Goals & Objectives:
Students will analyze the reasons why the U.S. entered the war.
Students will form an opinion on whether the U.S. should have intervened.
Students will form an opinion on whether the U.S. should have intervened.
California State Content Standards:
10.5.3- Explain how the Russian Revolution and the entry of the United States affected the course and outcome of the war.
Driving Historical Question
Should the United States have intervened militarily in World War I?
Anticipatory Set
Teacher will review key concepts including total war, unrestricted submarine attacks, trench warfare, and casualty rates up to the point that the U.S. entered the war. The teacher will do this by asking students about these concepts and clarifying any misunderstandings and gaps of knowledge. This will allow the teacher to access students’ prior knowledge from previous lessons from this unit. Next, the teacher will inform the students that they will be taking notes on a graphic organizer and will pull information from a brief lecture and then will engage in a discussion about U.S. involvement in the war.
Vocabulary
Students will be using vocabulary learned from the previous lessons in this unit. Vocabulary used will include:
Nationalism
Militarism
Imperialism
Alliances
Zimmerman Telegraph
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.
Nationalism
Militarism
Imperialism
Alliances
Zimmerman Telegraph
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.
Content Delivery
After the anticipatory set, the teacher will lecture for 15 minutes about the state of the war just prior to U.S. military involvement. The teacher will discuss how trench warfare, total war, and modern weaponry had left Britain and France devastated and exhausted. The teacher will then review the Zimmerman Telegram (from a previous lesson) and attitude of the American people concerning getting involved in the war. Students will take notes on a graphic organizer.
Next, students will be broken into groups of 8. They will then discuss provided questions. These questions will include: Could the Allies have won the war without the U.S.? Was the U.S. obligated to enter the war? Why did the U.S. enter the war? Why did they enter the war when they did? The students will have two boxes on their graphic organizer. One box will be for “Group Ideas” where they will write down the brainstorming ideas from the discussion with their peers. The second box will be “My Thoughts” where they will add their own thoughts from the discussion. Students will have 25 minutes to discuss these questions and fill in the two boxes. The teacher will circulate throughout the classroom throughout the lesson and help guide the discussions. This will allow the teacher to monitor student progress and ensure student comprehension of the topic as well as guide and facilitate the discussions. Where needed, the teacher can provide extra scaffolding for students struggling with the discussion topics and provide individual instruction.
Next, the students will return to their individual desks where the teacher will lead a 5 minute discussion about what the groups came up for their answers. This will allow the teacher to find out what each group decided and allow the groups to share their ideas with one another. This allows the teacher to further monitor student progress and facilitate the discussion.
Next, students will be broken into groups of 8. They will then discuss provided questions. These questions will include: Could the Allies have won the war without the U.S.? Was the U.S. obligated to enter the war? Why did the U.S. enter the war? Why did they enter the war when they did? The students will have two boxes on their graphic organizer. One box will be for “Group Ideas” where they will write down the brainstorming ideas from the discussion with their peers. The second box will be “My Thoughts” where they will add their own thoughts from the discussion. Students will have 25 minutes to discuss these questions and fill in the two boxes. The teacher will circulate throughout the classroom throughout the lesson and help guide the discussions. This will allow the teacher to monitor student progress and ensure student comprehension of the topic as well as guide and facilitate the discussions. Where needed, the teacher can provide extra scaffolding for students struggling with the discussion topics and provide individual instruction.
Next, the students will return to their individual desks where the teacher will lead a 5 minute discussion about what the groups came up for their answers. This will allow the teacher to find out what each group decided and allow the groups to share their ideas with one another. This allows the teacher to further monitor student progress and facilitate the discussion.
Student Engagement
Students will engage in lively discussions about important questions regarding why, when, and how the U.S. entered the war. They will brainstorm and discuss in groups in order to answer these questions. They will then use the information received to answer individually one final critical thinking question during the lesson closure.
Lesson Closure
After the teacher led class discussion, the students will answer on their own on their graphic organizer one final question. This question will be “Do you think the U.S. should have entered the war? Why/why not? Provide evidence and support from the lecture and your group discussions.”
Assessments
Formative Progress Monitoring- Through discussion, circulating throughout classroom.
Formative- Written responses on graphic organizer will be graded and returned with appropriate corrects and feedback.
Formative- Written responses on graphic organizer will be graded and returned with appropriate corrects and feedback.
Accommodations
Graphic organizer will assist English Learners and Striving Readers to focus on the key details. Proficient English speakers will model proper analysis of the discussion questions.