James Madison University College of Education

Social Studies Lesson Plan Format

MSSE 470
Name: Shannon Vaskorlis Date: October 19, 2017 circle one: Original / Revision
Subject/Class: World History Grade Level: 10 Topic: Downfall of the Romanov Dynasty / Russian
Revolution (Context: this lesson will be at the end of the unit and students will have learned a good bit of the
background information necessary to understand this part of the unit by this lesson)
Concept: Revolution
Essential Question(s): (label unit/lesson)
Unit essential question(s): How does government affect its subjects?
Lesson essential question: What causes a revolution?
SOLs-- number & letter & brief summary:
WHII.1
a) synthesizing evidence from artifacts and primary and secondary sources to obtain information about events
and life in world history;
d) evaluating sources for accuracy, credibility, bias, and propaganda;
f) analyzing the impact of economic forces, including taxation, government spending, trade, resources, and
monetary systems, on events since 1500 A.D. (C.E.).
WHII.10
c) citing causes and consequences of the Russian Revolution. (Not so much consequences as causes for this
lesson plan)

Your own written objectives (U/K, D, Values)
Students will be able to UNDERSTAND
U.1 The social, economic, and political reasons that the
Romanov Dynasty ended
U.2 The reasons that the Russian Revolution occurred
Your assessment: formative and
summative
Formative: Throughout the lesson,
students will be adding to a timeline of the
political events that quickly transpired
throughout the course of Nicholas IIs
reign of Russia
Summative: As an exit card, students will
have to list a few reasons for why the
Romanov Dynasty ended and how those
reasons contributed to the Russian
Revolution

Dept. of Middle, Secondary, and Math Education

modified by Dr. Cude 1/17
Students will KNOW
K.1 Important people in the Romanov Dynasty and
Russian Revolution (Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra,
Rasputin, Vladimir Lenin)
K.2 Key terms (Bolshevik, Russo-Japanese War, Duma,
abdicate, provisional government, assassination, Bloody
Sunday, February Revolution, October Revolution,
Communism)
K.3 The weakness of the Romanov Dynasty under the
last Tsar allowed the Russian Revolution to gain political
footing
DO/SKILLS: (critical thinking skill)
D.1 Students will analyze primary source documents
D.2 Students will use propaganda to learn about different
viewpoints
Formative: Students will be making a
Romanov Family Tree throughout this
unit using a worksheet provided for them.
They will also have been given a timeline
for the entire unit, made by the teacher so
that they can better understand how these
events go together and that they are
concurrent. The assigned homework for
the night before this lesson will be
defining key terms and people for the unit
in a guided notes packet.
Formative: Students will be shown an
example of propaganda used by the
Bolsheviks and discern what message they
may be trying to get across based on the
information presented during lecture
Summative: As an exit card, students will
have to list a few reasons for why the
Romanov Dynasty ended and how those
reasons contributed to the Russian
Revolution
Students will analyze a postcard from
when Russia was involved in World War I
that is from the revolutionary perspective.

V.1 Students will value their ability to have revolutionary
thought
V.2 Students will value democracy, as compared to the
autocracy that was practiced in Imperial Russia
During the presentation of content, the
teacher will be conscious of asking
questions that provoke this line of
thinking.
Teacher observation?

Content Outline
I. Tsarina Alexandra was disliked by the Russian people and caused distrust of the Romanov family
among the public
A. She was German born and did not have an affinity for Russian culture.
B. She was rather reclusive in nature and seen as being cold by the Russian people.
C. Her son was a hemophiliac and she went to Rasputin, a mystic generally disliked by the Russian
people, for help and grew close to him.
II. There were a great deal of conflicts during Tsar Nicholas IIs reign in Russia.

Dept. of Middle, Secondary, and Math Education

modified by Dr. Cude 1/17
 A. In 1905, the Russians lost the Russo-Japanese War, which was caused by Russia venturing into
Manchuria.
B. During a peaceful workers protest, members of the Imperial Guard opened fire, leading to the
1905 Revolution. (Bloody Sunday)
C. The Tsar created the October Manifesto and the State Duma to rectify this and create peace
among the Russian people.
III. After a few years of peace in Russia, another massacre occurs against working class people in Russia,
causing another uprising of revolution.
A. Russia enters into WWI in 1914.
B. Despite the October Manifesto and a Constitution being created by the Tsar, there were still
immense social issues like food shortages and poor conditions for workers, as well as frustrations
stemming from Russias political failures. Entering into WWI exacerbated these long-term
issues.
C. In 1917 the February Revolution begins and Nicholas instructs the Russian army to suppress the
protesting by use of force, which they refuse to do.
IV. Realizing that he has lost power, Nicholas abdicates the throne to his brother
A. His brother refuses to take on the throne, leading to the formation of a provisional government.
B. Russian revolutionaries called Bolsheviks protest the provisional government. (October
Revolution)
C. The Bolsheviks rise to power, led by Vladimir Lenin.
D. The Romanov family is assassinated, under the instruction of Lenin.
V. The Bolshevik, later known as Communist Party, begins their assumption of power in Russia.

Instructional Plan:

Type of activity; What the Teacher Will Do/Say:

timing
Hook: Show At the beginning of class, a short clip from the movie Anastasia will be shown. This
short clip from will allow students to connect this topic to something that they are likely to be
Anastasia familiar with, and the instructor will then move into the lesson having oriented the
3 Minutes class and gained their attention.
Discussion: The teacher will present this question to the class, What is a revolution? Students
What is a will participate in a think-pair-share about this question in which they first think on
revolution? their own for a couple minutes, pair share with their neighbor, and then share in a
7 minutes class discussion about this topic.
Lecture: During this time, the teacher will go through the content using a PowerPoint
Powerpoint presentation. Students will add Nicholas II and his family members to their Romanov
presentation family tree. There will also be definitions of key terms and people that they will have
with guided researched the night before to reference for this lesson so that they can better
notes understand what is being talked about during this lesson. During the lesson, students
25 minutes will be filling out guided note sheets.
What was causing people to want to revolt against the government? What kind of
ruler was Nicholas II? Why did Nicholas create the Duma and sign the October
Dept. of Middle, Secondary, and Math Education
modified by Dr. Cude 1/17
 Manifesto? Based off of the other Tsars in the Romanov Dynasty, could Nicholas
have prevented the downfall of the Romanovs, or was it too late?

Primary As a class, we will read and break down this primary source to show the Bolshevik
Source: perspective of this event, and to see an actual first hand perspective of the event of the
Ex-Tsar Tsar being assassinated. We will have a quick discussion facilitated by the instructor,
Nicholas is looking at bias that is exhibited in this announcement, as it was issued by the
Executed Bolsheviks.
10 minutes
Formative Groups of 3 or 4: Students will be shown a piece of Bolshevik propaganda from
Assessment: WWI. They will be given only the translations from Russian and expected to explain
Primary source the propagandas intent and underlying meaning on their own having learned about
analysis the Bolshevik viewpoint in class. If there is time, students will share their gleanings
12 minutes and have a small class discussion-- but they will be expected to each write a small
summary to submit to show their analysis.

Summative Students will be handed a notecard and be instructed to write down at least two
Assessment: reasons that the Romanov Dynasty ended and two reasons that the various revolutions
Exit Card in Russia occurred
3 minutes

Materials Needed for the Lesson:

1. Original worksheets that will be provided for students- Romanov Dynasty family tree, key terms list,
guided notes, and Russian timeline for the entire unit.
2. Anastasia clip
3. PowerPoint presentation
4. Primary source documents (propaganda piece and assassination announcement)
5. Notecards for exit cards

Bibliography/Resources Used: (including websites, in APA format)

Harding, Luke. (2007) Bones found by Russian builder finally solve riddle of the missing Romanovs. The
Guardian.
Lashmar, Paul. (1999). Secret files tell of final terrors for Romanovs. The Independent.
Rogatchevskaia, Katya. Propaganda in the Russian Revolution. British Library.
(2015). From the archive, 22 July 1918: Ex-tsar Nicholas II executed. The Guardian.
Bucknell University Russian Studies Program. (2017). Chronology of Russian History. Bucknell University.

Adaption/Differentiation:
Dept. of Middle, Secondary, and Math Education
modified by Dr. Cude 1/17
ELL/struggling The propaganda/primary source that is used does not require any reading,
readers just looking at the postcard and analyzing how that fits into the content that
theyve learned in class.
ADHD The use of the hook is intended to gain student interest, as it is probably
something they are familiar with. Hopefully this will make them want to
pay attention, but if not there is a great deal of differentiation involved in
this lesson and is pretty fast-paced.

Gifted Gifted students are given the ability to exhibit their knowledge through the
class discussion.

REFLECTION:
1. How/where does this lesson exhibit connection to student lives/authentic learning?
Students can talk about revolution in a way that is more relevant to their lives. EX: The American Revolution
can be brought in, the counterculture could be used as an example, etc. They will also hopefully have a
connection to the movie Anastasia and will be interested to learn the actual history behind it.

2. How/where does this lesson lead to H.O.T. (higher order thinking) and deep knowledge?
Students will exhibit higher order thinking through their analysis of primary source analysis in class and will
also exhibit their knowledge through participation class discussion.

Points Rubric for Lesson Plans See full rubric for detailed description of expectations. See Dr. Cude for
/5 ea. further explanation.
Goals & alignment: EQ which is essential; objectives well written and significant; assessment
aligned with objectives--formative & summative; lesson logically flows; scaffolded appropriately

Structure: HOOK, closure, timing, detailed/accurate content, diverse strategies, differentiation,

includes ancillary materials [such as PPT, notesheet], on time, use of primary sources & visuals

Quality: [PASS criteria] uses higher-order thinking, links to students lives, includes
ethics/democratic values, employs historical/critical thinking & rigor, includes significant portion of
active/student-directed learning, and makes meaningful connections.

TOTAL 13.5 15 = exemplary (A)

12- 13.25 = meets target (B)
10.25 11.75 = meets target (C)
10 and below = needs improvement/redo & resubmit

Dept. of Middle, Secondary, and Math Education

modified by Dr. Cude 1/17