Subject: Geography for Life
1. Topic-
Communist Germany: During and After
 
2. Content-
Vocabulary words: Communism, World War II, Berlin Wall
 
3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
1. Standard 2: Students will understand the human and physical characteristics of places and regions.
2. Standard 4: Students will understand how human activities shape the earth's surface.
 
4. Objectives-
1. standard 2:
Objective 3: Evaluate how culture and experience influence the way people live in places and regions.

2. Standard 4: Objective 3: Investigate various forms of governance and how they affect peoples and landscapes.
 
5. Materials and Aids-
Brown butcher paper: One huge piece which can split the classroom in half. I usually split in in the middle so half the students are on one side the rest are on the other side. I do not tell them why the "wall" is there.
 
6. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-

1.In addition, you can write down how to make economic life the same for everyone
2. To access background knowledge, have students write down as much as they know about communism.

 

B. Development-

Teacher announces that students will be paid for the class notes they will take in class. The fake money can be used at a later date for an in class auction. (Note: the auction can include candy, soda, pencils, notebooks etc...)
 

C. Practice-

1. Students take notes on how Germany was split after WWII and the building of the Berlin wall.
2. Students also read stories and continue to take notes on life under communism.
3. At the end of the note taking task, the teacher pays students for their notes. For those students on the west side (free) get paid according to how many notes they took. Students who took all the notes in a neatly manner will get $100, students who did a little, get $50 and those who did not take notes will get paid $0. On the East side (communist), students get paid $15 no matter how many notes they took.
 

D. Independent Practice-

1.Students on the East (communist) side are outrage about the outcome. At this points students journal their thoughts. The teacher encourages students to share their thoughts with the class.
2. Students are then to ask to write on how they experience is similar or different than life in Germany before the wall came down. It is important to note that West Germany became modern while East Germany slowed in progress and technology
3. After the class discussion, the teacher takes down the wall and says "we are one Germany."
4. The class is now asked how do they rebuild East Germany. Ask students on the former West side if they will give some of their money to those on the East side. Again, have students journal their feelings.
 

E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-

The class notes and stories of Germans can be extremely detailed or not depending upon the level of students.
 

F. Checking for understanding-

1. Have students do an exit card on what they have learned.
2. Students can explain how they think Germans felt during this time in German history.
3. Students can also journal how Communism affected it's people in East Germany and how that was differed than their relatives in West Germany.
 

G. Closure-

1. For the rest of the week or two weeks, have all students earn ways to earn the fake money for the auction.
2. Hold the auction.
 
7. Evaluation-
Journaling or have students play a role as a German behind the wall or vice versa and writing to a relative on the other side of the wall.
 

This Lesson Plan is available at (www.teacherjet.com)