War Lesson Plan: World History
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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic War, and supports the standard of analyzing the various causes of war. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.
Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Ask students:
- What wars are you familiar with? What do you know about them?
- How do you think wars in the past affect our lives today?
Step 2: BUILD BACKGROUND
- Read aloud the description on the War topic page.
- Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
- Have students read one of the six Related Reading articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
Step 3: ENGAGE
Students express what they learned about war while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.
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- Make-a-Movie: Produce a mini-documentary explaining how the U.N. originated and what it does to prevent war. (Essential Literacy Skill: Determine central ideas)
- Make-a-Map: Make a concept map identifying and describing the main causes of war throughout history. (Essential Literacy Skill: Summarize key details)
- Creative Coding: Code a digital museum exhibit featuring artifacts representing how war has evolved throughout history. (Essential Literacy Skill: Make logical inferences from explicit details)
Step 4: APPLY & ASSESS
Apply: Students complete the War Graphic Organizer, applying essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.
Assess: Wrap up the lesson with the War Quiz.
Step 5: EXTEND LEARNING
Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of the causes and consequences of war with these topics: United Nations, Armed Forces, and Memorial Day.
Additional Support Resources:
- Modifications for BrainPOP Learning Activities: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
- BrainPOP Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.