Topic: The Warsaw Uprising

Target group

8th‑grade students of an elementary school

Core curriculum

XXXIV. Poland under German and Soviet occupation. Student:

5. explains the causes and describes the effects of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising and assesses the attitude of the Allies and the Soviet Union towards the uprising.

General aim of education

The student will learn about the fate of the Warsaw Uprising.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• What was the action „Storm” and proceeded to the Warsaw Uprising .

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. 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.

3. The teacher together with the students sums up the current course of classes.

4. Students analyze the illustration and execute Task 2 and Task 3. 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.

5. Students in pairs solve the Exercise 1. The teacher checks if the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback to students.

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

The Warsaw Uprising

Approaching from the East, the Red Army entered the pre‑war Polish territories in 1944. Thus, a military operation (Operation Tempest) was prepared in order to initiate local uprisings and liberate Poland from the German occupation. It was meant as a move to show the approaching Russians that the territories they were on had their owners already – the Poles – and their own authorities, represented by the government‑in‑exile.

Unfortunately, the attempts to coordinate joint operations between the Polish Home Army and the Red Army usually ended with the arrests of the Poles. Such situations took place repeatedly, both after the liberation of Vilnius and the capture of Lviv. It clearly demonstrated Stalin’s attitude towards the Polish government‑in‑exile and their representatives in the occupied country. The situation was further accentuated by the creation of the Polish Committee of National Liberation in July 1944 as a competing authority.

However, the Red Army, approaching the outskirts of Warsaw, rekindled the hopes for the quick liberation of the capital. In that situation, the Government Delegate at Home, Stanisław Jankowski, and the Home Army Commander, General Tadeusz Bór Komorowski, decided to start an armed uprising in the city. It began on 1 August at 5 PM (the W Hour). The insurgents counted on the Red Army’s quick arrival, hoping that it would support them in the fight against the Germans. However, Stalin halted the offensive. Despite the success in the first days of the battles, e.g. the capture of the majority of the Śródmieście district, including the Powiśle and Old Town areas, as well as parts of the Mokotów, Wola and Ochota districts, the insurgents’ plans had to be quickly revised. After a few days of fighting, it became clear that the Soviet help would not arrive. The Poles were forced to fight alone a more numerous, better‑armed and better‑trained enemy. The Germans not only fought against the Home Army soldiers, but also murdered civilians (for example during the Wola massacre, where between 40 and 60 thousand people were killed). Battles took place in Wola, the Old Town, and Czerniaków. The insurgents’ efforts were extensive, and, apart from the soldiers, women and children took part in them as runners, sanitary workers and sappers. The uprising lasted 63 days and ended with the total defeat of the Home Army. About 10,000 insurgents and 150,000‑200,000 civilians died in a hopeless fight. The Germans expelled the surviving people and teared down the city. The capital of Poland ceased to exist.