Topic: European integration. Poland in the structures of NATO and the EU

Target group

8th‑grade students of an elementary school

Core curriculum

XXXVI. World after World War II. Student:

4. indicates the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries on the map, characterizing both political and military blocs;

5. characterizes socio‑political changes in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989‑1991;

6. presents the goals and main stages of the development of the European Union.

XLII. The place of Poland in the modern world. Student:

2. explains the reasons and importance of Poland's accession to NATO in 1999;

3. explains the reasons and importance of Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004.

General aim of education

The student will learn about European integration and Poland's path to NATO and the EU.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• when and why the European Union was created;

• what conditions Poland had to meet in order to join NATO and the EU;

• about the most important international European organizations;

• what important positions were or are held by Poles in the structures of the EU.

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

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.

2. The teacher plays the recording of the abstract. Every now and then he stops it, asking the students to tell in their own words what they have just heard. This way, students practice listening comprehension.

Realization

1. Reading the content of the abstract. The teacher uses the text for individual work or in pairs, according to the following steps: 1) a sketchy review of the text, 2) asking questions, 3) accurate reading, 4) a summary of individual parts of the text, 5) repeating the content or reading the entire text.

2. Students analyze the illustration and execute Task 1. To answer the question, they can use Internet sources or other publications. The teacher checks the correctness of the answer and provides feedback to the students.

3. Discussing information presented on the timeline. The teacher then divides the class into groups - as many as there are events on the axis. Each team works on one assigned issue, deepening the information contained in the abstract. Then the students present their discussions.

4. Students analyze the illustrations and execute Exercise 1. To answer the questions, they can use Internet sources or other publications. The teacher checks the correctness of the answer and provides feedback to the students.

5. Students in pairs solve the Exercise 2.

Summary

1. The teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer?
   If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

2. The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Make at home a note from the lesson, for example using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

European integration. Poland in the structures of NATO and the EU

The division of Europe after the Second World War into two blocs made the development of each of them follow a different path. Only a few years after the end of the war, the countries of Western Europe took steps towards integration, first economic, and then political. In 1952, a treaty entered into force that established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and 5 years later the European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom. These became the germ of the European Union that was created in 1992. In the following years, new countries began to join the European Communities, and, after the transformations in 1989, also those that had belonged to the Eastern Bloc. Poland, together with the other countries of the region, was finally admitted to the EU on May 1, 2004. This was possible thanks to the fulfillment of the accession criteria, as well as a nationwide referendum. Over the next few years, Polish politicians held many important positions within the structures of the Union. In 2009, Jerzy Buzek was elected President of the European Parliament, and in 2014 Donald Tusk became the head of the European Council.

Another international structure, accession to which was sought from the first days of regaining freedom, was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The reason behind undertaking the preparations for military integration with the West was the assurance of security and independence that it provided. As early as 1994, Poland joined the Partnership for Peace, in order to get closer to the countries of the alliance. It also began painstaking preparations by carrying out reforms of the army and its leadership. The formal accession to the structures of NATO took place on March 12, 1999 in Independence (United States).