Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: Students analyze the causes and consequences of

World War II.
Content Area: World History, Culture, and Geography: The
Modern World
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):

Name: Anthony Martinez

Grade Level: 10th

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 domestic 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:

Question 1
What external factors and key battle decisions were most influential in the causation and major turning points of World War II ?

Question 2
Who was the war fought between and what key figures (Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Adolf
Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower) during the war played the largest roles in how the
war panned out?

Question 3
There were many different drives for empire ranging from the 1930s 1940s , what were some similarities and differences
between the The campaigns and how might it have effected nonintervention in the future?
Unit Goals and Objectives:
Learning Objectives
1. Students will be able to describe the political, diplomatic, and military leaders during the war and explain the influence these
figured had on the course of the war and how it was fought.
2. Students should be able to identify the two different sides of the war and describe key factors that were influential in the cause and
course of the war, while also being able to analyze the Nazi policy.

3. Students should be able to describe 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. Students should also be able to understand the role of
appeasement, nonintervention (isolationism), and the domestic distractions in Europe and the United States prior to the outbreak
of World War II.

Behavior Objectives
1. Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of political, diplomatic, and military leaders during the war by ranking officials
in order of importance and giving analytical reason behind their placement.
2. Students should be able to successfully pass a short quiz on the causation of WWII and write a summative assessment essay on
one country involved in the war. Students will also be able to demonstrate knowledge of the Nazi policy through a crisscross
puzzle.
3. Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge on 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 through the creation of a concept map
graphic organizer. Students should then be able to verbally contribute information when creating a final map as a class.

Unit Summary:

In this unit plan students will discuss and analyze the causes and consequences of World War II. Students will be going over many
different aspects of the war as well as analyzing those who were involved. Students will identify and locate the countries involved in the
war as well as understand the different policies each country had. Through web quests, lectures, and graphic organizers, students will be
able to answer questions about WWII and analyze the influence certain events had on the war. In the first lesson, students will use a Prezi

presentation and a set of guided notes to identify the two different sides of the war and describe key factors that were influential in the
cause and course of the war, while also being able to analyze the Nazi policy. Following the first lesson, students will be extending their
knowledge on who the war was fought between and what key figures during the war played the largest roles in how the war panned out.
Students will compete a webquest that will require students to use a series of websites in order to better understand who the key figures in
WWII were and what influence they held on the war. The first portion of the worksheet requires a chart to be filled out by students using
information that they gather from the web sites. The second portion of the webcercise requires the students to use higher order thinking
skills in order to analyze, question, differentiate, and assemble a list of what figures were most important in World War II, from most to
least. In the third lesson students will view a PowerPoint on the German, Italian, and Japanese Drives for Empire in the 1930's. Following
the PowerPoint presentation, Students will create a concept map centered on the German, Italian, and Japanese drives for empire in the
1930's. At the center of the concept map will be "Drives for empires by Axis Powers", from there three bubbles attached to the center
bubble will be used for each country. Once each country has a bubble, students will complete the map by attaching five additional bubbles
to each country. Out of the 15 total bubbles (five on each country), students must include at least five pictures, one video, and one map
image.

Entry-Level:

Formative:

Summative:

Quick Write- Students will write a short

reply (2-3 paragraphs) to the following
question: What makes WWII so important
and why should we care?

Ranking- Students will rank military leaders

from most to least important and give
reason behind placement.

Essay- Student's will select one Country

involved in WWII and follow the assigned
rubric to write an elaborative essay on the
selected country.

Short Quiz- Students will take a short Quiz

on the Causations of WWII.

Presentation- Students will follow the rubric

and create a powerpoint presentation on

Criss-Cross Puzzle-Students will complete a their essays and present their findings to the
puzzle using short clues relating to terms
class.
associated with the Nazi policy.
Flashcards- Using flash cards, students will
understand the role of appeasement,
nonintervention (isolationism), and the
domestic distractions in Europe and the
United States prior to the outbreak of World
War II.
Concept Map- Students will follow
guidelines to create a concept map on the
German, Italian, and Japanese drives for
empire in the 1930s

Lesson 1
Student Learning
Objective:
Students should be able
to identify the two
different sides of the
war and describe key
factors that were
influential in the cause

Acceptable Evidence:

Instructional
Strategies:

Lesson Activities:

-Students will be able

to pass a short quiz on
the causation of World
War II.

Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction

Students will view a presentation on the causation of World

War II and the Nazi Policy while simultaneously completing
a set of guided notes accompanying the presentation.

- Students will be able

and course of the war,

while also being able to
analyze the Nazi
policy.

Lesson 2
Student Learning
Objective:
Students will be able to
describe the political,
diplomatic, and
military leaders during
the war and explain the
influence these figured
had on the course of
the war and how it was
fought.

to complete a puzzle
using short clues
relating to terms
associated with the
Nazi policy.

Acceptable Evidence:

Instructional
Strategies:

Lesson Activities:

- Students will be able

to rank military leaders
from most to least
important and give
reason behind
placement.

Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction

During this lesson of the Unit on World War II, students will
be extending their knowledge on who the war was fought
between and what key figures (Winston Churchill, Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Adolf Hitler, Benito
Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight
Eisenhower) during the war played the largest roles in how
the war panned out. The web quest that students will be doing
will require students to use a series of websites in order to
better understand who the key figures in WWII were and
what influence they held on the war. The first portion of the
worksheet requires a chart to be filled out by students using
information that they gather from the web sites. The second
portion of the webcercise requires the students to use higher
order thinking skills in order to analyze, question,
differentiate, and assemble a list of what figures were most
important in World War II, from most to least. Following the

- Students will be able

to complete a
worksheet on the
figures of the war using
a series of websites.

creation of students lists, the class will share their lists with
each other in order to create a collaborative final list as a
class.

Lesson 3
Student Learning
Objective:
Students should be
able to describe 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. Students should
also be able to
Understand the role of
appeasement,
nonintervention
(isolationism), and the
domestic distractions in
Europe and the United
States prior to the
outbreak of World War
II.

Acceptable Evidence:

Instructional
Strategies:

Lesson Activities:

-Using flash cards,

students will
understand the role of
appeasement,
nonintervention
(isolationism), and the
domestic distractions in
Europe and the United
States prior to the
outbreak of World War
II.

Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction

Students will be able to Describe, compare, and contrast the

German, Italian, and Japanese Drives for Empire in the
1930's. Students will Identify the motivations for each
empire's desire to build, the leaders of each Drive, and the
conquests occurring during the process. In order to introduce
the lesson and get students to begin thinking about the topic
at hand, the class period will begin with a quick write asking
students to respond to the following prompt: "What makes
Countries want to expand?". Giving such an ambiguous
question, students will not only be able to reflect on prior
knowledge but also be able to give opinionated responses to
the quick write. Once students have completed the quick
write they will be asked to share their responses with their
neighbor in order to compare and contrast different responses.
After students have shared with their partners the class will
be brought together to share between groups as a class. In
order to give students the ability to have a visual and verbal
presentation of information, the teacher has created a short
PowerPoint to inform students on the topic at hand. The
PowerPoint will go over the consequences of World War I,

- Students will be able

to complete a concept
map centered on the
axis powers drives for
empre.

each countries motivation for empire building, and also

conquests that accompanied each drive. Following the
PowerPoint presentation, Students will create a concept map
centered on the German, Italian, and Japanese drives for
empire in the 1930's. At the center of the concept map will be
"Drives for empires by Axis Powers", from there three
bubbles attached to the center bubble will be used for each
country. Once each country has a bubble, students will
complete the map by attaching five additional bubbles to each
country. Out of the 15 total bubbles (five on each country) ,
students must include at least five pictures, one video, and
one map image. Following the completion of the organized
concept map, students will get into groups and share their
maps with the group entirely in order to get other ideas and
visuals of different concept maps. Orally sharing their
concept map, students should be able to collaborate in order
to gain a broader understanding of the topic at hand, as well
as solidify their knowledge with re assurance from other
students.

Unit Resources:
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?present=true&id=1841633
* Below is the link to helpful resources, websites, and videos for the given Unit. More will be added Shortly*

Useful Websites:

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?present=true&id=1841633
* Below is the link to helpful resources , websites, and videos for the given Unit. More will be added Shortly*