Understanding the Formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact

OUT Lesson Plan

TEKS
113.41-8-A-United States History Studies since 1877
Describe U.S. responses to Soviet aggression after World War II, including the Truman
Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Berlin airlift, and John
F. Kennedy's role in the Cuban Missile Crisis
Objective
The class will analyze the causes and effects of the formation of NATO as well as the
different accounts of these events by various nations and the reasons for these different accounts.
Materials
PowerPoint Presentation
KWL Sheets
History Lessons by Dana Lindaman and Kyle Ward
Blank Sheets for Drawing
Engaging the Class-(5 Minutes)
The lesson will begin with the instructor calling for 7 students to stand at the front of the
class. One student will represent Germany and stand in the middle of the class, while one student
will represent Russia and a third will represent the nations of Eastern Europe. They will stand on
one side of Germany. The forth will represent Great Britain and the fifth will represent the
North American nations. The sixth student will be the other nations who joined the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization. The instructor will explain that after World War II western
European and North American nations joined in an alliance called NATO and attempted to bring
Germany into their influence. The Allies will join together and grab Germanys arm and hold on.
The instructor will explain that this made Russia uneasy and caused the forming of a rival
alliance called the Warsaw Pact. Russia and the other student will then join together and grab
Germanys other arm and begin to pull. The Allies will then pull and finally the seventh student
will stand beside Germany and The Eastern Europeans will grab his arm while the instructor
explains that after World War II Germany was left split in two by the two alliances. This will be a
brief introduction to the lesson but will work to give a basic idea of the material while teaching
to kinesthetic, audio and visual learners.

Exploring the Material-(5 Minutes)

The instructor will hand out a KWL sheet to each student to fill out what they know of
the subject already and what they would like to learn.
Beginning the Lesson-(10 Minutes)
The students will be divided into groups of three with each student assigned one of three
articles from History Lessons. These will be found on pages 278-280. They will read the articles
and explain the information to their group mates briefly.
Elaborating on the Information-(10 minutes)
The class will be divided into larger groups based on what article they read, with each
group member having read the same article. They will discuss the reasons that the articles were
written the way they were and the potential impact on the minds of the students who grew up
with this history.
The groups will discuss these findings as a class. It is recommended that each student
give a statement or reply to one but it is not a debate.
Evaluate the Classs Understanding-(5 Minutes)
Each student will draw a political cartoon depicting one of the events discussed in the
lesson from the point of view of one of the nations. The drawings must not be from the article
read by the student. This will show that the students understood the material enough to be able to
think critically about the actions and motives of the various nations.
The students will complete the KWL sheet.
Conclusion-(5 Minutes)
The lesson will end with the instructor giving a brief overview of the information and an
explanation on the importance of understanding the reasons for different versions of history.