Goals & Objectives
Students will learn about post-revolution Russia: the creation of the USSR, the passing of power from Vladimir Lenin to Joseph Stalin, and the powerful dictatorship forged by Stalin. Students will trace Stalin's rise to power. Students will compare and contrast Stalin's ideologies with those of Lenin.
CALIFORNIA STATE CONTENT
AND COMMON CORE STANDARDS
CA History-Social Science 10.6 Students analyze the effects of the First World War.
3 Understand the widespread disillusionment with prewar institutions, authorities, and values
that resulted in a void that was later filled by totalitarians.
CA History-Social Science 10.7 Students analyze the rise of totalitarian governments after World War I.
1 Understand the causes and consequences of the Russian Revolution, including Lenin's use
of totalitarian means to seize and maintain control (e.g., the Gulag).
2 Trace Stalin’s rise to power in the Soviet Union and the connection between economic
policies, political policies, the absence of a free press, and systematic violations of human
rights (e.g., the Terror Famine in Ukraine).
3 Analyze the rise, aggression, and human costs of totalitarian regimes (Fascist and
Communist) in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, noting especially their common and
dissimilar traits.
ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources,
attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide
an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
3 Understand the widespread disillusionment with prewar institutions, authorities, and values
that resulted in a void that was later filled by totalitarians.
CA History-Social Science 10.7 Students analyze the rise of totalitarian governments after World War I.
1 Understand the causes and consequences of the Russian Revolution, including Lenin's use
of totalitarian means to seize and maintain control (e.g., the Gulag).
2 Trace Stalin’s rise to power in the Soviet Union and the connection between economic
policies, political policies, the absence of a free press, and systematic violations of human
rights (e.g., the Terror Famine in Ukraine).
3 Analyze the rise, aggression, and human costs of totalitarian regimes (Fascist and
Communist) in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, noting especially their common and
dissimilar traits.
ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources,
attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide
an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
Vocabulary
All vocabulary words will be read and defined within the textbook reading. Students will be given a vocabulary worksheet (linked below) to be done for homework (though they are welcome to work on it or take vocabulary notes on it during class as appropriate). The handout includes a geography activity as well as a content vocabulary assignment.
Geography Vocabulary
Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Estonia Georgia
Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova
Russia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan
Content Vocabulary and Names
capitalism collectivization communism Five-Year Plans
Gulag Joseph Stalin New Economic Policy (NEP) Politburo
soviet USSR Vladimir Lenin war communism
Geography Vocabulary
Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Estonia Georgia
Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova
Russia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan
Content Vocabulary and Names
capitalism collectivization communism Five-Year Plans
Gulag Joseph Stalin New Economic Policy (NEP) Politburo
soviet USSR Vladimir Lenin war communism
Lesson Introduction
The teacher will project a political cartoon with following questions (linked below) onto the screen. Students will redraw the cartoon on their own papers and answer the questions. The class will then discuss the cartoon and their answers; the teacher will make sure that the importance of context (authorship, date, audience, etc.) is discussed and understood.
With their partners, students will then read and briefly discuss for understanding the short textbook section regarding post-revolution Russia (the USSR): “A New Era in the Soviet Union,” pages 473-476.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. and National Geographic. World History: Modern Times (New York, McGraw-Hill, 2006).
Spielvogel, Jackson J. and National Geographic. World History: Modern Times (New York, McGraw-Hill, 2006).
Content Delivery
This lesson uses analysis of primary sources as the means of learning. Building on what was explained in the lesson introduction, the teacher will further describe methods of inquiry using primary sources. The SCCC (sourcing, contextualization, close reading, and corroboration) method will be explained and employed, and is further explained at Reading Like a Historian. The lesson introduction’s political cartoon worksheet can be used to illustrate the methods, and the textbook reading from the lesson introduction serves as a scaffold for the upcoming “Student Engagement” activity using primary source material.
Student Engagement
In their table groups of four, students will collaboratively analyze four primary source documents: “[Document 813: Letter to
Stalin],” “[The GULAG: Letter to Bolshevik],” “Greetings on the Day of the Tenth Anniversary of the All-Union Leninist Young
Communist League," and “excerpt from [Goals and Results of the First Five-Year Plan]” (linked below). Each student will analyze
one of the four documents, taking notes according to the SCCC method and answering the given questions on their own sheets of
paper. Then, students will pass documents one person to the right, and analyze their new documents. Afterward, groups will
present to each other for each article: a synopsis, notes including SCCC evaluations, and answers to the given questions. There
should be two students per group to share their analyses of each primary source. The groups will discuss all four documents,
looking for information and context that is corroborated between them.
After analyzing the four primary source documents within their groups, each group will send one student to each of the four
posters taped to the walls around the world. The posters will contain only titles of the primary source documents. Each student
will represent his/her group by writing original commentary (pertaining to, but not limited to, the questions given with each
document) on the designated poster, as well as making sure the informational spaces are filled-out (date, author, medium,
audience).
Stalin],” “[The GULAG: Letter to Bolshevik],” “Greetings on the Day of the Tenth Anniversary of the All-Union Leninist Young
Communist League," and “excerpt from [Goals and Results of the First Five-Year Plan]” (linked below). Each student will analyze
one of the four documents, taking notes according to the SCCC method and answering the given questions on their own sheets of
paper. Then, students will pass documents one person to the right, and analyze their new documents. Afterward, groups will
present to each other for each article: a synopsis, notes including SCCC evaluations, and answers to the given questions. There
should be two students per group to share their analyses of each primary source. The groups will discuss all four documents,
looking for information and context that is corroborated between them.
After analyzing the four primary source documents within their groups, each group will send one student to each of the four
posters taped to the walls around the world. The posters will contain only titles of the primary source documents. Each student
will represent his/her group by writing original commentary (pertaining to, but not limited to, the questions given with each
document) on the designated poster, as well as making sure the informational spaces are filled-out (date, author, medium,
audience).
Lesson Closure
This lesson will culminate in a class-wide discussion of the sources and the resulting posters. The teacher will scaffold the discussion to make sure that questions pertaining to primary source analysis methods are addressed. The discussion will also address the content-related questions given with each primary source document.
Assessment
Formative Students will be formatively assessed on lesson vocabulary, important names, and geographic locations via their
vocabulary worksheet assignments (to be completed as homework, but may be worked on in class). Students will
also be formatively assessed on their primary source evaluation skills via their notes and question answers
pertaining to the primary source documents.
Summative Students will be summatively assessed on their primary source evaluation skills via the collaborative posters hung
around the room and the subsequent discussion.
vocabulary worksheet assignments (to be completed as homework, but may be worked on in class). Students will
also be formatively assessed on their primary source evaluation skills via their notes and question answers
pertaining to the primary source documents.
Summative Students will be summatively assessed on their primary source evaluation skills via the collaborative posters hung
around the room and the subsequent discussion.
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS,
STRIVING READERS, AND STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Students who need extra help have been placed into partnerships and small groups with helpful students who possess high-level language proficiency and work ethic. For those students who need it, the vocabulary homework assignment asking students to use terms in a coherent paragraph has been modified to include a pre-written fill-in-the-blank paragraph on the backside of the page. The teacher will closely monitor those students who need extra help during the primary source document analysis, using guiding questions to lead the students to making their own connections.
Lesson Resources
Lesson Introduction cartoon and election data taken from The DBQ Project’s Mini-Qs in World History, Volume 3, Unit 9:
“The Soviet Union: What Should Textbooks Emphasize?,” page 411
Student Engagement [Document 813: Letter to Stalin] Marxists Internet Archive
[The GULAG: Letter to Bolshevik] ibiblio
"Greetings on the Day of the Tenth Anniversary of Marxists Internet Archive
the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League"
[Goals and Results of the First Five-Year Plan] Grossmont College
“The Soviet Union: What Should Textbooks Emphasize?,” page 411
Student Engagement [Document 813: Letter to Stalin] Marxists Internet Archive
[The GULAG: Letter to Bolshevik] ibiblio
"Greetings on the Day of the Tenth Anniversary of Marxists Internet Archive
the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League"
[Goals and Results of the First Five-Year Plan] Grossmont College