Lesson Plan for World History (3-4 days)
Russian Revolution
Critical Thinking Skills
Grade 9 Social Studies
Don Donn; USA
Lesson
Start of the Russian Revolution
Break the students into 5 groups.
Have the students research the lives of the following 5 people:
Czar Nicholas II
Rasputin
Alexander Kerensky
V.I. Lenin
Lev Trotsky
If you have a larger class or if you want smaller groups you can add Alexandra (Czarina) and Anastasia.
Students are to determine as a group the pivotal or turning point of their lives from their research.
The pivotal moment can be either a personal pivotal point or a pivotal point for the country.
The group will then create a short one-act/one scene play about that pivotal moment and perform it in front of the class.
Have the group turn in to you a written copy of the play including dialogue and stage (movement) directions. They may create quick props out of paper if necessary.
This lesson is a lot of fun. The kids did a really good job with it. You need the kids to understand what a pivotal moment is, so do that first.
At the end of their "act", have each group explain why they chose that scene as their pivotal moment.