Kathleen Willey
CSE 624
12-1-08
Lesson Plan: Propaganda within the World Wars
Grade Level: 9-12 (high school)
Goal: Students will be able to understand the purpose for propaganda (both in history and in the present), able to interpret any biases present within propaganda as well as create their own piece of propaganda.
Uses of internet and technology are bolded.
If at any time students get bogged down with the work and need to use time at home, or just want to work at their own pace to complete the assignments, a complete lesson plan is located online in the format of a webquest at http://questgarden.com/72/07/3/081029104346/
Lesson:
Day 1) Students will watch and listen to a PowerPoint presentation given by the instructor regarding information about patriotism and allegiance during the World War Eras. The PowerPoint will include; pictures movie clips, quotes and text found using the Internet. This lesson will provide background information for students regarding the purpose of propaganda within the World Wars and create scaffolding for them to set up future learning of the matter. Discussion will follow in order to make sure that the focus of my presentation was centered enough and that my students grasped what they need to know. By bringing up the ideas of “hyper-patriotism” and serving your country and feeling the need to “destroy” the enemy will have great importance throughout the rest of the lessons for this unit.
Day 2) Students will complete an online scavenger hunt about propaganda within the World War Eras. This lesson will help provide students with a hands-on way to discover what forms propaganda took during those time eras, what propaganda actually is as well as distinguish what it isn’t, which will be helpful in the next lesson. This lesson also helps students become acquainted with the internet for reasons other than email and myspace. The lesson also helps students analyze which websites are to be trusted and which ones are blowing smoke up their tailpipes! Types of questions asked will be; which site has a collection of World War 1 and 2 poster propaganda? Find a site where propaganda other than posters is found, and find a piece of propaganda that shows a pro-Japanese stance on WW2 etc.
Day 3) Students will use the class time to participate in an online discussion forum to post and respond to the question, “What is propaganda?”. They will be expected to establish; what propaganda is, what forms it is seen, what themes are usually behind the pieces, pro-war?, Anti-war?, are biases present, what symbols are present, if no symbols are there literal objects etc. The lesson from day 2 should help students get an idea as to what to write, for they were responsible for finding forms of propaganda and began to distinguish and interpret forms of propaganda. Each student will be responsible for one posting and two responses to their peer’s responses.
Day 4) Students will use the class time of day 4 to write a personal online blog entry regarding their final thoughts as to what they see World War propaganda as. By compiling the information from the last three days, students are expected to form their own opinion. This should not be a replication of the forum discussion, for that was just a brainstorming activity to help the entire class formulate their own answer to this blog response. Answers should be at least 200 words and answer the prompt; “Propaganda during the First and Second World Wars was…” and should in detail answer what the student feels propaganda was used for and why it may have been so successful!
Day 5) Using information from the PowerPoint presentation, scavenger hunt, discussion forum and personal blog, students should have a good grasp on what propaganda during the World Wars was about. Students will in turn apply their knowledge of WW1 and WW2 propaganda to today’s world!
Students will use the next couple days to create their own form of propaganda. The purpose of the propaganda they create must support or criticize; a current event, politician or status within today’s political, economic or social atmosphere.
An example would be to create a tv ad for adopting children from third world nations. The student could have Angelina Jolie and Madonna standing with their kids, all happy and smiling. Then the student could come in and say that “those who care, adopt”. This would show that not only do BIG celebrities adopt children, but they are the ones who care.
The media students wish to use to create their form of propaganda is up to them, however it MUST include at least 2 resources from the internet. These two pieces could be pictures, quotes, text etc. If a student wishes to make a completely digital form of propaganda, such as a short movie, PowerPoint, “Paint” collage, tv/radio commercial etc., the requirement rises to 3 Internet resources. If students have difficulty fulfilling this requirement, see your instructor for help. All ideas for this project must be approved by instructor before completion to receive credit.
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