, English, and French. The idea of the lesson is for students to learn Social Studies content using skills they have developed in other subject areas and to infuse the curriculum.

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Day 1: “Arbeit Macht Frei”

Time allotted: 51 minutes

Bell Ringer: Students are asked as they come into their classroom to put their belongings at their desk, but stand, forming a circle, with their classmates.

Procedure one: “Don’t cheat” 6 MINUTES

Students are told by the teacher to crouch down, remaining on their feet, with their hands on their knees (a somewhat uncomfortable position, but bearable for the simulation) and close their eyes. The teacher explains there are rules that must be follwed, and a tap on the head will signal to the students how to play the game. The game begins. The Teacher repeats the following over and over again:

“Rule #1- Don’t cheat. Rule #2- If I tap you once, repeat the rules with me. Rule #3- If I tap you twice, you may stand up, but keep your eyes closed. Rule #4- If I tap you three times, you may do whatever you want. Rule #1…”

As the simulation begins, students are tapped. It is up to the students how long the game will go. Most students when tapped three times stand up and open their eyes. I have had one student when tapped three times, thus able to do whatever he wants, go around and tap everyone’s head three times. Whatever happens allows a short discussion on the fear of authority, empowerment, and social obligation toward your neighbors. This will lead us to discuss the Holocaust.

Procedure two: “History 101” 15 MINUTES

Brief PowerPoint on background knowledge of the Holocaust. This will depend on what students already have learned on the subject; information taken from a pre-assessment given at the beginning of the unit. The following is a brief PowerPoint created for a classroom that will be altered based on the findings of the pre-assessment and my knowledge of the students in each individual class, as well as the curriculum designed and approved by the school and its social studies department.. It includes Maps, Charts, and my personal photographs from my visit to Dachau Concentration Camp in the Summer of 2008. See PowerPoint “Holocaust”

Procedure three: “Write It!” 20 MINUTES

It is now time for students to take out their “history journals” a tool used all year long for assessment and extension. They are asked to write on one of the following questions. Student’s can chose based on what interests them. Journals are collected at the end of every class period, and graded from grammatical correctness, extension of ideas, and completion.

  • Figure out, based on your knowledge of geometry, quadrants, and compasses what a fair way would be to redistribute land back to those who were taken away to concentration camps either to their family or to themselves after the liberation. You may create your own measurements and apply them to the entire German Empire, or you may chose to allot different amounts in different areas. You may draw any pictures or diagrams to assist your explanation.
  • Using your knowledge of the imperfect tense (if clauses) write 8 statements, in French of course, pertaining to the Holocaust information, or simulation we did today. Ex. “If I were the authority, I would…”
  • Discuss in 1-2 pages a misperception you had of the Holocaust. Where did this misperception come from? How does this differ from your view now?

Procedure four: “Show and Tell!” 10 MINUTES

Students will volunteer to share their work from the history journals with the rest of the class, taking questions and comments from other students. This provides for a conclusion to the information presented in today’s period.

Day Two: DDay

Time allotted: 51 minutes

Procedure one: “Storybook” 21 minutes

Students will take their seat and take out their history journals. The teacher, using a overhead projector, scrolls images on the screen from DDay. These images are designed to tell a story. They begin in the morning of June 6, 1944 and continue on to photographs taken in 2008 on my personal trip to Normandy. Students respond to questions posed by the teacher in their history journals. Photos and questions can be viewed in order in the IMAGES document. Students are only to see the picture and at the end of all the images it is revealed exactly who is in the picture, who took it, etc.

Procedure two: “The Deadliest Equation” 10 Minutes

How can our study of economics and rate of production through mathmatics be applied to DDay? Teacher explains to students that in WWII the Germans want to produce as many tanks as possible. To keep track the Germans put serial numbers on each tank to keep track of the amount produced in a month. The tanks serial numbers were numbered: 1, 2, 3, 4...N, where N is the desired numbers of tanks produced.

Example: Imagine they captured 5 German tanks with serial numbers: 19, 25, 63, 75, and 92. We have a sample size of five with a maximum serial number of 92. Now we want to call the sample size S and the maximum serial number M.

Now introduce the equation f(x) = (M-1)(S+1)/S.

Have the students solve the problem and explain what the output means.

Solution: (92-1)(5+1)/5=109.2. This rounds to 109 tanks produced at this time. The more tanks captured the more accurate of a number we would get for tanks produced at certain times. The actual number of tanks produced during WWII is 245 tanks per month.

Procedure three: “Les Lettres aux Soldats: Letter Correspondence in French” 20 MINUTES

What is correct etiquette when writing a letter in French? How does the etiquette change depending on the recipient of the letter? Instructor will read the format page aloud and ask students to name ways in which the format compares or contrasts with English letter writing. Students will begin composing the rough draft of their letter to a fallen American soldier. Students will be prompted to express their emotions and concerns in a respectful manner even if they are not directly thanking the fallen. They will be encouraged to realize that each soldier was a different person with a different background, and was young just as they are. Students will be prompted to use the relevant vocabulary and format. When completed, students can volunteer to read their letters aloud to the class. This provides a nice conclusion to the days lesson by incorporating the feelings evoked in the first lesson.

Day Three: Impact of WWII on the French

Time allotted: 51 minutes

Procedure one: “Battle of the Algiers” 15 MINUTES

The goal of this lesson is for the learners will be able to identify various consequences of World War II in France. The different impacts the German occupation had on the government are the main focus of procedure one. The PowerPoint will act as an introduction to the theme for the rest of the lesson. The PowerPoint can be varied based on the curriculum set up by the school and it’s social studies department, but the emphasis is to relate the events of the 1940’s to other events later on in history, specifically in French government and the Battle of the Algiers. See PowerPoint “Impact of France”

Procedure two: “En Francais” 8 MINUTES

Students will read editorial from 1950’s on life in Paris since the war ended (article written in French). Students will then discuss, in French, with questions prompted from the teacher.

Procedure three: “We Built this City” 10 MINUTES

Teacher will explain to students the destruction to the cities during WWII. Teacher will give the students a situation from which the students will solve different scenarios. Students will be in groups.

The United States of America sent 10,000 contractors to France to help rebuild their country. It takes 6 contractors to rebuild a house in 3 months. The teacher will give each group of students a different city with the total number of houses and the total number houses that were destroyed. Each group will solve the amount of time it takes to rebuild their city. The students will explain why every house does not have to be rebuilt. Groups will present to other groups once solution is reached.

Procedure four: “Captain America” 18 MINUTES

Silently read article in class (10 minutes max.).

Discussion of cultures/race. Then discuss craft of the writing.

  1. How does the author make you feel about the content?
    2. What specific techniques does he utilize to make you feel this way?
    3. Point out examples of imagery. Relate this to our previous lessons on photographs and emotional responses. How does the author “paint word pictures” and evoke certain emotions?
    4. How do superheroes influence our culture?
    5. How does the superhero theme work to convince readers of the author’s point?

Discussion wraps up the lesson on the Impact of WWII still today!

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This three day lesson is only a preview of what could be an influential curriculum infused unit for the content of WWII. With appropriate training, these lessons could be adapted to use Spanish instead of French, or speeches instead of written work. Another idea for this lesson is instead of all the content areas being taken on by the social studies class, would be to have each procedure (the math, the English the French etc) taught in the Math or English or French classroom on the same day the content would be introduced in the social studies classroom. This lesson has significant academic content, with innovative teaching styles and adaptations for all types of learners.