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Peace, Justice, and the League of Nations

 

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Curriculum Level: 9-12

By Denise-Marie Copeland from The Center of Applied Sciences and Technology (The COAST)

OVERVIEW OF LESSON: This lesson will guide students to analyze the League of Nations in order to make a claim about whether or not it was an effective peace and justice institution. Students will compare text excerpts from the covenants to the targets for SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. Students will then review evidence of the League as a success and/or as a failure before drawing their own conclusions. Finally, students will write a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning paragraph responding to the essential question.

This lesson should be taught following lessons on the causes and main events of World War I. Students would need this foundational knowledge of World War I to engage in this lesson effectively. Students should also be aware of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). If students are not yet familiar with the UN and the SDGs, a brief overview should be provided. Remind students that the United Nations (UN) was not formed at this time. Since students often misunderstand this timeline and because they will be analyzing peacekeeping efforts with the framework of the SDGs, teachers should reiterate this timeline to students at multiple points in the lesson.

SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL: 9th grade

SUBJECT: Social Studies – World History

CORRESPONDING NATIONAL AND/OR STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA STANDARDS:

WH.C&G.2 Evaluate international diplomacy and the policies of a nation in terms of influence on global conflict and resolutions.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

  • How effective was the League of Nations as a Peace and Justice Institution?

LESSON OBJECTIVES:

  1. Students will be able to identify the League of Nations as a group intended to resolve the international conflict that resulted from WWI.
  2. Students will be able to evaluate whether the League of Nations was able to effectively resolve conflict.
  3. Students will be able to advocate for a position using historical evidence and logical and ethical reasoning.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE EDUCATOR OR RESOURCES TO EXPLORE FURTHER

UN SDG’s:

Treaty of Versailles/League of Nations:

SDG 16:

C-E-R Paragraphs:

SPECIFIC STUDENT STRATEGIES & ACTIVITIES:

This lesson is intended to be taught over the course of one to two 90-minute class periods.

  1. Mini-lesson on the Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations using the available instructional slides
  2. Evaluating the Covenants of the League of Nations using the success/failure graphic organizer
    1. Students will read excerpts of the League of Nations covenants and:
      1. Restate covenants in their own words
      2. Identify related SDG 16 targets
      3. “Grade” how well the covenant addresses the SDG target
  3. In small groups, students will receive two “evidence folders”–one labeled “Success” and the other labeled “Failure.” Each folder will contain evidence for students to use while completing the success/failure graphic organizer.
  4. Utilizing the success/failure graphic organizer, students will draw a conclusion about the effectiveness of the League of Nations as a peace and justice institution. Students will write a C-E-R paragraph in response to the essential question.
    1. Students in need of additional support may benefit from sentence and/or paragraph frames to assist in the writing process.

ASSESSMENT: The C-E-R paragraph will be used to assess student understanding by determining whether student was able to make a claim in response to the essential question and provide two or more specific pieces of supporting evidence from the lesson materials.

LEARNING EXTENSIONS:

  • Students may expand on their required paragraph by writing an essay.
  • Groups may participate in a classic-style debate or a Tug-of-War debate.

MATERIALS:

REFERENCES:

Behind the News. (2018, November 6). How did World War I end? – Behind the News. YouTube. Retrieved January 10, 2023, from https://youtu.be/SG67bUamPVk

Cianci, H. (n.d.).  Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: What You Need to Know. It’s Lit Teaching. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://itslitteaching.com/cerwriting/

The Covenant of the League of Nations. (1924, December). Avalon Project. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/leagcov.asp

GCSE Modern History/The Failure of the League. (2015, June 30). Wikibooks. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/GCSE_Modern_History/The_Failure_of_the_League

GCSE Modern History/The Humanitarian Work of the League. (2022, June 6). Wikibooks. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/GCSE_Modern_History/The_Humanitarian_Work_of_the_League

Goal 16 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal16

The League of Nations | UN GENEVA. (n.d.). United Nations Office at Geneva. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.ungeneva.org/en/history/league-of-nations

Model Teaching. (2019, January 29). Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER). Model Teaching. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.modelteaching.com/education-articles/writing-instruction/claim-evidence-reasoning-cer

Nansen, F. (2022, October 25). League of Nations. New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/League_of_Nations#Successes

PROJECT ZERO, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION. (2019). Tug of War. Project Zero. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from http://www.pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Tug%20of%20War_0.pdf

Successes of the League of Nations – Paris Peace Treaties and the League of Nations, to 1933 – National 5 History Revision. (n.d.). BBC. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zbg4t39/revision/7

Suga, M. (n.d.). Peace, justice and strong institutions – United Nations Sustainable Development. the United Nations. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/peace-justice/

Trueman, N. League of Nations Failures. (2015, March 17). History Learning Site. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/league-of-nations-failures/

Trueman, N. League of Nations Successes. (2015, March 17). History Learning Site. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/league-of-nations-successes/

Wilde, R. (2019, February 6). An Overview of The Treaty of Versailles. ThoughtCo. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-treaty-of-versailles-an-overview-1221958

World View, a public service program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, equips K-12 and community college educators with global knowledge, best practices and resources to prepare students to engage in our interconnected and diverse world.

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