DP History Unit Plan

Teacher(s) Mrs. Standring Subject group and course World History Topic 10: Authoritarian States (20th C)

Course part Consolidation and maintenance of power: Use of legal SL or HL/Year 1 or 2 SL/Year 2 Dates TBD
and topic methods; use of force; charismatic leadership;
dissemination of propaganda

Unit description DP assessment(s) for unit

This unit will examine authoritarian states with a focus on consolidation Summative Assessment:
and maintenance of power. Three different authoritarian states will be
Analysis of propaganda posters, political cartoons, photographs, and newspaper
examined (China, USSR and North Korea) but this one-week unit will
articles from both the East and the West. The analysis will focus on Chairman
mainly focus on China and Chairman Mao.
Mao, his rise to power and his re-education camps as well as bias from both
Communist and non-Communist States.
Formative Assessment:
End of unit Socratic Discussion, Group Presentations and Unit Test

INQUIRY: establishing the purpose of the unit

Transfer goals
List here one to three big, overarching, long-term goals for this unit. Transfer goals are the major goals that ask students to “transfer”, or apply, their
knowledge, skills, and concepts at the end of the unit under new/different circumstances, and on their own without scaffolding from the teacher.

Long-term goals for this unit will be based on the Assessment objectives of the DP History Guide.
 Demonstrate understanding of historical concepts and context
 Use relevant historical knowledge to effectively support analysis
 Evaluate different perspectives on historical issues and events, and integrate this evaluation effectively into a response
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DP History Unit Plan

 Essential understandings
List here the key content/skills/concepts that students will know/have at the end of the unit

Students will know the following content:

 Knowledge of key events that led to the rise of Chairman Mao
 Knowledge of Chairman Mao’s government and the events that led him to consolidating power
 Knowledge of re-education camps and their effects on China’s citizens
 Knowledge of the communism ideology and how it was viewed world-wide
 Knowledge of uprisings in China and how Chairman Mao maintained his power
 Knowledge of China’s domestic and foreign policies under Chairman Mao

Students will develop the following skills:

 Students will be able to analyse propaganda literature in search of truths, lies and misrepresented information
 Students will be able to demonstrate evidence of research skills, organization, referencing and selection of appropriate sources
 Students will be able to evaluate different perspectives on historical issues and events, and integrate this evaluation effectively into a response
 Students will be able to organize and express historical ideas based on essential questions

Students will grasp the following concepts:

 Students will understand the concept of an authoritarian state and the conditions under which they may emerge
 Students will understand the concept of communism, its emergence world-wide and its effect of China
 Students will understand the concepts of domestic and foreign policies in particular to how China’s policies effected its citizens

Inquiry questions
List here the understandings above written in question form, preferably as ones that inspire students to answer them.

Content-based:
 What were the key events that led to the rise of Chairman Mao?

DP History Unit Plan

  How was Chairman Mao and his government able to consolidate power?
 How did the re-education camps of China effect its citizens?
 Was the spread of communism inevitable in China and how was this ideology viewed world-wide?
 To what extent were the protests which occurred in communist China effective?
 To what extent were China’s domestic and foreign policies under Chairman Mao beneficial for China?

Skills-based:
 To what extent were different aspects of Chinese propaganda truthful, false or misrepresented information?
 How was communism viewed in the East and the West? (TOK Link: How would people in both the East and the West justify what they thought they
knew?)

Concept-based:
 What were the conditions in which the authoritarian state of China was able to emerge?
 What were the conditions in which communism was able to emerge world-wide?
 To what extent where China’s foreign and domestic policies beneficial for its citizens?

ACTION: teaching and learning through inquiry

Content/skills/concepts Learning process

Cut and paste or draw from the essential understandings listed above in “Inquiry”. Check the boxes for any pedagogical approaches used during
the unit. Aim for a variety of approaches to help facilitate
learning.

Content-based: Learning experiences and strategies/planning for self-supporting

learning:
Activity 1- Two 60 min lessons Group Project: After an in-class lecture on the rise of
communism in China students will complete the following group project: In groups of 3
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DP History Unit Plan

 students will research the events that led to communism spreading in China, how ☐Lecture
Chairman Mao and his government were able to gain and consolidate power in China, and
☐Socratic seminar
finally, China’s domestic and foreign policies under Chairman Mao and the effects they
had on the Chinese citizens. ☐Small group/pair work
Assessment of Activity 1: Students will be allowed to choose their roles for their group ☐PowerPoint lecture/notes
work. They can produce visual, written, and oral work. Students will then complete a self ☐Individual presentations
and peer-assessment and the final presentation will be assessed by the teacher according to
a rubric. ☐Group presentations
Activity 2- One 60 min lesson: Pair work: After a PowerPoint lecture on Re-education ☐Student lecture/leading
camps in China students will conduct research and create a day in the life presentation of a ☐ Interdisciplinary learning
person living in a re-education camp.
Details:
Assessment of Activity 2: Students will conduct a self-assessment on their presentations
by using a presentation rubric that has been created by the teacher and the class.
Skills-based:
Activity 3- One 60 min lesson Group work: After seeing examples provided by the
teacher and discussing exemplars as a class, students will conduct research on numerous
propaganda posters and analyse them for truth, lies and misinformation. Their research
findings will then be presented to the class in the form of a gallery walk.
Assessment of Activity 3: The posters and the findings will be placed around the class.
Students and teacher will walk around with a rubric and assess the findings. Findings can
be presented in multiple forms such as PowerPoint presentation, Infographics, or a written
critique.
Concept-based:
Activity 4- One or Two 60 min lessons (depending on the flow of the discussion)
Whole Class Socratic Discussion: Students will participate in a discussion while trying to
answer the Essential Question of What were the conditions in which communism was able
to emerge world-wide? And as an extension What were the conditions in which the
authoritarian state of China was able to emerge?
Assessment of Activity 4: Students will be assessed on their Socratic Discussion
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DP History Unit Plan

 preparation which they need to bring on discussion day, how well they discuss ideas
during the discussion and their reflective writing which will occur after the discussion.
Total Activity time: 5 activities at 60 minutes each
Differentiation:
For more information on the IB’s approach to differentiation, please see the guide.
☐Affirm identity—build self-esteem
☐Value prior knowledge
☐Scaffold learning
☐Extend learning
Details:
For students having a difficult time with PowerPoint lecture notes these will be printed out
and handed to the student to read beforehand.
For students having difficulty presenting in front of a whole class they will be allowed to
record their presentations and show them only to the teacher.
For students having a difficult time participating in a Socratic discussion due to anxiety or
language skills they will be allowed to record the discussion and then write a journal entry
on their thoughts based on the discussion.

Approaches to learning (ATL)

Check the boxes for any explicit approaches to learning connections made during the unit. For more information on ATL, please see the guide.

☐Thinking
☐Social
☐Communication
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DP History Unit Plan

 ☐Self-management
☐Research
Details:
Thinking ATL skills will be developed when students critically think about the Inquiry Questions throughout this unit. Students will also focus on their
thinking skills by participating in a Socratic Discussion that encourages them to connect the material they have learned on their own while the teacher simply
facilitates.
Communication ATL skills will be developed through having students present their research findings to the class as well as being able to formulate an
argument when answering the Inquiry Questions.
Research ATL skills will be developed when students compare and contrast their research findings to those of their classmates. Students will also need to
reference all of their sources in their oral presentations and they will need to be aware of their source choices by critically analysing unsolicited information
they may come across.

Language and learning TOK connections CAS connections

Check the boxes for any explicit language and Check the boxes for any explicit TOK connections Check the boxes for any explicit CAS
learning connections made during the unit. For made during the unit. connections. If you check any of the boxes,
more information on the IB’s approach to provide a brief note in the “details” section
language and learning, please see the guide. explaining how students engaged in CAS for this
unit.

☐Activating background knowledge ☐Personal and shared knowledge ☐Creativity

☐Scaffolding for new learning ☐Ways of knowing ☐Activity
☐Acquisition of new learning through practice ☐Areas of knowledge ☐Service
☐Demonstrating proficiency ☐The knowledge framework Details:
Details: Details: Students will make CAS connections in this unit
through the following activity: Students will conduct
Analysing key words of this unit such as Students will need to answer the following Inquiry research on numerous propaganda posters and analyse
authoritarianism and dictatorship by seeing if those Question in this unit: How was communism viewed them for truth, lies and misinformation. Their research
words have positive or negative connotations in both in the East and the West? (TOK Link: How would findings will then be presented to the class in the form
English and the students’ native language. people in both the East and the West justify what
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DP History Unit Plan

 Socratic Discussion will be modelled and structured they thought they knew?) of a gallery walk.
prior to having students engage in one.
As for part of the service requirement the MYP
students will be invited to the gallery walk.

Resources
List and attach (if applicable) any resources used in this unit.

 Oxford IB Diploma Programme: IB Prepared: History

 The DP History Guide
 For comparing and contrasting authoritarian states
 IB DP Chinese History on YouTube

To be completed at a later date

REFLECTION: Considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry

What worked well What didn’t work well Notes/changes/suggestions:

Transfer goals
List the transfer goals from the beginning of this unit planner.

DP History Unit Plan

 Transfer reflection
How successful were the students in achieving the transfer goals by the end of the unit?

DP History Unit Plan