TITLE OF LESSON PLAN: The Road to WWII

TITLE OF LESSON PLAN: The Road to WWII
CREATED BY: Jen Farwell
LENGTH OF LESSON: 3-5 days
GRADE LEVEL: 11th
Lesson Essential Question: In what ways did the Versailles Treaty and the failure of U.S.
support for the League of Nations contribute to the onset of WWII and the rise of militarism?
OBJECTIVES:
Students will analyze primary source documents from the WWI era. Students will analyze maps
and evaluate change over time through maps. Students will compose persuasive letters to the
citizens of the United States to convince citizens that the United States should join the League of
Nations.
MATERIALS:
1. Signing of the Versailles Treaty:
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/paris_peace_conference/media/versai.gif
2. WWI photo story ( See attachment)
3. Library of Congress: Document Analysis Sheets
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/
4. Versailles Treaty
http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/versailles.html
5. Maps of WWI Era ( See attachment)
6. Four Leaders Matrix ( See attachment)
7. Henry Cabot Lodge letter
http://firstworldwar.com/source/lodge_leagueofnations.htm
PROCEDURE:
1. Preview Activity 1: : Students will view Photo story- Treaty of Versailles and the
League of Nations ( See attached)
2. Preview Activity 2: Students should view the picture of the signing of the Treaty of
Versailles. Complete Hide and Seek procedure. Students will be asked to hide
somewhere in the picture. Classroom discussion to follow hide and seek; teacher
should point out different parts of the picture and ask who is hiding there. As the

teacher uncovers where each of the students are hiding they should ask the students
questions about what they can see, hear, smell, touch etc. After uncovering all of the
students in the picture class discussion should lead to an analysis of the photograph
itself (see attached list of questions)
3. Direct Instruction: Divide students into 6 groups, pass out documents and analysis
sheets, allow students one class period for analysis of documents, on the second day
of class students should share the document(s) that they were given with the class
and their analysis of the documents
Group 1- Analyze Articles 1-7 of Versailles Treaty
Group 2-Analyze Articles 8-14 of Versailles Treaty
Group 3- Analyze Articles 231-240 of Versailles Treaty
Group 4- Henry Cabot Lodge’s Opposition Letter to the Versailles Treaty
Group 5- Analyze WWI era maps
Group 6- Analyze 4 leaders handout
EVALUATIONS:
Students will utilize resources used in previous activity to compose a RAFT. A RAFT is a
writing assignment in which the student is given an assigned role and designated audience
to write to.
R (role): Students need to think back to the preview activity in which they played hide and
seek. They need to remember what object they were hiding behind. This is the role that
they will take for the writing assignment. For example, if the student was hiding behind a
column in the photo then the student will take on the role of the column for the writing
assignment.
A (audience): Students will be writing to the citizens of the United States.
F (format): Students will compose a persuasive letter.
T (topic): Students will make arguments for or against the United States joining the League
of Nations.
EXTENSION (if any):
Students should review maps that were given to them in the direct instruction activity.
Students will then create a personified map of Eastern Europe exhibiting ways that the
Versailles Treaty angered the German government and led to the eventual onset of WWII.

TAH GRANT REFERENCES:
http://ncheosceola.ning.com/page/inquiry-and-sources
Habits of Mind:
Change and Consequences: understand how things happen and how things change, how human interactions matter,
but also how their consequences are shaped by the means of carrying them out, in a tangle between purpose and
process.
Change and Continuity: …comprehend the interplay of change and continuity, and avoid assuming that either is
somehow more natural, or more to be expected, than the other.
History is Unfinished Business: …prepare to live with uncertainties and exasperating-even perilous-unfinished
business.
STANDARDS:
SS.912.A.4.10
Examine the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles and the failure of the United States
to support the League of Nations.