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Curriculum Standards
Teacher Notes
Student Work
 
 

Learners

This lesson is intended to go along with a seventh grade social studies class.  It is based on standard 41 for World History, benchmarks 1 and 3.  Students should have background  knowledge involving the topics listed in the standards provided below.  Some of the topics are the effect of Nazism on Jewish culture, Imperialism,  events leading to the war, and other topics involving Germany and Japan.

Curriculum Standards

Standards for 7th grade Social Studies taken from mcrel.org.  We have covered the benchmarks 1 and 3 of standard 41.

               Standard 41:
                         Understands the causes and global consequences of World War II
                         Level III (Grade 7-8) 

                         1. Understands events that led to the outbreak of World War II (e.g., the importance of the legacy of World War I, the depression, ethnic and ideological conflicts, imperialism, and traditional political or economic rivalries as underlying causes of World War II; the precipitating causes of the war and the reasons for early German and Japanese victories between 1939 and 1942; how Hitler capitalized on the despair of the German people to rise to power)
 
                         2. Understands the influence of Nazism on European society and Jewish culture (e.g., European and Jewish resistance movements to the Nazis and the Nizi policies, discrepancies between Nazi public announcements concerning Jews and the actual experiences of Jews between 1941 and 1944)

Teacher Notes
 

• This WebQuest will be taught over two or three class periods.  Students should have a computer with internet access.  It is imperative that the instructor have a background in all or most of the topics listed below.  If the instructor needs to restrict the students to specific topics, the activity will not be affected.  This will ease the grading of the article that the students will submit.
• The web site links and books are appropriate for a 7th grade reading level.
• The process of this activity will be laid out in the students task, but here is a brief overview.  Students will choose a topic from the list below.  He or she will then research the event and provide a newspaper article.

     1.  The Rise of Nazism in Germany
     2.  The Racial Theories of the Nazis
     3.  Anti Jewish Policies: 1933-1939
     4.  Auschwitz
     5.  The Destruction of European Jews

Jewish Culture

     1.  Forced Labor
     2.  Medical Experiments on the Members of the Concentration Camps
     3.  Survivors of World War II
     4.  Resistance
     5.  Victims

Outbreak of World War II

     1.  Great Depression
     2.  Imperialism (focus on Japan, US, Great Britain, Russia)
     3.  Kristallnacht
     4.  Why were Germany and Japan winning the war from 1939-1942?
     (major events of this time)
     5.  Events leading to Hitler's Power
     6.  Events leading to World War II
     7.  Bombing of Pearl Harbor

Student Work 

Students will choose a topic, research the topic of their choice, and finally produce a newspaper article on the topic they have chosen.  The students will be evaluated on their ability to write, the sources they have used, the variety of information they have found and the quality of their writing.   

Topics for Students to Research:

Jewish Culture

Nazism

Outbreak of World War II

View Other Pages within the Webquest:

Introduction

Process

Task

Evaluation

Conclusion