Topic: Border with Czechoslovakia

Target group

7th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

7th‑grade students of elementary school

XXVIII. The rebirth of the Polish state after the First World War. Pupil:

2. presents the process of forging borders: the decisions of Versailles and the phenomenon of the Greater Poland Uprising and the Silesian uprisings (west) – a federal dilemma and the incorporation effect (east).

General aim of education

Students learn about the rebirth of the Polish state and its borders and neighbors, as well as the process of forging borders

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to list the reasons why Poland lost Zaolzie (part of the Cieszyn Silesia);

• to explain the political and economic reasons for the dispute over Spiš and Orava;

• to point out examples of political propaganda.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. The teacher asks students to recall the lesson about the shaping of the border with Germany.

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

Realization

1. The teacher asks the students to prepare a mental map of the issue of Cieszyn Silesia. For this purpose, students, in pairs or individually, perform ** Task 1 ** and ** Exercise 1 ** (analyze the propaganda leaflet and other resources). During the work they discuss their answers.

2. Then, on one sheet of paper, they draw a mental map. During the students' work, the teacher takes care of providing feedback.

3. Students perform ** Exercise 2 **, answering the question of why the Czechoslovak government did not want to wait for a plebiscite solution. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and provides feedback.

Summary

1. The teacher assesses the work of the pairs of students, paying attention to such elements as the substantive value of the work and its originality. Artistic qualities should not be evaluated.

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare a self‑assessment questionnaire.

Homework

1. The teacher tasks willing students with homework: Carry out ** Task 2 **. Students analyze an issue of a daily newspaper from 1938.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Border with Czechoslovakia

Attempts to establish the border in the Cieszyn Silesia between the Second Polish Republic and Czechoslovakia turned out to be difficult. Eventually, the Conference of Ambassadors divided the disputed territory, including its capital – Cieszyn. Poland obtained 44% of the disputed area populated by 34% of its entire population. Approximately 150 thousand people of Polish origin were left on the Czech part. According to Wincenty Witos, a politician of the Polish People’s Party, the decision created a rift between the two nations.