d-day_lesson_plan.docx | |
File Size: | 90 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Goals & objectives
Students will learn the significance of the attack on the beaches of Normandy (D-Day) and how it influenced the war. Students will participate in a board game where they create their own strategies to advance their military forward and simulate the attacks of D-day.
california content standards
10.8.6 Discuss the human costs of the war, with the particular attention to the civilian and military losses in Russia, Germany, Britain, the United States, China, and Japan.
driving historical questions
Why did the Allied forces choose Normandy as the entry point?
What did D-Day accomplish during the war?
What did D-Day accomplish during the war?
lesson introduction
Many of the troops that marched onto the beaches of Normandy were young men, around the age of 18 or 19. To start the lesson I will ask students to compare their lives to that of a World War II soldier. Students will complete a quick write describing how they would feel if they were heading off to war and what they think their experience would be.
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Vocabulary
D-Day
Beaches of Normandy
Demobilization
Tactics
Operation Overload
Beaches of Normandy
Demobilization
Tactics
Operation Overload
content delivery
June 6, 1944- Allies launched a surprise attack on Normandy in France- the largest land and water invasion in history. Over 150,000 Allied soldiers crossed the English Channel. Allied soldiers landed on the beaches, fighting and clawing their way up the steep cliffs under German fire. By the end of the day, 2,500 men were dead. By August, the Allies had made their way into Paris and freed it German control.
On the overhead projector, I will show the class a map pin pointing the major battles caused by D-Day.
On the overhead projector, I will show the class a map pin pointing the major battles caused by D-Day.
Student engagement
To learn about the strategies used during D-Day, students will play “D-Day at Omaha Beach.” This board game acts as a simulation where students are able to create their own strategies to advance their troops. Students will be broken off into groups of 4 and will be assigned either “Allied troops” or “German front.” There will be 5 games going on throughout the lesson.
Players control the US forces landing along the five mile stretch of Omaha Beach on D-Day and their desperate struggle to establish a viable beachhead. The game covers the entire first day at a time scale that varies from 10 minutes per turn (during the initial landings) to 5 minutes per turn later in the day. Units are companies and include assaulting infantry, engineers and amphibious tanks. The game system controls the hidden German defenders in their "Widerstandsnest" resistance points, revealing the defenders and their reserves as the American survivors of the first landing waves make their way up the bluffs. Rules cover amphibious landings, German fields of fire, artillery, tidal movement, and intangibles such as US leadership under fire and the initiative of the American GI. Through this board game, students will be able to simulate the strategies that Allied troops used to move in on German bases. |
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lesson closure
To close the D-Day lesson we will come together as a class and discuss the strategies different teams used to move forward or to prevent troops from coming in. We will also discuss the losses that each side lost during the D-day Invasions.
assessments
Throughout the board game I will be walking around the classroom monitoring students’ progress and asking them questions about the strategies they chose.
To conclude the lesson students will write a summative exit slip answering three different questions?
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Accommodations for english learners and special needs students
English Language Learners will be provided with a vocabulary worksheet that contains English definitions and Spanish translations.
EL’s and Special Needs students will have access to all lecture notes through Google Classroom so that they can easily reference them when needed.
EL’s and Special Needs students will have access to all lecture notes through Google Classroom so that they can easily reference them when needed.