The KING’S Medium Term Plan – History
Y8 Learning Cycle 3 Programme
Module 3
History
Overarching
Challenging
question
How has Britain become involved in World Conflict?
Subject
Challenging
Question
How has Britain become involved in World Conflict?
Lines of Enquiry
Lines of Inquiry
This unit is about causation of conflict and will look at the recurring themes and changing nature of what has caused conflict
throughout the 20th Century. It will allow pupils to not only see causes and consequences of conflict but will allow access to a lot of
historical source analysis. Higher order thinking will be analysing sources for reliability and usefulness with some GCSE style questions
to push the higher ability students.
Week 1: How did we become involved in World War One?
Week 2: Why did the war spread further than Europe?
Week 3: If World War 1 was the ‘war to end all wars’ why was there a Second World War?
Week 4: How did Hitler prepare Germany for a World War?
Week 5: How did Britain respond? How did the Japanese and Americans get involved?
Week 6: Revision, learning homework – incorporate the skills developed this semester. Assessment week.
Week 7: Gap teaching – from assessment analysis.
Progress
Objectives
By the end of this semester, students in history will be able to:
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recall why World War One and Two started
research key causes of a variety of 20th Century conflicts
analyse what similarities and differences existed in the causes of global conflict
examine whether World War Two could have been prevented
understand the causes and consequences of the two World Wars
evaluate the importance of a variety of causes of war
compare and contrast the causes of World War One and World War Two
propose whether war would have still broken out without Hitler
Week 1
How did we become involved in World War One?
(2 Hours class
learning + 1
home learning)
Lesson 1: ‘The Alliance System was in no way responsible for the outbreak of World War One’
Progress Outcomes:
 Understand what alliances existed before World War One
 Explain what alliances existed in Europe in 1914
 Analyse/debate why these alliances existed
 Evaluate how important the alliances were to the start of World War One
 Create an alternative to the alliance system
Learning Activities:
1.
Do Now: Brainstorm – what is an alliance
2. Table scenario, you must create a situation in which all of the countries are not sitting beside enemies
3. Analyse why these alliances existed within Europe using self and peer teaching
4. Evaluate how important they were in written format for the outbreak of World War One
Lesson 2: ‘The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand was solely responsible for World War One’
Progress Outcomes:
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Recall how the Alliance System led to World War One
Explain what happened in Sarajevo in 1914
Analyse how exactly the assassination of an Austrian duke could lead to World War One
Evaluate the hypothesis using evidence to support what you have written
Create a scenario explaining what would have happened had Franz Ferdinand not been assassinated
Learning Activities:
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Complete a do now task to recall how the Alliance System led to World War One
Identify what happened in Sarajevo using sources
Discussion on how this and the Alliance System led to World War One
Investigate how accurate the hypothesis is and why
Activities this week to be peer assessed
Home learning:
Students will complete a homework booklet throughout this learning cycle
REACH:
Creating scenarios for ways in which World War One could have been avoided
Week 2
Why did the War spread further than Europe?
(2 Hours class
learning + 1
home learning)
Lesson 3 and 4: ‘America and Japan did not need to get involved in World War One
 Recall why World War One broke out based on Sarajevo and Alliances
 Explain what led to America and Japan getting involved in World War One
 Analyse why a European War could turn into a World War
 Evaluate if America and Japan NEEDED to get involved in World War One
 Create a scenario of what would have happened had the war not gone global
Learning Activities:
1. Research based task to find out why Japan and America got involved in World War One
2. Carousel on the effects of the conflict going global
3. Peer teaching and assessment
REACH time to be completed this week
Home learning:
Students will complete a homework booklet throughout this learning cycle
REACH:
Students must continue to reach higher levels of thinking by creating scenarios using counter-factual reasoning.
Week 3
(2 Hours class
learning + 1
home learning)
If World War One was the ‘war to end all wars’, why was there a World War Two?
Lesson 5: The Treaty of Versailles was completely necessary to punish Germany
Progress Outcomes:
 Recall why World War One turned global
 Explain what the main clauses in the Treaty of Versailles were
 Analyse why the Treaty of Versailles was created
 Evaluate how this would lead to a second World War
 Create an alternative Treaty which would be less controversial
Learning Activities:
1. Do Now; Recall why World War One turned global
2. Worksheet on Treaty of Versailles clauses with questions
3. Using knowledge of the clauses debate how it could lead to another war
4. Create an alternative to the Treaty of Versailles that is less controversial
Lesson 6: The League of Nations failures led to World War Two
Progress Outcomes:
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Recall what the Treaty of Versailles was
Explain what the League of Nations was and where it failed
Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the League of Nations
Justify an overall conclusion in which you assess The League of Nations failures could lead to World War Two
Learning Activities:
1. Do now: Recall what the Treaty of Versailles was
2. Based on a short individual reading activity, what was the League of Nations and how did it fail?
3. Analysis work to divide consequences of the League of Nations into strengths and weaknesses using sources
4. Assess what the most important cause of World War Two was based on the weeks learning, debate
Work this week to be peer assessed
Home learning:
Students will complete a homework booklet throughout this learning cycle
REACH:
Pupils will create explanations behind how their Treaty of Versailles would be an improvement on the original
Week 4
How did Hitler prepare Germany for World War?
(2 Hours class
learning + 1
home learning)
Lesson 7: Hitler could not prepare Germany for war without destroyed the Treaty of Versailles
Progress Outcomes:
 Recall how the Treaty of Versailles caused World War Two
 Explain what Hitler thought of the Treaty of Versailles
 Analyse sources to explain how Hitler dismantled the Treaty
 Evaluate if destroying the Treaty was justified by its harshness
 Create a hypothesis for the lesson
Learning Activities:
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Do Now: Recall how the Treaty of Versailles caused World War Two
Source analysis on Hitler and Germanys thoughts on the Treaty of Versailles
Further source analysis on Hitlers actions with the Treaty of Versailles
Produce a court hearing to evaluate if Hitler was right to demolish Versailles
Lesson 8: Without Hitler, there would have been no World War Two
Progress Outcomes:
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Describe what Hitler did to get rid of the Treaty of Versailles
Explain what Hitler did to start World War Two
Analyse different sources to explain the importance of Hitlers role in starting World War Two
Evaluate, comparing a variety of causes, how important Hitler was in World War Two
Create a response to the hypothesis using creative scenarios
Learning Activities:
1. Do now: what did Hitler do to get rid of Versailles
2. Read through a variety of sources and explain what similar experiences the slaves shared
3. Create a list of similarities and differences from each of the sources using quotes to support what they are saying
4. Evaluate the hypothesis in a paragraph
REACH marking to be peer assessed
Home learning:
Students will complete a homework booklet throughout this learning cycle
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REACH:
Students should compare lives of slaves to another historical event and note down similarities and differences.
Week 5
How did Britain respond?
(2 Hours class
learning + 1
home learning)
Lesson 9: Britain were right to appease Germany
Progress Outcomes:
 Recall how Hitler caused World War Two
 Explain what appeasement is
 Analyse the reasons for Britain appeasing Germany
 Evaluate the hypothesis, do you agree or disagree and why?
 Create alternatives to appeasement
Learning Activities:
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Do now task: Recall how Hitler caused World War Two
Apply knowledge of World Wars to explain appeasement
Analyse why Britain followed appeasement using examples
Hypothesis evaluation using PEE paragraph
Lesson 10: Britain had no choice but to appease Germany
Progress Outcomes:
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Recall what appeasement was and how it started World War Two
Explain why Britain may not have had a choice but to followed appeasement
Analyse reasons for and against appeasement
Evaluate how much of a choice Britain had in choosing to appease Germany
Create scenarios explaining how without appeasement, World War Two would never have happened
Learning Activities:
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Do Now, recall what appeasement was
Using the sources, explain why Britain followed appeasement
Using additional sources find reasons for and against appeasement
Write an answer to the question 'How much of a choice did Britain have in using appeasement?' using counterfactual reasoning
Work this week to be peer assessed
Home learning:
Students will complete a homework booklet throughout this learning cycle.
REACH:
Creating a list of alternatives for the plantation owners in order to allow them to still make money whilst approving of getting
rid of slavery
Gap Analysis Reinforcement
Gap
Reinforcement
This end of module time will be allocated to re-teaching any gaps discovered in each individuals knowledge as a result of the
assessment process
Extended Learning
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Compare the causes of World War One and Two to find similarities and differences
Research causes of other 20th Century conflicts to find similarities and differences. Are there any recurring themes?
Evaluate how different the world may be today without these wars?
Why do we study World War One and Two in such detail? What makes them so significant?
GCSE World War Two source questions available upon request