Topic: November Uprising

Author of the script: Monika Piotrowska‑Marchewa

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school

Core curriculum

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

3. specifies the reasons for the outbreak of the November Uprising, the nature of the fight and the consequences of the uprising for the Poles in various partitions.

The general aim of education

Students will learn about the reasons for the outbreak of the November Uprising, the nature of the fight and the consequences of the uprising for Poles in various partitions.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• indicates on the map the places of the most important battles of the Polish‑Russian war;

• indicates the reasons for the outbreak of the uprising;

• describes the struggles of Poles and the consequences of the uprising in various partitions.

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, metaplan.

Forms of work

• activity in pairs or in groups;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• computers with Internet access;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens;

• materials from e‑textbook;

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

• sheets of paper.

Before classes

The teacher asks the students to recall the findings of the Congress concerning Poland and to read the subchapters Military Conspirations in the Kingdom of Poland and Rebellion of Senators from the e‑textbook.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

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

2. The teacher talks to the students about the reasons for the November Uprising. The teacher and the students recapitulate information on the provisions of the Congress of Vienna. The teacher refers to the information read by the students before the lesson.

3. Students do Exercise 1. They arrange the direct and indirect causes of the outbreak of the Uprising of 1830 and then check the correctness of the answers in the e‑textbook.

Realization

4. Based on the map in the e‑textbook, the teacher presents the most important stages of the November Uprising to the students. The teacher asks the students to fulfil Instruction 1. Using the map and the teacher's lecture, the students explain the Russian tactics in the fight against the uprising. The teacher briefly introduces the students to the activities undertaken by Poles outside the front (without personal examples).

5. After learning about the causes and the most important stages of the November Uprising and the Polish‑Russian War of 1831, the students fulfil Instruction 2. They look at Horace Vernet's painting entitled Polish Prometheus. They answer the question of what was the painter's attitude towards the Polish independence uprising. They briefly discuss their conclusions with the teacher. The teacher takes care to provide the students with feedback when they fulfil instructions.

6. The teacher divides the students into 6 groups (the more groups, the more effective the students' work will be). Each group develops a metaplan for the selected topic of the lesson. The students write down the answers to the following listed questions on the poster: How was it? How should it have been? Why was it not as it should have been? The teacher only observes the students’ work, does not interfere.

7. Groups 1 and 2 – analyse the military activity of Poles during the Uprising. For this purpose, they do Exercise 2. The groups decide what were the consequences of the battles fought during the November Uprising. Then, they write their conclusions in the appropriate places on the poster.

8. Groups 3 and 4 – assess the diplomatic activity of the insurgent government. For this purpose, they fulfil Instruction 3. They check the diplomatic actions taken by Poles during the November Uprising. What did they expect from other countries? Why did they fail? Then, they write their conclusions in the appropriate places on the poster.

9. Groups 5 and 6 – study and present the involvement of Polish society. For this purpose, they fulfil Instruction 4.Then, they write their conclusions in the appropriate places on the poster.

Summary

10. One person from each group discusses the poster. He/she tries to focus only on conclusions that have not been mentioned by his/her predecessors. Then the students – with the support of the teacher who corrects possible mistakes – write down the summary results of the discussion on a separate sheet of paper.

11. The teacher assesses the students’ work during the lesson taking into account their contribution and involvement. For this purpose, the teacher can prepare an evaluation questionnaire both for self‑assessment and for the assessment of the teacher’s and other students’ work.

12. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): to do the last exercise in the abstract, i.e. to analyse the excerpt from General Ignacy Prądzyński's memoirs. Students make a presentation about this talented military man.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The November Uprising

The Tsar's violation of the constitution caused protests of Poles, who began to organise conspiracies and associate in secret organisations. Already at the beginning of the existence of the Kingdom of Poland, Walery Łukasiński founded the National Freemasonry, which was later transformed into the Patriotic Club. A secret confederacy established in 1828 under the leadership of Second Lieutenant Piotr Wysocki thrusted for the armed confrontation. The outbreak of the November Uprising took place on the night of 29th and 30th November 1830. The first dictator of the uprising was Józef Chłopicki. On 25th January 1831, the Sejm of the Congress Poland announced the dethronement of Tsar Nicholas, which resulted in the entry of the tsarist army into the Congress Poland territory. During the fights Poles won a number of victories, but the defeat in the battle of Ostrołęka in May 1831 led to the Russians entering Warsaw and the fall of the uprising.