World War 2 From Space (Documentary)

Today we will be watching the first half of World War 2 From Space [a documentary from The History Channel] and answering questions on a worksheet.

(Backup clip in case one drops off YouTube)

Download the Questions Here

Another great example to watch for supplemental materials is Das Boot -- a German movie set in 1942 in a German U-Boat.  Here's a clip from that film:

Here's a demonstration of the Ghost Army as mentioned in the movie, WWII From Space:

17:2 - World War II

Guiding Question: What were Germany's gains and losses during the early years of the war?

Chapter 17 Section 2: World War II

• Vocabulary
• Critical Thinking (p.346): How did the Great Depression prepare Roosevelt for the war effort?
• Geography Connection (p.347): # 1 & 2
• Reading Progress Check (p.347): What assumptions did Hitler make about invading the Soviet Union?  Do you think the invasion would have gone differently if he had not made those assumptions?
• Reading Progress Check (p.348): Why did the United States stay out of WWII until the Pearl Harbor attack?
• Analyzing Primary Sources (p.348): Why was Hitler so optimistic after he captured the Crimea?
• Critical Thinking (p.349): What Allied strategies helped change the tide of battle in the East?
• Reading Progress Check (p.349): Why was the German assault on Stalingrad a crushing defeat for Germans?
• Lesson 2 Review (p.349): #1, 3, 4, 5

Scenes: "Enemy at the Gates"
The full movie shows the soldiers getting out of the locked railroad cars, being handed rifles (or bullets), etc.  (Currently view on Netflix)

17.1: World War II Begins

BELL RINGER:  COPY DOWN THIS CHART AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:

1. Which two agreements in the chart seem to contradict each other?  How?  What might this contradiction say about Germany's motivations in the years leading up to the war?  Explain.
2. In 1938 France and Great Britain were allied against Italy and Germany.  Why do you think they might have agreed to allow Germany to take the Sudetenland?

Chapter 17: World War II and the Holocaust 1939-1945

Analyzing Primary Sources:

• DBQ (p.489): #1 -6

Chapter 17: Lesson 1: World War II Begins

• Discuss: Why do political actions often lead to war?
• Discuss: How does war impact society and the environment?
• Step Into the Place (p.338): Read the quotes and look at the information presented on the map.
• How did the Allies use aerial photographs for strategic purposes during the war in Europe?
• Taking Notes (p.340): Chart
• Geography Connection (p.341): #1 & 2
• Critical Thinking (p.342): Why is the Munich Conference an oft-used example of the failure of appeasement?
• Reading Progress Check (p.343): How did World War I affect European leaders' attitudes toward international aggression?
• Critical Thinking (p.343): What role did the Sino-Japanese War play in the Chinese civil war?
• Lesson 1 Review (p.344): #1, 2, 3, 4, 5

World War II: How Did It Start?

World War 2: The Last Secrets of the Axis:  This documentary shines light on the influence of General Haushofer on Adolph Hitlers rise to power.
Karl Ernst Haushofer (27 August 1869 – 10 March 1946) was a German general, geographer and geopolitician. Through his student Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's ideas influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansionist strategies, although Haushofer denied direct influence on the Nazi regime. 

Transitioning to World War II

Before our Assessment for today, there are some videos to watch:

What's "The One Thing You Should Know About WWI?"







Chapter 16 Assessment (p.336):

• Answer questions in full sentences or write the question and then the answer.
• Lesson Review: #1-8
• 21st Century Skills: #9 & 10

15.2: The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes

15.2: The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes

• Create a "Sequence Chain" (p.299) to record the events leading up to Franco's authoritarian rule of Spain.
• What is the difference between a "totalitarian state" and a "fascist state"?
• Geography Connection (p.300): #1 & 2
• Geography Connection (p.302): #1 & 2
• Critical Thinking (p.304): Respond to Picasso's Guernica
• Lesson 2 Review: #1, 2, 3, 4, 5
• Writing Activity: Argument (p.304):
• Begin your letter to the editor with, "To the Editor:" and then leave a blank line and go on to write a letter as if you are a middle-class Italian in the 1920's giving your support to Mussolini's new government.

We will watch clips about the rise of 4 dictatorial regimes.  Write down some descriptive words for each of the dictators we cover:

1. Josef Stalin (Russia)
2. Mussolini (Italy)
3. Hitler (Germany)
4. Tojo (Japan)

Next we will discuss the following terms and list examples of each.

• Nationalism
• Militarism
• Totalitarianism
• Fascism
• Dictator

Finally we will have a writing prompt which will ask you to write a strong paragraph about dictators , their common characteristics, what role nationalism and militarism played within their dictatorships, and how the dictators were allowed to rise to power.

Prelude to War: The Dictators Extinguish Freedom (propaganda)

15.1: Instability After World War I

Chapter 15 Lesson 1: Instability After World War I

• Vocabulary (p.294)
• Taking Notes (p.294): Chart (Compare France & United States)
• Reading Progress Check (p.294): What contributed to the German mark becoming worthless?
• Critical Thinking (p.295): Why was the Ruhr Valley important in Germany?
• Critical Thinking (p.295): Why would this woman burn money during the Great Depression?
• Critical Thinking (p.296): When was the height of the Great Depression?
• Critical Thinking (p.296): Which country experienced the largest rise in unemployment?
• Reading Progress Check (p.296): Why were farmers hit hard at the onset of the Great Depression?
• Reading Progress Check (p.298): How might collective bargaining have helped French workers?
• Reading Progress Check (p.298): Why was non-realistic art popular after World War I?
• Lesson 1 Review (p.298: #3, 4, 5, 6

14.4: World War I Ends

Journal:

The narrator, Paul Bäumer, and his friends join the army partly because of the nationalistic lectures of the teacher Kantorek. Nationalism was an extremely powerful force in Europe through the first half of the 20th century and played a part in causing both the First and Second World Wars. What effect has this had on modern politics?

Quiz:

• Who were the members of the Triple Alliance?
• Who were the members of the Triple Entente?
• Write a paragraph explaining how World War I started and how it expanded.
• Why did Russia have a different government at the beginning and end of World War I?

Class Work:

• Have your All Quiet on the Western Front handout and book ready.
• Brief class discussion of your answers to numbers 1-5 from Chapters 1-5.
• Discuss imagery and symbolism.
• Students will be assigned a chapter (1-5) and given 5-7 minutes to locate 1 or 2 good sentences from their assigned chapter demonstrating symbolism or imagery.  Write the sentence(s) down on a piece of paper.
• Students will get into groups of their assigned chapter and share their sentence(s).  Each student should select one other good example (from those presented) to copy down on their paper.
• Students will write a paragraph about imagery and symbolism in All Quiet on the Western Front on the bottom (or back) of their paper.

14.4: World War I Ends

• Reading Progress Check (p.286): What happened in Germany after its military defeat?
• Critical Thinking (p.286): What does this photograph tell you about the changing nature of warfare in World War I? 
• Geography Connection (p.288): #1 & 2
• Explaining (p.289): What did Wilson home to accomplish by creating the League of Nations?
• Analyzing (p.289): Why do you think the Germans found Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles so objectionable? 
• Lesson 4 Review: #1, 2, 3, 4

Movie: All Quiet on the Western Front

Focus Activity: What are the general characteristics of your parents’ generation or grandparents’ generation?  How would you describe your own generation?

Journal Writing:  Take 10 minutes to free-write about your impression of the older generation and younger generation.  In general, do you respect the opinions of persons older than you?  Do you think older people have the same values or perspectives that younger people do?  Do you think all young people have the same values and points of view?  Explain.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
(Download the Worksheet Here)

1. What is the title of this film? When was it made? Who wrote the original novel?
2. Why did the students join the Army?
3. What role did the mailman (Himmelstoess) have? Was he particularly mean to these recruits? Give an example.
4. How were conditions at the Western Front different from their expectations in training camp
5. What was the impact of the shelling on the new recruits?
6. What happened after the bombardment?
7. In the attack, what did the machine gun do to the glory of war and individual heroism?
8. How many of the company died in this first battle? How do you know? Why were they able to eat so well finally?
9. Who did they blame for this war? Who did they omit in their list of potential villains?
10. What happened to Kemmerich's boots? How did the doctors' react to Kemmerich's plight?
11. How was Sgt. Himmelstoess received when he arrived at the front?
12. What was the pattern of a battle? What preceded the attack? What followed it?
13. What happened to Paul Baumer when he found himself in a shellhole in No Man's Land with the French soldier?
14. Why did the French girls - ostensibly the enemy - accept the German soldiers?
15. After four years of war, how has the German homefront been affected? Were there still the parades, crowded streets, and joyous sounds of going off to war?
16. What were the attitudes of the men in the beer hall? Were they willing to listen to what Paul had to say?
17. How does Paul Baumer confront his former teacher? How do the young students react to his vision of the war?
18. How has the company changed during Paul's absence?
19. What is ironic about Kat's and Paul's deaths? [Note: The war ended on November 11, 1918.]
20. Describe the attitude of this movie towards World War I and all wars.
21. What is the significance of the title of the movie All Quiet on the Western Front.
22. Where was the Western Front?
23. Why does Paul Baumer feel betrayed by the adults in his life?
24. Which advancements in science and technology during World War I were depicted in the battle scenes in All Quiet on the Western Front?
25. Why does Paul Baumer feel separate and different from his family and the people in his town when he goes home to visit?
26. Are there any heroes in All Quiet on the Western Front? What is the nature of their heroism? Are there any villains in the novel? What makes them villainous?
27. Hitler banned the book All Quiet on the Western Front at the beginning of World War II and had copies of the novel burned.  Is there ever any good reason for censorship of antiwar material? Why or why not?
28. Was Remarque (the author of the book the movie was based on) making a statement with the ironic way he kills off some characters — veteran soldiers who survive many terrible fights but end up dying anyway when they aren’t in battle?  Why?
29. World War I was known as a “total war” because it involved the efforts of many civilians in addition to the military. Today, however, warfare can be drastically different. How would All Quiet on the Western Front be different if it were told from the perspective of a modern day American soldier during, say, the war in the Persian Gulf? What events would be different? What ideas and issues might change.

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Worksheet for reading the novel:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwhy5BkICGK1YmF3NUhIekNyXzQ/view?usp=sharing

As you watch the movie, "All Quiet on the Western Front", answer the questions on your handout and complete a "cluster diagram (see below) of the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings you see portrayed.  Sights and sounds are easier, and feelings can be implied... but smells will probably be the most difficult to imagine.

Extra Credit: Tree Decorations

I've been considering putting up a holiday tree, but I want to make it history-focused.  I will give extra credit for someone making a history-based tree ornament.

I have "doll pins" in limited quantity (30) for students to make historical figures (Presidents, civil rights leaders, etc.) but the ornaments don't have to be made of doll pins -- or even be a specific person.

Education

http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/median-weekly-earnings-by-education-gender-race-and-ethnicity-in-2014.htm

How does education affect the salaries of women?

We'll discuss the economic implications of changing educational paradigms and the business of testing.  We will also discuss the tendency to assume that someone is "smart" or "dumb" based on their ability to pass a given test.

Finally, we will discuss "Changing Education Paradigms" to look at education from a different perspective.

All Quiet on the Western Front / Chapters 14.3: The Russian Revolution

Journal Write:  Take 6 minutes to write about what Erich Maria Remarque was saying in this quote from "All Quiet on the Western Front".  Discuss what it means and which character was probably speaking these words.

Discussion:

• Current Events Questions?
• Why did WW1 start?
• Why did Austro-Hungary feel so confident about declaring war?
• What did the leaders of Russia, Germany and England have in common?
• Where was the Western Front?
• How did technology affect the war?

World History Standards:

Regarding #27, we will discuss the genocide in Turkey tomorrow -- but here is the definition:

gen·o·cide

ˈjenəˌsīd/

noun

1. the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

   synonyms:

   mass murder, mass homicide, massacre;  annihilation, extermination, elimination, liquidation, eradication, decimation, butchery, bloodletting;  pogrom, ethnic cleansing, holocaust "a tyrant guilty of genocide"

Class Work:

• Have your All Quiet on the Western Front handout and book ready.
• Brief class discussion of your answers to numbers 1-5 from Chapters 1-5.
• Discuss imagery and symbolism:  Represent a person, idea or event without spelling it out.
• Imagery: Mainly descriptive to help you visualize a scene.
• "The gate to the cavern was unhinged like the jaws of a snake."
• Symbolism: More conceptual but still provides a visual.
• Symbol is a tangible object (skull, tree, rose, table, etc.) [something you can touch] that represents something intangible [jealousy, patriotism, friendship, etc.].
• Example: A broken picture frame representing divorce or a death in a family.
• There can also be differences -- or a symbol can mean the opposite of what we usually think of.
• Roses are typically a sign of beauty or love, but in The Hunger Games they are seen as torment or oppression or death disguised as something beautiful.
• Flags are seen as patriotism or freedom, but they can also be seen as oppression or war.  For us, imagine the NAZI flag.  For others it might be the American flag or the Rebel flag.  Symbolism is powerful.  How you feel about someone burning the American flag, for example, tells you how powerful it can be.
• Students will be assigned a chapter (1-5) and given 6 minutes to locate 1 or 2 good sentences from their assigned chapter demonstrating symbolism or imagery.  Write the sentence(s) down on a piece of paper.
• Students will get into groups of their assigned chapter and share their sentence(s).  Each student should select one other good example (from those presented) to copy down on their own paper.
• Discuss Romanticism in History.  
• William Hickling Prescott: The History of Mexico and Peru

Also, after the discussion of the way roses are seen [above] I couldn't help but share this quote:

All Quiet on the Western Front Battle Scene from 1930:

Epic History: The Russian Revolution:

Worksheet Here

Homework: 14.3: The Russian Revolution

• Vocabulary: (p.280)
• Drawing Conclusions (p.281): What grievances did the Russian people have with the provisional government?
• Inferring (p.282): Why did German military leaders return Lenin to Russia?
• Guiding Question (p.282): How did Russia move from a czarist regime to a Communist regime?
• Critical Thinking (p.282): Why did the Bolsheviks choose the Winter Palace as the place to attack? 
• Geography Connection (p.283): #1 & 2
• Lesson 3: Review (p.285): #1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7