Lesson Plan — "Which war are we actually studying?"

Year 9 Social Sciences · opening lesson of the WW1 & National Identity unit. Written onto the EDPRAC 612 handbook template (Section 8, pp. 24–25).

My own lesson, re-expressed on the required template. The content is the run-sheet I teach from; the template adds what an associate teacher assesses against — intended learning outcomes, the concept/skill distinction, assessment for learning, and the link to adjacent lessons. Curriculum objectives are quoted verbatim from the live curriculum set, under both the 2007 NZC and Te Mātaiaho, listed separately rather than blended.
Year 9 Social Sciences
NZC Level 5 · Te Mātaiaho Phase 4 (Years 9–10)
Which war are we actually studying?
WW1 & National Identity — opening lesson (50–60 min)

NZC 2007 · Social Studies · Level 5
"Understand how the ideas and actions of people in the past have had a significant impact on people's lives."

Te Mātaiaho 2025 · Social Sciences · History · Phase 4 · Knowledge
Under World War One and Aftermath 1914–1920 — the lead up to war: "European countries and their alliances and the events of 1914 leading to war. How mobilisation was organised."

Both are current: the 2007 objectives remain mandatory while Te Mātaiaho phases in. Listed separately, never blended. The Te Mātaiaho statement is the closer fit — this lesson is precisely the alliances-and-1914 groundwork it names.

Thinking — surfacing and then repairing an inaccurate mental picture rather than adding facts on top of it.
Using language, symbols and texts — reading a historical map; naming states and empires precisely.
Managing self — correcting in a second colour rather than erasing, so the revision itself stays visible.
Lesson Design Dimensions
  • Say which war this is and when it was — distinguishing it from WW2 without prompting.
  • Name the two broad sides and locate the principal states and empires on a map of Europe in 1914.
  • Explain why it is called a world war, with reference to territory beyond Europe.

Austria-Hungary. The big pale-blue one in the middle, and probably the most important thing on the map they have never heard of.

It was a multi-national empire, not a country that exists today — the land it covered in 1914 is now shared between twelve or more modern states. Having students trace its border with a finger, then find Serbia on its southern edge, does more than any explanation.

Empire versus nation-state · the German Empire is not Nazi Germany · "Allies" names different countries in each war · 1914 as a recognisably modern world · colonial empire as the mechanism that made a European war global.
Sorting under uncertainty and marking genuine unsureness; orienting on a historical map; distinguishing two superficially similar periods; visible self-correction; completing an explanatory sentence from evidence rather than memory.
A silent sorting diagnostic (WW1 / WW2 / both / unsure); repairing the blur between the two wars; establishing that 1914 was modern; locating states on a projected reference map by pointing before writing; extending outward to colonial territory to answer why "world"; a covered-map exit check.

Follows: nothing — no prior knowledge is assumed. This is the unit's opening lesson and its job is diagnostic.

Deliberately does not: start with the MAIN causes. Build a correct mental picture of the war first; causes come next lesson. Teaching causation on top of a WW1/WW2 blur makes the causation lesson harder, not easier.

Leads to: causes of WW1, taught against a map students can now read.

  • The opening sort, done in silence for the first two minutes — this is their actual starting point, not their neighbour's.
  • Which corrections are needed at 8–18 min. Expect the German Empire / Nazi Germany correction to be the single largest of the lesson.
  • The completed sentence "It became a world war because…" in their books.
  • The covered-map exit: can they point roughly to Germany? To Austria-Hungary? Find Serbia? Name one country on each side? If not, that is next lesson's starting point, not a failure.
Projector, showing the reference map of Europe 1914 · the blank Europe 1914 map printed one each — A3 if the copier allows, A4 works · coloured pencils or two pens per student, because they correct in a second colour rather than erasing.
Lesson Pedagogy Dimensions

Select, sequence, and pace the lesson considering priming, transitions, cognitive strengthening, and assessment for learning.

Timing Concept(s) / Skills Content and Learning Activities Assessment for Learning
0–8 min Surfacing the starting point Which war? — sorting diagnostic. On the board, sorted into WW1 / WW2 / both / unsure: 1914–18 · 1939–45 · Hitler · Kaiser Germany · Austria-Hungary · Ottoman Empire · Axis · Allies · trenches · tanks · Holocaust. No talking for the first two minutes. The unedited sort. Silence is the instrument — it produces their picture, not the room's.
8–18 min Empire vs Nazi state Repair the blur. Take answers. Establish that WW1 Germany is the German Empire, not Nazi Germany; that Hitler, the Nazis, the Holocaust and the Axis all belong to WW2; that "Allies" appears in both wars but means different countries. Which misconceptions are held by how many. Expect this to be the biggest single correction of the lesson.
18–28 min 1914 as modern 1914 was modern. Ask what they picture at "1914". Then name what actually existed: telephones, daily newspapers, electric trams, cars, cinemas, factories, railways, steamships, aeroplanes. Two questions: what feels recognisably modern? what still feels distant? Whether the "ancient world" assumption survives contact with the list.
28–45 min Map orientation Find the places. Project the reference map. Students point — with a finger, before writing anything — to Britain, France, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Russian Empire, Serbia, the Ottoman Empire, Belgium, Italy. Then the Austria-Hungary pause: trace its border, then find Serbia on its southern edge. Pointing before writing makes understanding visible and keeps errors cheap.
45–55 min Why "world" Why "world"? Point at the bottom of the map: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco marked as French. Britain and France ruled far more than a Europe-only map can show. Students finish in their books: "It became a world war because…" The completed sentence — does the reason reach beyond Europe?
55–60 min Retrieval without support Exit. Cover the map. Can they point roughly to Germany? To Austria-Hungary? Find Serbia? Name one country on each side? Directly sets the entry point for the next lesson.
None set. The annotated map stays in their books and is used again next lesson.
Reflection / Evaluation

Template fields from University of Auckland, Faculty of Arts and Education. (2026). EDPRAC 612 GDTSE Practicum Handbook (updated 17 July 2026), Section 8, pp. 24–25. Lesson content is my own, from the run-sheet at WW1 & National Identity — lesson plan.