Topic: Longing for freedom. January Uprising

Author of the script: Monika Piotrowska‑Marchewa

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school

Core curriculum

XXII. January Uprising. Student:

1) discusses the direct and indirect causes of the uprising, including the “moral revolution” 1861–1862;

2) characterises the insurgent activities, taking into account, if possible, the course of the uprising in his/her region;

3) discusses enfranchisement of peasants in the Russian partition and compares it with the enfranchisement in the other partitions;

4) characterises post‑uprising repressions.

The general aim of education

Students learn about the causes, course and effects of the January Uprising of 1863.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• lists the direct and indirect causes of the January Uprising;

• describes the course of insurgent activities and the figures of merit for the armed fight and the organization of the uprising;

• shows on the map the places of the most important battles and skirmishes.

Methods / techniques

• exposing methods: talk, traditional lecture, 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 and iconographic material (painting, photograph, map).

Forms of work

• activity in pairs or in groups;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• computers with Internet access;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens, sheet of paper or blackboard and chalk;

• materials from e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or large screen with a projector to display the content of the e‑textbook for the whole class.

Before classes

The teacher asks students to read the subchapter Situation in the Kingdom of Poland of the e‑textbook and to do Exercise 1.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

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

2. The students present their homework. The teacher asks the students what changes occurred in the Kingdom of Poland as a result of the Post‑Sevastopol thaw. Asking the questions, the teacher remembers to formulate them as key questions. The teacher draws attention to the figure of Aleksander Wielopolski and the social moods. The teacher presents the concept of the „moral revolution” from the period before the outbreak of the uprising of 1863 in a teaching conversation and asks the students to do Exercise 1. Students analyse a photograph and think about the location of Russian troops in Warsaw.

Realization

1. Using a talk method and materials from the e‑textbook, the teacher introduces the students to the political realities of the January Uprising - the circumstances of the uprising outbreak and the first decisions of the national government concerning the enfranchisement of peasants in the Russian partition. The teacher discusses the balance of power within the insurgent power camp (White and Red conflict) and its consequences. Then the students do Exercise 2. They describe the three‑field coat of arms of the secret Polish state. They indicate the emerging nations among which Poles were looking for allies.

2. Then, the teacher asks the students to fulfil Instructions 1, 2 and 3. The teacher displays a map of the Kingdom of Poland (from the e‑textbook) on the interactive whiteboard/ screen and the students look together for information on the most important battles and skirmishes of the period of the January Uprising. They put them in a proper context – match them to one of the stages of the January Uprising. The teacher draws on the board/sheet attached to the board, etc. a table showing the subsequent stages of the uprising and notes down the information given by the students. The students draw up the same table in their notebooks. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

3. Students learn about the realities of the insurgent fight on their own. For this purpose, they fulfil Instruction 4. On the basis of the painting entitled The Battle from the cycle of paintings Polonia , they characterize the armament of the insurgent troops. They use English language materials from the Internet. Then the students do Exercise 3. They look at photographs of the most famous Polish woman of the times of the uprising and read information about various forms of women's involvement in the January Uprising. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

4. When doing exercises and instructions, the teacher uses tents or a set of cards in three colors: green, yellow and red. Students use the cards to indicate to the teacher whether they are having difficulty in fulfilling the instructions (green – I’m doing great, yellow – I have some doubts, red – I need help).

Summary

1. As a summary of the lesson, the teacher asks the students to do Exercise 4 (the students indicate the social groups most affected by the tsarist persecution) and Exercise 5 (the students indicate the correct finishes of sentences).

2. The teacher assesses the students’ work during the lesson taking into account their contribution and involvement. The teacher gives the students feedback on their work.

3. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): to search for information on the course of the Uprising in the selected region of Poland, which is their place of residence or study, or which is of interest to them for other reasons. Then the students make posters using any technique. After finishing, the posters will be displayed in the school.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Longing for freedom. Poles and the January Uprising

After the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, Tsar Alexander II was forced to mitigate his internal policy in the state. This period is called the post‑Sovastopol's thaw. Since the 60s of nineteenth century in the Kingdom of Poland the patriotic moods increased. The party of the so‑called The Whites counted on Russia's conflict with Western countries, thanks to which Poland would be reborn. The so‑called The Reds were seeking to the outbreak of a national uprising. The extraordinary conscription to the Russian army (Polish name: „branka”) accelerated the decisions of the Reds about the beginning of the uprising, which took place on January 22, 1863. The battles during the uprising was a kind of guerrilla war. After the execution of the last dictator of the uprising - Romuald Traugutt (by the hands of the Russians), the uprising fell. Soon after, Tsar Alexander II abolished the political separateness of the Kingdom of Poland. During his reign, a full Russification of Polish education and administration began. In 1874, the Kingdom of Poland, divided into 10 gubernia, was incorporated into Russia with the imposed authorities of the general‑governor. Since 1888 it appeared in official documents as the Vistula Land. It meant, it disappeared from the map of Europe for nearly half a century.