Topic: On the paved streets of Paris, and beyond – 19th century Polish culture in exile

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school.

Core curriculum

7th grade of elementary school

XX. Polish lands in the years 1815‑1848. Student:

5) characterizes the main trends and figures of the Great Emigration and the conspiracy movement in the country.

XXIII. Europe and the world in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries: Student:

4) indicates new political ideas and cultural phenomena, including the beginnings of mass culture and changes in customs.

Lesson objectives

You will learn what the Great Emigration was and what Polish artists are associated with it.

The criteria for success

• you will learn why the emigration after the November Uprising has been called ‘Great’;

• you will learn where Poles emigrated in the first half of the 19th century;

• you will learn about some outstanding Polish expatriates;

• you will learn about the fate and work of Adam Mickiewicz, Fryderyk Chopin, Maria Skłodowska‑Curie and Helena Modrzejewska.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn;

• Cultural awareness and expression.

Methods/forms of work

• talk, working with text;

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

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text;

• exposing methods: explanations and comments from the teacher;

• individual, group and collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or traditional blackboard;

• tablets/computers;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens.

Before classes

Students should recall the topics of the previous lessons concerning the situation under Partitions, the November Uprising and the emigration of Poles from the territories covered by Partitions.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. Referring to the topic of the lesson, the teacher asks the students to remind what emigration is and why a large number of Poles went into exile in the 19th century.

2. Students should list the terms: political emigration and economic emigration. The teacher focuses on political emigration illustrating it with the phenomenon of “Great Emigration” – explains the meaning of the concept and its importance. Displays a map of the directions of post‑uprising emigration to students. Students fulfil Task 1, then perform Exercise 1 and Exercise 2. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

Realization

1. Referring to the previous lesson – “Voting with legs”, the teacher reminds students that they already know emigration for work, especially to the United States, where more than 2.5 million Poles emigrated by the year 1914. And that today they are going to focus on a closer and perhaps the most important direction - France and Paris. The teacher discusses the nature of emigration - creators, artists, young people, political activists, etc. Referring again to the previous lesson, the teacher emphasizes that this time they will focus on the outstanding figures of Polish cultural life.  Students do Task 2 by familiarizing themselves with the characters from the painting, distinguishing those that could actually be found in Paris of the Great Emigration era, as well as those that were included in the painting as symbols. The teacher sums up this part of the lesson, provides feedback and checks the correctness of performed tasks.

2. Students are divided into four groups and each group draws one of the artists - Adam Mickiewicz, Fryderyk Chopin, Maria Skłodowska‑Curie or Helena Modrzejewska. The students' task is to prepare a short presentation about their figure for a colleague from abroad. Students should focus not only on the presentation of the figure's biographical sketch, but also on the presentation of his/her work. The teacher tells students that they can search for information and works on websites such as Wikipedia, Encyklopedia PWN and YouTube. The form of works may be arbitrary. Students then present their work.

Summary

1. The teacher asks the students:

• What is the difference between the emigration of Poles that we discussed during the previous lesson and the one discussed during the present lesson?

• Why did such outstanding artists leave Poland, what were the reasons for that?

• Were they successful in exile?

2. Students perform Exercise 3.

Homework for the interested students

What does it mean that someone is of merit for Polish culture? Which of the figures living in the 19th century could be the patron of your school or street? Justify your choice – even if you think none of them.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

On the paved streets of Paris, and beyond – 19th century Polish culture in exile

In the period of the Partitions of Poland, Poles could not freely develop their culture. The partitioners fought against Polishness through Germanization and Russification. Polish cultural life was, therefore, taking place in exile, mainly in Paris. It was there that, among others, the poet Adam Mickiewicz and the composer Fryderyk Chopin stayed and worked, and also there that Maria Skłodowska‑Curie, the most outstanding Polish and world researcher of the 19th century, pursued her scientific career.