Understanding By Design Unit Template

Interwar Period: 1918-1939

Title of Unit Grade Level 12
History 30 10-12 lessons
Subject Time Frame
Connor Elliott
Developed By

Stage 1 - Identify Desired Results

Broad Areas of Learning
How are the BAL incorporated into this unit?

1. Building life long learners: Students will develop an understanding of the political climate during the interwar period and how it relates to the
present. They will be able to understand and explain the differences in thinking before and after the great depression. Students will gain an
knowledge of the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and how radicalism can appear in subtle ways. Students will learn to be diligent of the
policies a government creates and how the ways they effect different people. Students will understand how women were more involved in
society during the 1930’s and how that initiated change during and after World War II.
2. Building self and Community: The history of the interwar period is relative to life on the prairies because much of what is represented in the
prairies stems from this time. Farming, urbanization, and financial management were all effected because of the great depression and the dirty
30’s. Students will have a better understanding of what poverty looks like in Canada and ways to help people out of poverty. Students will be
able to explain the effect the great depression had on Indigenous people and the mistreatment they had during this time.
3. Building engaged Citizens: Students will be able to come up with possible solutions to many issues that date back to this time, providing
different possible actions that could have helped prevent the depression from happening. Students will learn how helping their neighbours can
have a positive effect on their community. Students will gain an understanding on how multiple perspectives can accurately describe one event
and also the importance of taking in multiple perspectives while looking at historical narratives.

Cross curricular Competencies

How will this unit promote the CCC?

1. Developing Thinking: Students will have the opportunity to think contextually and be able to apply historical information into present
application. Students will be encouraged to self reflect on their own history that applies to the topic and their beliefs and biases that have
derived from this time.
2. Developing Social Responsibility: Students will look at how the media has portrayed this time and the stories that have been overlooked.
Students will observe how the actions of the government effected the common citizen and those who were not considered citizens at the time
such as: Immigrants, Indigenous people, women, and other minority groups.
3. Develop Literacy: Students can look at primary sources to understand the different dynamics of the society at the time and the different
struggles people might have had. Students will create a project utilizing a method of literacy of their choosing that was prevalent at the time.
Students will understand the use technology in interpreting historical information.
 4. Developing Identity and Interdependence: Through study of a specific group during this time students will be able to demonstrate mental,
physical, mental, and spiritual growth. This growth will help students relate to their communities better.

Learning Outcomes
What relevant goals will this unit address?
(must come from curriculum; include the designations e.g. IN2.1)

Foundational objective 1: Know that the actions and policies of other nations influence the well-being of the Canadian people and nation.
Foundational objective 3: Know that the various ideologies have articulated differing views about the role of government in securing the well-being
of the citizenry.
Foundational objective 5: Know that every society will evolve, through debate and consensus, assumptions and practices concerning certain key
societal relationships.

Enduring Understandings Essential Questions

What understandings about the big ideas are desired? (what you want What provocative questions will foster inquiry into the content? (open-
students to understand & be able to use several years from now) ended questions that stimulate thought and inquiry linked to the content
What misunderstandings are predictable? of the enduring understanding)
Students will understand that... Content specific….

 Perspective is a crucial component when analyzing history.
 Understanding history can help understand why the world is the
way it is.
 Being culturally aware will help students engage within the
multiculturalism of Canada in a respectful way.
 To identify overlooked groups and bring them to the open.
 Why is it important to study Canada during the interwar period?
 How can the different dimensions of Canadian society be applied
to gain a better understanding of the broad Canadian history?
 Why is developing an understanding of multiple perspectives
important?
 What are some cultural barriers that prevent people from
understanding each others perspectives?

Related misconceptions… FNMI, multicultural, cross-curricular…

Citizens were aware of the political and economic climate and had the How were Indigenous people effected during this time?
means to communicate their concerns to the government. How do other cultures view the great depression?
Knowledge: Skills
What knowledge will student acquire as a result of this unit? This content What skills will students acquire as a result of this unit? List the skills
knowledge may come from the indicators, or might also address pre- and/or behaviours that students will be able to exhibit as a result of their
requisite knowledge that students will need for this unit. work in this unit. These will come from the indicators.

Students will know... Students will be able to…

 In the past, history has been primarily viewed from a singular
perspective. Being a historian is about looking at different stories to
form a better understanding that period of time.
 Looking at different perspectives is a life skill which will allow
students to look for stories that have been overlooked. This will
inspire students to dig deeper into controversial issues and to
develop opinions based on different perspectives.
 Students will gain knowledge on the different socioeconomic classes
and the effect that has on society.
 Students will gain knowledge on women’s suffrage during the
interwar period and the contributions women had during the great
depression.
• Be able to explain the effects of foreign influence on Canada in
the past as well as the present.
• Be able to explain different ideologies and the effect they have
on government.
• Write the influence the government has on different groups of
people.
• Use good argumentation to explain their political view
respectfully.
• Test viewpoints for morality and the factual accuracy.
• Relate historical events with present day reality.
• Interpret stories for their opinions and facts.
• Develop hypotheses based on logic.

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

Performance Task
Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate the desired understandings, knowledge, and skills? (describes the learning activity
in “story” form. Typically, the P.T. describes a scenario or situation that requires students to apply knowledge and skills to demonstrate their
understanding in a real life situation. Describe your performance task scenario below)
By what criteria will performances of understanding be judged?
GRASPS Elements of the Performance Task
G – Goal G – The goal is to gain an interest in Canadian history and how they
What should students accomplish by completing this task?
R – Role are now a part of it.
What role (perspective) will your students be taking?
A – Audience R – They will be professional historians seeking to unravel the
Who is the relevant audience? mysteries of Canadian history. They will present their findings to the
board of the museum of Canadian history (The class).
S – Situation
The context or challenge provided to the student. A – The audience will be represented by different cultures within the
classroom.

S – Students will be challenged use historical thinking to research a

specific culture or people group during the interwar period (1918-
P – Product, Performance
What product/performance will the student 1939).
create?
P – Students will provide creative evidence of their learning
represented by a final product of their choice.

S – Standards & Criteria for Success

Attach rubric to Unit Plan
Create the rubric for the Performance Task

Other Evidence
Through what other evidence (work samples, observations, quizzes, tests, journals or other means) will students demonstrate achievement of the
desired results? Formative and summative assessments used throughout the unit to arrive at the outcomes.

Throughout the unit observations will be made to assess the engagement and participation of the students. Kahoot.it will be used as a tool to assess
the involvement of those who choose not to speak in class. In this way all students will be able to show what they have learned on a daily basis? A final
project will be given to the students to incorporate what they have learned. Journals will be kept for the students to self reflect on what they have
learned.

Stage 3 – Learning Plan

What teaching and learning experiences will you use to:
 achieve the desired results identified in Stage 1?
 equip students to complete the assessment tasks identified in Stage 2?
Where are your students headed? Where have they been? How will you make sure the students know where they are going?
What experiences do the learners bring to the unit? How have the interests of the learners been ascertained? Have the learners been
part of the pre-planning in any way? What individual needs do you anticipate will need to be addressed?
Learning environment: Where can this learning best occur? How can the physical environment be arranged to enhance learning?

The grade 12 students are on the verge of graduating from the comfort of school to being active citizens. Having the knowledge of different ideologies
and basic Canadian history will equip them with the necessary tools to be successfully involved in society. The students will have gained a knowledge on
pre-colonial Canadian history, Indigenous history within Canada, and the early stages of Canadian Confederation. We will know the students are
succeeding in their learning when they are able to explain, through various avenues, the effects of political ideologies and the Great Depression.

Each student will have a previous idea of what this history looked like as they have heard about it periodically over their education. They will bring their
own ideas of what should have happened following certain events which will need to be reassessed during the unit. Students learning will be ascertained
by their final project. None of the students will have a knowledge of the unit and where the learning train will go.
Individual biases may come up in the unit which will need to be addressed either in front of the class or individually. Motivation for the final project will
be a need to anticipate.

Within the classroom is where most of the learning will take place. A potential field trip to a museum or landmark would help with understanding that
time period. The classroom can be arranged to reflect the depression era with décor, making the classroom into a barren wasteland, and posters of
ideologies indicating how they provide the means of a ‘better life’.

How will you engage students at the beginning of the unit? (motivational set)

Prior to this unit, we will have just covered Canada’s involvement in World War 1. A class celebration fair will be held for the first half of the class.
Following the celebration each student will receive 50 monopoly dollars for the service in the war. Each student will be rewarded for various tasks with
more monopoly money. This money is obtained very easily for very mundane tasks (Opening the door, cleaning up garbage, basic class room tasks,
raising hand to ask question). Students gain some knowledge on different companies to invest their money in. These companies all have appealing
qualities that make them investable.

When reaching the lesson where the stock market crashes each student will have received enough fake money to purchase a prize (ie. A bag of jelly
beans). However, before they can purchase it, the teacher declares that all of the money has no value anymore and can no longer be used to purchase
the prize. After this happens the work needed to get the fake money is now almost impossible (Write a 5 page essay, but your teacher 3 pounds of
chocolate covered coffee beans, read through the lord of the rings series in 2 days). These tasks will receive minimal dollars and the price of the prize
will go up.

What events will help students experience and explore the enduring understandings and essential questions in the unit? How will you
equip them with needed skills and knowledge?
# Lesson Title Lesson Activities CCCs

1 1. Motivational/Anticipatory Set (This will take up more than half of the class) DSR
Introduction to – The students will have a class party to celebrate the victory of world war 1. This party will include DT
the interwar opportunities to gain monopoly money through various games and tasks. The money will be used to
period purchase a prize.
– Students will discuss the overall feeling of making profit. Students will discuss the value of everyone
making lots of money.
2. Main Procedures
 – Students will watch and discuss the changes that world war 1 did for the commonwealth nations.
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl5OqQVaD9Y
3. Closing
– Students will receive monopoly money as they exit class for their duty to the classroom.
– Students will be given an option of jobs they can do to earn money.
2 Coming home
from the war: 1. Introduction – The class will begin with a short video clip to get students thinking about the topic. DT
Citizens and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJo1v12CN54&t=1s DII
minorities  A discussion will follow about the video. Some questions that may be raised will be: who DSR
perspective is being shown? Who’s perspective is not evident in this video? What implications can
we draw from this video?
2. Main Procedures – Students will be given an overview of what life was like for many soldiers after coming
home from the war. Students will discuss what possible expectations soldiers may have had in comparison
to what they received.
– A significant amount of time will be taken to teach students about Indigenous people upon their return
from the First World War. A short video will be shown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=WGzNwAUdHM8
 Students will discuss the differences between the way Indigenous veterans were treated in
comparison to non-indigenous veterans.
 Students will discuss the outcomes of the treatment of Indigenous people after the First World
War. What happened as a result?
3. Conclusion – Students will do a quick write activity where they will analyze their own role in society and
what they can do going forward to shine a positive light on this situation.
3 1. Introduction DT
Political overview – Canadians became more independent following World War 1. DII
1918-1929 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKTLrv8Tf-o&t=27s DL
– Students will watch video and see how Canada and the United States are connected politically.
2. Main procedure
– Students will research major political figures in Canada's political history and how they dealt with major
issues
– Students will discuss why their political parties were the best choice for Canadians during this time period.
– Do these parties support or oppress minority rights?
3. Adaptations
– Classroom can be set up with showing different support for the different parties in Canada. The right and
left side of the classroom can show the different emphasis the parties have on daily Canadian life.
4. Closing
– Students will write the most interesting thing they learned about their political party.
4 Intolerance in 1. Introduction – The class will begin with a short video clip to get students thinking about intolerance and
Canada oppression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZVDBDzQoBE Following the video students will have DT
some of their monopoly money taken away to give an example of oppression. (3 min) DII
- With a partner, students will discuss the question: “What do you know about oppression and DL
intolerance in Canada’s history from 1918-1939?” (10 mins) DSR
- A brief overview of intolerance in Canada during the interwar period will be given with some examples.
(10 min)
2. Main Procedures – Students will be divided into groups and given different cases of intolerance that
occurred during that period of time (cases may include topics like Old Colony Mennonites, Chinese
 immigrants, Indigenous people and the pass system, and other minority groups). In their groups students
will discuss: (20 mins)
a. Who is being oppressed?
b. Who is being intolerant? Why do they think they are intolerant?
c. What is the setting/context of the intolerance? Where did it possibly stem from?
d. Are the effects of this intolerance still felt today? What is their role in making a change?
3. Conclusion – After students have had time to discuss amongst their groups they will share their findings
with the rest of the class. (15 mins)

5 Rural life: Before

the Great 1. Introduction – To begin the class students will be asked to do a quick write activity to explore what they DT
Depression know about rural life before the Great Depression. (10 min) DL
 Students will share what they came up with. DSR
To give students some inspiration as to what rural life may have looked like they will watch a short video
clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI9K8ZJqAwE (5 min)
 A brief discussion will follow the video highlighting the idea of the farming community and how
has it changed? How has it stayed the same?
2. Main Procedures – Students will then gather into groups and look at different primary examples of rural
life at that time. Examples may include: life and agriculture on reserves, life on farms, small town life, etc.
3. Conclusion – Students will share their findings with the rest of the class. They will again discuss the
changes and continuity in rural life. Students will also discuss the differences in each groups situation and
the factors that played a part in either the profit or oppression of each example.
6 The effects of the 1. Introduction DT
Stock Market – At this point the value of a monopoly dollar goes down and the price of the prize goes up (The prize can DII
Crash become even more valuable at this point) DSR
– Students will discuss pictures that depict life before and after the stock market crash. What is different? DL
Who is in the pictures? Students will predict the affect this will have on family life.
2. Main Procedures
– A brief overview of the stock market crash
– https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8f7V0OncyakVl9vNjBqVUZLbkE/view
– Students will be given different identities of people who would have been affected by the stock market
crash. The students will do a quick write after reading their profile. They will have to answer: How they
lived before the crash? After? Size of their family? How they plan to survive?
– Students go into pods and share with each other how they each plan to survive. Some will have strengths
that they can choose to help others with
– Once sharing with their original pod they will go into another pod of students and continue sharing on
their person.
3. Closing
- Students will write about who was the most affected from the stock market crash and how they dealt with the
adversity. How do we deal with adversity?
7
Women’s 1. introduction DSR
Suffrage – Students will watch video about how womens rights changed during 1920-1939 DT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWQKYmg_0R0 DL
– Are there minority rights of non-white women that are overlooked?
2. Main Procedures
 – Students will look at Womens Suffrage in Canada Education guide and answer questions about the
timeline
– How did World War 1 affect Womens suffrage?
– When did provinces allow women to vote? Why were some faster than others?
– What movements affected the influence of women on politics.
– http://education.historicacanada.ca/files/108/Womens_Suffrage.pdf
– Students will pair and share what was the most important date for women in Canada?
– Students will share with the class what there most important date was?
3. Closing
- Students will write down what they learned about women in Canada during the 1920's and 1930's
8
Rural life during 1. Introduction – Students will be given an outline of what life was like in rural areas during the Great DT
the Great Depression. To help this process students will view a number of picture taken from the depression and DII
Depression discuss their implications. DSR
2. Main Procedures – Students will then take a field trip to the community’s local “Old Folks Home” and
interview elders about their knowledge and experiences during the Great Depression.
3. Conclusion – In the class to follow, students will share what they learnt in small groups and then with the
class
 A class discussion will touch on aspects such as poverty, drought, government policies and the
effects they had, relief, actions taken, hardships and joys.
9
The effects of 1. Introduction – Students will do a five-minute quick write on what they know about the shift from rural to DT
urbanization on urban life. Some questions to guide their writing: What enticed people to urban centers? What pushed DL
rural life people out of rural areas. DSR
 Students will share their thoughts with the class.
2. Main Procedures – A brief overview of the effects of urbanization and its causes will be given. Examples
such as technological advances, the difficulties of the 1930s, urban opportunity, etc. will be discussed.
Depending on the community:
 If in a rural community, students will look through the towns history book and in pairs take a year
within the 1930s and record how many people left/came during that time, possible reasons for
their departure, and the implications that they can draw from their findings. Students will analyze
the impacts that urbanization had on rural businesses. Examples of the impacts that Urbanization
had on Aboriginal people will also be given.
 If an urban community, students in pairs, will briefly research the attractions that urban life had,
as well as research the hardships that may have forced people to give up on rural life. Students
will analyze the impacts that urbanization had on rural businesses. Examples of the impacts that
Urbanization had on Aboriginal people will also be given.
 As a collective group, students will share their findings and discuss what happened as a result.
3. Conclusion – Finally students will be given a choice or whether they will stay in a rural area or move to an
urban area. Those who choose the urban area will receive $10 monopoly money, those who stay will have
to give $5. This will help students gain a better understanding of why many people left for urban areas
during that time.
10 1. Introduction DT
Political – Students will look at a list of political ideologies (Without the title of what it is ie. Conservative, liberal, DII
Radicalism 1929- communist) DL
1939 – Students will write the things they agreed with and thought were good and then write on what they
 disagreed with.
2. Main procedures
– Students will write down how they think there preferred ideology will improve on the depression.
– Students will discuss with each other what ideology they prefer.
– Students will research on laptops the different political parties and how they came to power, the policies
they invoked on their citizens, and the ways they promised freedom from economic depression.
3. Conclusion
– Students will come back and discuss the benefits, and the faults, of their parties.
– The prize will be auctioned off to the highest bidder according to how much monopoly money they have.
11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Considerations
Required Areas of Study:
Is there alignment between
outcomes, performance assessment
and learning experiences?
Adaptive Dimension:
Have I made purposeful adjustments
to the curriculum content (not
outcomes), instructional practices,
and/or the learning environment to
meet the learning needs and
diversities of all my students?
Instructional Approaches:
Do I use a variety of teacher directed
and student centered instructional
approaches?
Resource Based Learning:
Do the students have access to
various resources on an ongoing
basis?
Assess and Reflect (Stage 4)
Comments
There is a correlation between the learning outcomes and the experience the students will gain as a result of this
unit. Students will be equipped with knowledge needed to be well educated in their political involvement. The
assessment will give students the opportunity to pursuing their interests.
For struggling students:
The assignments are open ended and allow students to learn at their own pace. Most of the lessons have
discussion based learning incorporated into the lesson plan. Struggling students can have assistance from a
student who needs a challenge or the teacher in order to monitor their discussion and foster a healthy learning
environment.
For students who need a challenge:
These students can help struggling students in their discussion. This gives the student who needs a challenge a
way to explain what they know in different ways. During the final project these students can be challenged go
above and beyond the expectations of the project.
Throughout the unit I will attempt to incorporate the 20/80 model of learning. The students will have plenty of
time to discuss the ideas they are learning and to challenge each other in their knowledge. The students will be
challenged in their leadership and conversational abilities.
Throughout the unit the students will be introduced to a variety of primary sources. Through reading,
interaction, videos, and photos students will be able to recognize credible sources and understand what a
primary source is. Some of these sources will be found online while others can be printed for the students to
read.
FNM/I Content and
Perspectives/Gender Throughout the unit attention will be given to several different perspectives of history during the interwar period.
Equity/Multicultural Education: Each perspective will be recognized as having a voice and a contribution to society. Certain parts of the unit will
Have I nurtured and promoted greatly emphasize the role of women, Indigenous people, and other minority groups on the development of
diversity while honoring each child’s Canadian society.
identity?

From: Wiggins, Grant and J. McTighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (pbk)