Lesson Plan 5 (GLT 1)

America, Alone Again: (55 minutes)

Day 5 of our World War I Unit in U.S. History

Briefly: This is our 5th day working on WWI. It is our last lecture based class
(Friday) students have their quiz on Tuesday. For our last lesson of the unit
students are no longer working on their comic book unit assessment. They had
been working on them for the entirety of the unit and have turned them in at the
start of this class. Student will be learning about the documents that ended the war,
no longer are we looking at European and U.S. business as separate affairs, but all
meeting together in Paris to discuss terms.

Overview: Students will be using the same set of Guided notes (page 2) in their
9.3 packet which they will receive today. Specifically, this lesson focuses on the
Wilson’s 14 points, which would be presented at the Paris conference in 1919, and
boiled down to “The League of Nations” (Wilson’s 14th point) and the difference in
terms between the U.S. and European nations, the lasting effects they would have
on specific countries (Germany) and the US’s decision to not sign the treaty of
Versailles. Students will also receive two warm-up(s) in their 9.3 packet (pages 1
and 3&4)

Central problem/ Essential question: The U.S. is finally involved with the world,
we are attending an international meeting in France to reach terms concerning
WWI, will the United States remain in their new state of involvement, or will they
regress back into isolation.

Objectives:
HSCE: 6.2.4 Wilson and His Opponents – Explain how Wilson’s “Fourteen
Points” differed from proposals by others, including French and British leaders and
domestic opponents, in the debate over the Versailles Treaty, United States
participation in the League of Nations, the redrawing of European political
boundaries, and the resulting geopolitical tensions that continued to affect Europe.
(National Geography Standards 3 and 13; p. 188 and 210)

Big Idea: WWI shows us how the drastic growth in industry and technology led
the US to become a nation no longer defined as isolationist, but as a nation just as
involved in the world as any superpower.
Students will be able to: identify the documents that ended WWI. (The Great
War) SWBAT

Anticipated student conceptions or challenges to understanding: (1) I anticipate,

while discussing most of the Paris meetings in one day, students will struggle with
the US and the Europeans nations of the allies differing due to them having been
on the same side during the war. That is why I included the political cartoon on the
4th slide (as well information in their guided notes) illuminating the “blame game”
that came at the end and Germany being left to clean up the mess. Ultimately, I felt
if this was not proper addressed now, the build up to WWII would be non-
conceptual and completely spontaneous to the student.

Materials/Evidence/Sources:
SWBAT
PowerPoint
Guided notes (page 2)
Warm-ups in packet (page 1, 3&4)

Instructional Sequence:
1. Launch: “If you have not already, turn in your WWI comic book to the 6th hour
bin. By the end of today’s lesson, we will be finished with our WWI unit. Now that
we have reached the end of the war, we will need to know the documents and ideas
that went into the Paris peace conference. The decisions that Europe comes to are
going to have a direct impact for the next stage in U.S. history. Keep these in mind
as we go through to today’s lesson.” (1-2 minute)

2. Begin the lesson by posting the Warm-up in packet (page 1) on the overhead.
Start by explaining that almost everyone struggled with graph reading, so this
warm-up is meant to serve as more practice with them. Go over the first question
with them by walking them through your stream of thought and how you would
answer the question. This is one of three questions, so scaffold them through them.
Let the students work as a class to try and figure out how to answer the second
question (still mentoring when needed) and for the third question have them try
and answer it on their own and bring it back together for a class analysis. Once the
class has answered all 3 questions, ask if they have any further questions about
graph reading. (5 minutes)

3.) Have students pull out their Guided notes and open the packet to the second
page. This PowerPoint lecture is designed to be aligned with the students learning
objective. By the end of this lecture students should be able to identify the
documents that ended the war. Slides will be presented as follows:

Slide 1- Explain the title, “The War to End All Wars”, and irony of it. Specifically,
let the students know that WWI and the documents/treaties that ended it set the
stage for WWII and Hitler. This way, they know the war was anything but what the
title implies, and yet that is what people called it. (2 minutes)

Slide 2- Read the text and give students a moment to copy their notes. What’s most
important that students take away from this slide is that these were not Wilson’s
points themselves, but generalizations of what they embodied, meaning this is how
they would be summarized. Use the picture on this slide to ask the class if the
people in the photo embody what most of the world looks like. (No, they are elites
of one race, and the upper class) Once they have finished the analysis of the
picture, discuss the political cartoon. Ask them what they saw in the picture.
(Wilson, a blowing bubbles from a bowl labeled “Idealism” and making bubbles
that embody the 14 points) Make sure by the end of the analysis students know that
the political cartoon is making fun of Wilson calling him and his ideas “idealist”
meaning they were going to be treated like daydreams, and not seriously. (5
minutes)

Slide 3- Read the text and give students a moment to copy their notes. Take that
time to mention that the negotiations happened in Paris. (hence the Paris Peace
Talks) Make sure students take away that what the Wilson wanted was VERY
different from what Europe wanted. (Ask the class what was different between
France/Britain’s demands and Wilson’s 14 points.) Make sure they know it is the
demands of the Allies minus Wilson, that set the stage for Hitler. (Use the political
cartoon to show the Allies trying to force Germany to swallow the pill that was
larger than their head. Ask the students if any one of them think of this as
“bullying”. (5 minutes)

Slide 4- Read the test and give the students a moment to copy their notes. As they
do this, point out to them another picture, just like the one from 2 slides back of a
certain demographic determining the outcome of a “World War”. After this,
explain that Austro-Hungarian Empire became “Austria” and “Hungary”. Make
sure students see these results and see that Germany did get the blame and they are
now in debt and expected to pay back all this money and have almost no colonies
to pull from for resources. Last, but not least, make sure students see that of all 14
of Wilson’s points they only took the 14th (League of Nations). Explain that the
League of Nations was an early prototype of the United Nations. Explain that it
was meant to be a peace keeping organization. (5-minutes)

Slide-5- Read the text and as the students are copying their notes mention the
following: The U.S. is the one country that DID NOT sign the treaty of Versailles
that ended the war. As a result, we don’t join the league of nations. The reason was
because… we wanted to remain free from foreign entanglements, so we negotiated
our own terms with Germany and Austro-Hungary. (3-5 minutes)

Slide 6- Read the text and while the students are copying their notes discuss the
following: There is only one main point for students to get from this quick look at
the election of 1920, we switch back to a republican president who promises a
return to “normalcy” right after our congress decided to negotiate our own terms
for a world war because we did not want to be involved in the affairs of the other
countries. At this point ask the class what they think “normalcy” meant for the
country at this time? (It needs to be something along the lines of the country
wanting to go back to being isolationists, a word they learned in the last 2 units.)
Once they reach this conclusion or one of equal merit that shows critical thinking
revolving around the question asked and the information provided ask if they have
any further questions about the lecture. If so answer them. (5 minutes)

4.) Have the students flip to page 3 of their packet they already have in front of
them and have them begin reading the text and answer the following questions
independently. Let them know they have 10 minutes to read the packet and answer
the questions. (Do not mention that we will be going over them as a class.) They
are given a time limit because this assessment is meant to help them with the
passage reading we have seen them struggle with on the past two tests. (10
minutes)

5.) For the next 5 minutes of class go over the answers (ask students to answer
them via class discussion out loud) and have them explain where they found it in
the passage. After each question ask if anyone struggled to find the answer in the
text? If not, explain to them where you personally struggled, using inferences of
where a student might get confused. Make sure they know it is okay to make
mistakes. (assume the student might be too embarrassed to ask a question) (5
minutes)

6.) Once the class has gone over every answer ask them about the content of the
text (it is a brief look into our next unit on the “roaring twenties”. And ask them if
they see the U.S. returning to normalcy in this passage. (Answers can vary, there is
no need for content focus, just get them thinking). (5 minutes)

7.) To bring the class back to the original point of todays learning objective, ask
them 5 questions. What document did Wilson propose to the European nations?
(His 14 Points) What was Wilson’s 14th point? (League of Nations) Which country
got the entire blame for WWI and was punished to the full extent? (Germany)
What was the name of the treaty that ended the great war? (The Treaty of
Versailles) Which country did not sign the treaty of Versailles and consequently did
not become a part of the League of Nations and had to negotiate their own terms
with Germany and Austro-Hungary? (The U.S.)

The last step of your instructional sequence should detail how you will conclude
the lesson, including what you would say to the students about the lesson’s “take
away” or main objective and how today’s lesson links to tomorrow’s and
thereafter.

Assessment: Students have 3 assessments, all of which are informal in today’s

lesson. Students will have two warm-ups they will be expected to complete. The
first is on the first page of their 9.3 packet. It is a graph that will be projected on
the overhead and completed through teacher instruction on the first question and
have the class work out loud and follow your lead for the last 2 questions. It is
meant to help students read casualty charts. (This was assigned because on the
students last test, many struggled with a question involving a graph.)

The second informal assessment is another non-graded assessment students are

reading in class (motivated by the reminder that this was originally going to be
homework) and expected to answer the 10 questions following the reading. It is a
short passage (a page and a half) about life following WWI and the red scare.
Students will have 15 minutes to work on this. Once their time is up, we will go
over it as a class. Students will be asked to make any corrections they need and to
hold on to it. Just like with the first warm up, on previous tests students struggled
with reading passages and answering questions for tests so it is best students have
both examples to learn from and reflect on for their next test. This will be assigned
to them after the lecture (for the sake of continuity) and they will have until the
final 5 minutes of class to work on it. (If they need more time we will go over it as
a warm-up the next day)

The final informal assessment of the day is their guided notes. Students will be
expected to complete these to stay on task and focus on key phrases and ideas that
will be on their quiz. They are also meant to align with their learning objective for
the day, which they do. If students complete the notes and stay aware during the
PowerPoint lecture, they will be able to identify the that ended WWI.

Attach all handouts, texts, images, lecture notes, etc.

SWBAT
PowerPoint
Guided notes (page 2)
Warm-ups in packet (page 1, 3&4)