Summary
In this lesson, students will learn about China’s Civil War from 1945-1949. Participating in a discussion about why people rebel against their governments, they will analyze an excerpt from an article about the life of peasants in China prior to the conflict under the Kuomintang rule and an article about the two competing sides. To conclude, students will examine the conflict between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang and analyze the outcomes of the war. As a culminating activity, they will write a response about the Civil War in China and share their opinions about the outcomes. This is a multimodality lesson, which means it includes face-to-face, online, and hybrid versions of the lesson. The attachments also include a downloadable Common Cartridge file, which can be imported into a Learning Management System (LMS) such as Canvas or eKadence. The cartridge includes interactive student activities and teacher's notes.
Essential Question(s)
Why do people rebel against their governments?
Snapshot
Engage
Students participate in a discussion about why people rebel against their governments.
Explore
Students analyze an excerpt about the life of peasants in China under Kuomintang rule prior to the conflict to understand the issues they faced.
Explain
Students read an article about the conflict and outcomes of the Civil War.
Extend
Students reflect on the Chinese Civil War by writing a Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) response.
Evaluate
Students present their responses.
Instructional Formats
The term "Multimodality" refers to the ability of a lesson to be offered in more than one modality (i.e. face-to-face, online, blended). This lesson has been designed to be offered in multiple formats, while still meeting the same standards and learning objectives. Though fundamentally the same lesson, you will notice that the different modalities may require the lesson to be approached differently. Select the modality that you are interested in to be taken to the section of the course designed for that form of instruction.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) Template (attached; one per student)
How Did China Become a Communist Country? (article attached; one per student)
Why-Lighting: China’s Peasants (article attached; one per student)
3-2-1 Response (attached; one per student)
Sample 3-2-1 Response (attached; optional)
Sample Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) Response (attached; optional)
Highlighters
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson.
Display slide 3 to introduce the essential question: Why do people rebel against their governments?
Display slide 4 to introduce the lesson objective: Analyze China’s Communist Revolution in an effort to understand why people rebel against their governments.
Display slide 5. Have students take out a piece of notebook paper. Introduce them to the Tell Me Everything strategy where, in a short period of time, they brainstorm everything they know about why people might rebel against their governments. Tell students to write down reasons people have in general for rebelling against their governments.
Ask each student to select one fact or idea about the topic to create a class list. Read over the list as a class and decide which reasons best explain why civil wars occur in countries.
Explore
25 Minute(s)
After discussing why people rebel against their governments, introduce the lesson topic by describing the living conditions of peasants in China prior to the Civil War of 1945-1949. Peasants were the majority of the population in China, and the issues they faced contributed deeply to their unhappiness with the Kuomintang government that controlled China at this time.
Display slide 6. Introduce students to the Why-Lighting strategy. Distribute the article from attachments: Why-Lighting: China’s Peasants.
Have them to read the excerpt using Why-Lighting to identify the issues the peasants faced, writing in the margins why they highlighted that content.
As students highlight, monitor by moving about the classroom. Allow students to partner up to discuss and compare what they have highlighted.
Discuss as a class what issues peasants faced in China during this time. Explore how these issues could have led to a rebellion against the existing Kuomintang government that controlled China.
Explain
25 Minute(s)
After discussing the conditions of peasants in China, have students examine the two sides that fought each other for control of China.
Display slide 7. Have students independently read the article How Did China Become a Communist Country? As students read, they should use the 3-2-1 strategy. Ask them to identify three reasons communism gained popularity in China. Have them identify two problems the Kuomintang faced as a government. Finally, have them draft one question they still have about the rise of communism in China. Students can use notebook paper or the attached 3-2-1 handout.
Partner students up to discuss their responses to the article. After giving students time to discuss, have a class discussion about the China’s Civil War.
Ask students to explain why communism was a popular ideology for Chinese peasants and discuss the challenges the Kuomintang had while governing. Reinforce the information from the article that the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan to make their own government, and today China and Taiwan remain divided. Use the attached Sample 3-2-1 Response for your reference.
Extend
20 Minute(s)
After having a class discussion about the student’s responses to the 3-2-1 activity, display slide 8. Pass out a copy of the attached Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) Template to each student.
Ask students to respond to the question, Why did the communists win the civil war? Have them use the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) strategy to respond.
Allow students to work with their partners when writing their C-E-R. Advise students to use the previous documents they have read (Why-Lighting: China’s Peasants reading and How Did China Become a Communist Country?) as sources of evidence for the CER. Use the attached Sample Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) Response for reference.
Evaluate
30 Minute(s)
Students should work with their partners to present their completed CERs to the class. Ask for volunteers or choose partners to present their findings. Have students explain their thinking by reading the CER the students have written out.
Resources
Chen, J. (2020, Sept 29). What is Communism? Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/communism.asp
Constitutional Rights Foundation. (2016). Why Did the Communists Win the Chinese Revolution? https://www.crf-usa.org/images/t2t/pdf/WhyDidCommunistsWinChineseRevolution.pdf
Khan Academy. (n.d.). READ: Chinese communist revolution (article). World history project. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/whp-1750/xcabef9ed3fc7da7b:unit-8-end-of-empire-and-cold-war/xcabef9ed3fc7da7b:8-2-end-of-empire/a/chinese-communist-revolution-beta
Kublin, H. [Ed.] (1972). China: Selected readings (World regional studies). Houghton Mifflin.
K20 Center. (n.d.). 3-2-1. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/117
K20 Center. (n.d.). Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER). Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/156
K20 center. (n.d.). Padlet. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/1077
K20 Center. (n.d.). Tell Me Everything. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/107
K20 Center. (n.d.). Why-Lighting. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/128
K20 Center. (n.d.). Virtual learning: Tech integration. Pedagogy. https://sites.google.com/ou.edu/k20-virtual-learning/pedagogy?authuser=0#h.z8dwo5f3csa4
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.Com Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communism
US Department of State. (2018, August 31). U.S. Relations with Taiwan. Bilateral relations fact sheet. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-taiwan/
Wikimedia Commons. (2007, April 21).
China-Taiwan.png. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:China-taiwan.png
