High schoolers are have begun to learn  the art of diplomacy with each other, but do they understand how diplomacy works at a global level?  The second in a series of four lessons, guides scholars in evaluating primary sources. The why behind the actions of different Allied powers becomes clear as the class discusses each country's motivation and their resulting political decisions during the second world war.

Concepts

world war ii, the allied powers, the united nations, primary source analysis

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Additional Tags

world war ii, world war ii strategies, social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• To extend learning, after the end of the lesson and class discussion has taken place, ask high schoolers to write a letter as their assigned allied power to another power during several different years of World War II
• Differentiate the lesson for English learners by showing them pictures along with the primary source text as a visual aid

Classroom Considerations

• Before beginning the lesson, ensure that pupils understand how to read and analyze primary sources; provided links can help prepare class members as well

Pros

• Variations and extended learning suggestions facilitate differentiation
• Role-play activity is great for teaching military strategy
• Essay questions for assessment save you time in writing test questions

Cons

• The provided assessment questions do not have a corresponding answer key

Common Core

L.9-10.1.a L.9-10.2.a L.9-10.3.a L.9-10.4.a L.9-10.5.a L.9-10.6 L.11-12.1.a L.11-12.2.a L.11-12.3.a L.11-12.4.a L.11-12.5.a L.11-12.6