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- Lesson plan
- Target group
- Duration
- Purpose
- Tasks
- Working methods
- Methods used
- Materials
- Timeline
A short exercise with the timeline bookmark
Darya Kasiakova Belarusian State Pedagogical University, Minsk, Belarus / Iryna Kashtalian Leonid Levin Historical Workshop, Minsk, Belarus
14-18 years
10 min
Target group
Students aged 14 and older.
Duration
10 minutes + explanations from the teacher.
Purpose
To refresh knowledge of World War II; as a supplement for discussion.
Tasks
- To systematize the most important dates of World War II in the students’ perception;
- To reflect on the difference in perception of different dates of World War II in the remembrance culture of different countries;
- To form an opinion in the students on the importance of World War II in pan-European memory preservation through shared historical dates.
Working methods
Frontal (teacher-led), individual.
Methods used
“INSERT”, discussion.
Materials
The bookmark timeline (the number of the copies shall correspond to the number of the students).
The teacher distributes the timeline copies among all the students, and proposes to look through all the timeline dates and to do the task (2 minutes + time for the teacher’s explanation):
Indicate your attitude, using the symbols below next to the dates:
- V — “I already know this”;
- + — “The facts are new for me”;
- ? — “Explanations, clarifications are needed”.
Then the teacher collects opinions of the class/group on what was entirely new for them, and clarifies the information with regard to the dates which remained unclear for the students.
The students are proposed to comment: what dates, in their opinion, does the timeline lack, which would they like to add and why (2 minutes).
The teacher afterwards organizes a small discussion on the following: among the mentioned dates, are there dates which can be perceived/ formulated differently in different countries and why (5 minutes).
The lesson's final stage – the students should reflect on the dates which in their opinion represent the most important dates to preserve the memory of World War II and why (1 minute).
Timeline
Mar 1935
Hitler renounces Versailles Treaty
Mar 1936
Germany reoccupies Rhineland
Oct 1938
Munich conference
9 Nov 1938
“Kristallnacht”
23 Aug 1939
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
1 Sep 1939
Germany invades Poland
3 Sep 1939
Britain and France declare war on Germany
17 Sep 1939
USSR occupies Eastern Poland
28 Sep 1939
German-Soviet Treaty on division of Central Europe
30 Nov 1939
USSR invades Finland
Jun 1940
USSR annexes Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
22 Jun 1941
Germany invades USSR
Jun – Jul 1941
Defence of Brest fortress
28 Jun 1941
German troops occupy Minsk
Nov 1941 – Feb 1942
Battle of Moscow
20 Jan 1942
Wannsee Conference
Nov 1942 – Feb 1943
Battle of Stalingrad
Jul – Aug 1943
Battle of Kursk
6 Jun 1944
Allied invade Normandy
Jun – Aug 1944
Operation Bagration begins
3 Jul 1944
Liberation of Minsk
1 Aug – 2 Oct 1944
Warsaw Rising
27 Jan 1945
Liberation of Auschwitz
Feb 1945
Yalta Conference
Apr – May 1945
Battle of Berlin
8/9 May 1945
Germany surrenders
Jul – Aug 1945
Potsdam Conference
6 & 9 Aug 1945
US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
2 Sep 1945
Japan surrenders
Nov 1945 – Oct 1946
Nuremberg Trials
Jun 1948
Berlin Blockade begins
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