Summary
This lesson is meant to be taught after WWI content and introduces your students to WWII. Students will learn how economic and political issues after WWI lit a fuse that exploded into WWII. Using hands-on activities and discussions, students will explore the vocabulary and multiple causes of WWII. By the end of the lesson, students should have a deeper understanding of why WWII began.
Essential Question(s)
Did economic challenges following WWI lead the world into a second war? How did leaders and political blunders pave the road to WWII?
Snapshot
Engage
Students draw upon previous knowledge of what led up to the outbreak of WWII.
Explore
Students brainstorm the meanings of key vocabulary terms.
Explain
Students read an article to develop their understanding of what caused WWII and share what they learned with their peers.
Extend
Students create a meme of an economic or political cause of WWII.
Evaluate
Students complete a Two-Minute Paper to demonstrate understanding.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
30-Second Expert T-Chart handout (attached; one per student)
K.I.M.S. handout (attached; one per student)
Jigsaw handout (attached; one per student)
WWII Causes Articles (attached; one per set of three students)
Student devices with internet access
Pencils
Paper
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson. Begin with slide 2 and explain that they will explore the causes of WWII. Review slides 3–4 to introduce the students to the essential questions and the learning objective.
Display slide 5 and introduce the T-Chart strategy to students. Instruct them to create a T-chart on notebook paper or pass out the attached 30-Second Expert T-Chart handout. Have students complete the left side of their T-chart, answering the question "What do I know about the causes of WWII?"
Once students have completed the left side of their T-chart, display slide 6 and introduce the 30-Second Expert strategy. This slide has a 30-second timer that can be used to keep students on task as they share what they know about the causes of WWII. Instruct students to work with a partner to share their knowledge. As their partner is sharing, students fill in the right column labeled: "What I learned from my partner."
Explore
30 Minute(s)
Display slide 7, pass out the attached K.I.M.S. handout and introduce students to the K.I.M.S. strategy. Have students use a student device to complete their handout by searching for important information, creating a memory clue, and writing a sentence using the following key words.
Treaty of Versailles
Great Depression
Hitler
Fascism
Axis Powers
Once students have completed their charts, ask for volunteers to share their findings with the class in a whole-class discussion.
After students share out their K.I.M.S. responses, display slides 8–12 to review key points of each word on the chart.
Explain
30 Minute(s)
Display slide 13 and introduce the Jigsaw strategy to students. Pass out the attached WWII Causes Articles to students and provide each student with one of the three articles in the handout. Pass out the attached Jigsaw handout to each student. Have students read the article they have been given while taking notes on the Jigsaw handout. The left column of the Jigsaw handout is prefilled with one of the three causes of WWII. Students read their article and write a summary of the cause in the right column.
Display slide 14 and have students gather with peers who examined the same article. Provide time for students to discuss takeaways and questions from their article. Display slide 15 and place students into groups of three so that each group represents the three articles. Have students share their notes with the other two group members so that all three articles are shared as a group. Have students take notes on their Jigsaw handout as they learn from their group members.
Extend
20 Minute(s)
Have students stay in their groups of three and display slide 17. Introduce students to the What Do you Meme? Instructional strategy. Explain that students will create a meme that demonstrates an economic or political cause of World War II. Provide time for students to create a meme that demonstrates an economic or political cause that led to WWII. Two websites that allow for meme creation are Imgflip and Make a Meme. Display slide 18 to show an example of a meme.
Display slide 19 and have students participate in a Gallery Walk. Have students display their memes on their devices. Have one student from each group stay at their meme to explain how their meme represents an economic or political cause of WWII. The rest of the students should move from station to station and evaluate their peers' memes by leaving two questions or comments about each group’s cause of WWII.
Once the students finish visiting each meme, have them move back to their meme and examine their feedback. Ask the students who remained at their meme to debrief the gallery walk with their group members. Ask for a volunteer at each meme to share the feedback they were given.
Evaluate
10 Minute(s)
Display slide 20 and have students use the Two-Minute Paper strategy to answer the question: What conditions led to the outbreak of WWII? Provide 2 minutes for students to answer the question on notebook paper or on the back of a handout.
Have students turn in their responses to review and check for student understanding of the lesson content.
Resources
Heimler’s History. (2020). Causes of WORLD WAR II [AP World History] Unit 7 Topic 6 (7.6). https://youtu.be/oZXmTsPLQ20?si=sDU9rMHLUZ74k1Gx
Imgflip. (n.d.-b). https://imgflip.com/
K20 Center. (n.d.). 30-Second Expert. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1048
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery Walk/Carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Jigsaw. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/179
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). K20 Center 2 minute timer [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcEEAnwOt2c
K20 Center. (n.d.). K.I.M.S. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/780
K20 Center. (n.d.). T-Chart. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/86
K20 Center. (n.d.). Two-Minute Paper. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/152
K20 Center. (n.d.). What Do You Meme? Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/984
Lumen Learning. (n.d.). Causes of WWII. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-tcc-worldciv2/chapter/causes-of-world-war-ii/
Make a meme - upload your own images or use our templates. (n.d.-c). https://makeameme.org/