Topic: Poles in exile Foot voting

Author of the script: Marcin Dyś

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school

Core curriculum

7th grade of elementary school

I. Historical chronology. Student:

4. places processes, phenomena and historical facts in time, organizes them and establishes cause‑and‑effect relationships.

24th. Polish lands under partition in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. Student:

3. describes the formation of a modern national consciousness of Poles.

The general aim of education

Students learn about the causes and directions of emigration of Poles in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn;

Learning outcomes

Student:

• specifies the reasons why Poles left their homeland;

• specifies the directions of emigration of Poles and its largest centres;

• gives examples of the lives of emigrants;

• explains the meaning of “foot voting”.

Methods/techniques

• exposing methods: talk, explanations and comments from the teacher;

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text.

Forms of work

• collective activity;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or traditional blackboard;

• tablets/computers;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens.

Before classes

Students should know that one of the consequences of the national uprisings, the policies of the partitioning states and the economic situation was the emigration of Poles.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher explains the students the lesson objective and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks the students why people change their place of residence and move to other town/cities and countries.

3. Referring to the topic of the lesson, the teacher introduces the students to the issue of 19th‑century emigration of Poles. The teacher stresses that it was not only great artists, creators or political leaders who left the territories of the partitioning states, but above all emigration affected hundreds of thousands of ordinary Poles – inhabitants of towns/cities and villages.

Realization

1. The teacher explains what emigration is, pointing out that it is a phenomenon that dates back to the earliest times and continues to the present day. People have always sought to improve their living conditions and the place where their lives would be easier. Students do Exercise 1.

2. The teacher begins a discussion with the students about the reasons for the emigration of Poles. The teacher reminds the students of the situation that prevailed in Poland in the 19th century, and then asks them to list the reasons that forced their compatriots to emigrate. The students do Exercise 2 and Exercise 3, indicating the factors of emigration. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback.

3. Then the teacher shows the students the map - Emigration from Poland in the 19th century - asking them about the directions of emigration of Poles and the reasons that led them to choose these countries. The teacher stops longer at the arrow pointing to Russia, explaining/recalling to students that Katorga and deportations were one of the forms of political persecution and post‑uprising repressions. Based on the map and the table, the students do Exercise 4, and verify its completion with the teacher.

4. One of the most important directions of emigration was the United States. The teacher asks the students to look at Task 1 (a picture of a ship with emigrants) and to do Exercise 5 and Exercise 6. The teacher makes sure that the tasks have been correctly completed and gives feedback. Then the teacher tells the story of Polish emigrants, listing those who have achieved great success in America, such as Maksymilian Faktor (inventor of cosmetics and pioneer of make‑up known as Max Factor), Samuel Goldwyn (film producer). The teacher also mentions Helena Modrzejewska, who has triumphed on both Polish and American stages.

Summary

1. Summarizing the lesson, the teacher asks the students if there is anyone in their family who has emigrated from Poland and lives abroad. At the same time, the teacher refers to the continuity of the process of migration of people over the centuries.

2. At the end, to consolidate the material, the teacher asks students about the most important reasons for emigration of Poles in the 19th century and about its directions. Students do Exercise 7. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback.

3. The teacher gives the students evaluation questionnaires in which they evaluate their own work, the work of the teacher and their colleagues during the lesson.

4. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): “During the lesson you have learned about the fate of Poles who emigrated. Among them there were those who achieved a great deal of success. Search the Internet for information about famous Poles, for whom the new homeland turned out to be the promised land, bringing great fame and great money.”

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Poles in exile. Foot voting

During the partitions several million Poles left their homeland permanently. Some fled for political reasons, fearing repression after the lost national uprisings. However, most of them left the country for economic reasons, because of poverty and hunger, in order to seek a better life in foreign lands. The main directions of emigration were the United States of America, the western part of Germany, France, Brazil and deportations to the depths of Russia.