Goals and Objectives
Goal: Students will investigate the collapse of the Soviet Union through a reading assignment in the text book and by reading two excerpts from speeches and analyzing the causes of the collapse.
Objective: Students will demonstrate that they have gleaned information from the text by bucketing and writing a short essay about the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Objective: Students will demonstrate that they have gleaned information from the text by bucketing and writing a short essay about the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
California State Content Standard/Common Core Standard
CA Content Standards:
10.9.5 Describe the uprisings in Poland (1952), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968) and those countries' resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s as people in Soviet satellites sought freedom from Soviet control.
10.9.7 Analyze the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the weakness of the command economy, burdens of military commitments, and growing resistance to Soviet rule by dissidents in satellite states and the non-Russian Soviet republics.
Common Core Standards:
RH.9-10.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.
RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
RH.9-10.10 By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
10.9.5 Describe the uprisings in Poland (1952), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968) and those countries' resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s as people in Soviet satellites sought freedom from Soviet control.
10.9.7 Analyze the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the weakness of the command economy, burdens of military commitments, and growing resistance to Soviet rule by dissidents in satellite states and the non-Russian Soviet republics.
Common Core Standards:
RH.9-10.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.
RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
RH.9-10.10 By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Introduction (Hook/Access Prior Knowledge)
[5 minutes] Students will be asked to use their prior knowledge to predict how the Cold War will end using what they know about the economic factors in the Soviet Union and the sustainabilty of the communist economic system. Students will write in their Opening Activities Journal and the teacher will come around and stamp their entries. Students will then Pair-Share with their partner to discuss their answers and the instructor will cold-call on students to share their answers with the class.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development)
Key Terms: Soviet Bloc, Satellite Nations, Truman Doctrine, Containment, Reforms, Perestroika, Glasnost, Demokratizatsia, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Reverse Domino Theory.
The key terms in this lesson will be important in understanding the causes of the Soviet collapse and the subsequent reforms led by Mikhail Gorbachev which lead to the Democratization of the Soviet Union and subsequent end of Soviet control in Russia. The key terms will be introduced during a guided reading in the textbook during which students will pick out the major problems in the Soviet Union and also the reforms that occurred in response. The key terms will be revisited when students read primary sources from President Ronald Reagan's speech and also a speech by Mikhail Gorbachev. The students will utilize these key terms in their essay and they will be posted on the word wall for students to reference during their reading lesson.
The key terms in this lesson will be important in understanding the causes of the Soviet collapse and the subsequent reforms led by Mikhail Gorbachev which lead to the Democratization of the Soviet Union and subsequent end of Soviet control in Russia. The key terms will be introduced during a guided reading in the textbook during which students will pick out the major problems in the Soviet Union and also the reforms that occurred in response. The key terms will be revisited when students read primary sources from President Ronald Reagan's speech and also a speech by Mikhail Gorbachev. The students will utilize these key terms in their essay and they will be posted on the word wall for students to reference during their reading lesson.
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction)
[15 minutes] Students will be given a brief instruction on how to read the textbook effectively and purposefully. The instructor will use the ELMO and students will follow along as the instructor models the proper way to use the table of contents, glossary, Spanish Language glossary, the index, and how to read chapters by heading, subheading, captions, topic sentences, intro and concluding paragraphs, and finally how to locate key terms. Students will create tri-fold foldable with the headings, "Problems," "Reforms," and "Support/Evidence," to assist them in their note taking while they read the text.
Students will be given ten minutes to read through the textbook with their seat partner looking for the three major problems the Soviet Union faced and also the three major reforms instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev. Students will be reading chapter nineteen "The Collapse of the Soviet Union" (pgs. 612-617) in McDougall Littell's Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction, CA Edition published by Rand-McNally. Students will take notes on their tri-fold foldable and be asked to explain their answers using excerpts from the text in the third column.
Students will be given ten minutes to read through the textbook with their seat partner looking for the three major problems the Soviet Union faced and also the three major reforms instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev. Students will be reading chapter nineteen "The Collapse of the Soviet Union" (pgs. 612-617) in McDougall Littell's Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction, CA Edition published by Rand-McNally. Students will take notes on their tri-fold foldable and be asked to explain their answers using excerpts from the text in the third column.
Student Engagement and Critical Thinking (Student Activities)
[30 minutes] When Students have completed their reading of the chapter they will be broken up into groups of four. Half of the group will read a speech by President Ronald Reagan and the other half of the group will read a speech by Mikhail Gorbachev for 7 minutes. They will decode the speeches looking for evidence to support their essay on the causes of the Soviet Collapse. They will be reading the speeches looking for key terms, events, and explanations for why the Soviet Union was unsustainable and how it (somewhat) ended the Cold War. After each half of the group has finished their speech, they will switch and repeat the process for the next speech. When both halves of the group are complete, they will discuss what the discovered from the primary sources and from their readings in the textbook for five minutes.
After the discussion, the students will return to their seats and begin "bucketing" evidence for their essay. The students will be shown how to gather evidence by placing them in "buckets." The students will be writing a short essay the following day on the question, "How did internal conflicts lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union? What role, if any, did President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev play in the end of the U.S.S.R.?" Students will be shown how to structure an essay using an introduction paragraph, two to three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Students will spend the next ten minutes gathering their evidence into buckets and developing a thesis for their in-class essay on the next class day.
After the discussion, the students will return to their seats and begin "bucketing" evidence for their essay. The students will be shown how to gather evidence by placing them in "buckets." The students will be writing a short essay the following day on the question, "How did internal conflicts lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union? What role, if any, did President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev play in the end of the U.S.S.R.?" Students will be shown how to structure an essay using an introduction paragraph, two to three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Students will spend the next ten minutes gathering their evidence into buckets and developing a thesis for their in-class essay on the next class day.
Demonstrated Learning (Formative & Summative Assessments)
The teacher will walk around the room answering any questions about the documents and checking for student understanding and comprehension. Students will be informally assessed on their ability to complete the reading assignment by the questions that they have. If students are struggling, the instructor will stop and model the expectations for the class. Student's will use their bucketing as another form of formative assessment and the instructor will read through everyone's thesis and buckets and provide written and oral feedback for students to help them complete their essay.
The summative assessment for this lesson is an in-class essay which will be written on the following class day. Students will utilize their documents, their thesis, and their bucketing worksheet to assist them in developing their essay. The instructor will use this summative assessment to inform instruction and to help students with their reading comprehension.
The summative assessment for this lesson is an in-class essay which will be written on the following class day. Students will utilize their documents, their thesis, and their bucketing worksheet to assist them in developing their essay. The instructor will use this summative assessment to inform instruction and to help students with their reading comprehension.
Lesson Closure
[5 minutes] The instructor will ask each group to provide one of the major problems the Soviet Union faced or one of the reforms that Gorbachev instituted in response. Students will share their answers with the class and the instructor will ask questions to support student thinking about possible arguments for their essay.
Accommodations for English Learners, Struggling Readers, and Students with Special Needs
English Learners will benefit from heterogenous grouping and working with pairs and small groups in order to complete the reading assignment. Special reading strategies will be modeled for students to assist them in their reading comprehension and their analysis of the text. Chunking will be employed to help students make sense of each paragraph before moving on to the next paragraph. English Learners will also benefit from the use of a graphic organizer and guided questions for their essay. Students will also be given the chance to reflect on what they read and discuss it with their group which may provide for additional insight for ELs.
Struggling readers may have difficulty with the length of the texts in this reading assignment. Proper reading techniques and note-taking skills will be explicitly taught so that struggling readers have the opportunity to use these literacy strategies in their reading. They will be given a bucketing worksheet with guided questions to help struggling readers organize their thoughts and to help them establish their basis for their essay. Struggling readers will also benefit from heterogeneous grouping and working in pairs so that they do not have to grapple with the text alone. They will also be given time to reflect on the reading and discuss each speech with their group so that they may gain insights into the readings that they may have missed.
Students with additional special needs will be accommodated according to their IEP or any additional resources on campus.
Struggling readers may have difficulty with the length of the texts in this reading assignment. Proper reading techniques and note-taking skills will be explicitly taught so that struggling readers have the opportunity to use these literacy strategies in their reading. They will be given a bucketing worksheet with guided questions to help struggling readers organize their thoughts and to help them establish their basis for their essay. Struggling readers will also benefit from heterogeneous grouping and working in pairs so that they do not have to grapple with the text alone. They will also be given time to reflect on the reading and discuss each speech with their group so that they may gain insights into the readings that they may have missed.
Students with additional special needs will be accommodated according to their IEP or any additional resources on campus.