When East and West Germany were divided, people swam lakes, climbed trains, and jumped out of windows in an attempt to reach West Berlin. Why was the wall erected? Show your high schoolers this moving video.

It's the Royal Air Force against the Luftwaffe! While the Luftwaffe inflicts enormous damage, the RAF is able to hold them off, forcing Hitler to change his plan of attack. Discuss the advantages each group has during the air fights.

How did Hitler rise to power? Take a look at how Adolf Hitler manipulated the government, the German masses, and his own Nazi leaders to take power of Germany post WWI. An interesting video to introduce your class to Adolf Hitler and his...

Used to the harsh conditions, the Soviet Union's military pushes the German troops back, securing faith for the Soviet people. With German troops freezing and their tanks becoming immobilized, the German troops fell back to take on the...

Why did Germany invade Poland, initiating WWII? German troops crossed the Polish border in response to a raid Polish troops had supposedly made into Germany. Find out what really happened and Britain's response to Germany's attack.

What were the Allied and Axis countries doing just before the start of World War II? Take a peek into American, British, Spanish and German life (among others) on the eve of the most destructive war in world history. This is part one in...

World War I ended on November 11, 1918. Watch clips from the final battles in France that forced Germany to ask for an armistice. Although they were within reach of Paris, the Allies were able to hold them off, and they finally retreated...

How did World War I start? While tension was building for years, the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was what drove Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. Follow along as other countries started declaring war too, and...

Learners, after reading Chapter One in the book, "Germany," analyze and recreate the political boundaries as well as the physical features of the nation of Germany with the assistance of play-doh or salt dough. In groups, they create...

Offering a comprehensive overview of the beginning of World War II, this resource could be a useful addition to a unit on this topic. It could be used as a way to lead a discussion on the war, or as a review tool before a test. Either...

Many walls came down at the end of the 1980s. Not only was the Berlin Wall finally taken down, but communist control in East Germany ended, too. Watch this short video clip to illustrate the emotions that the German people had due to...

Students study the history of ginger and its uses. They discuss traditions of building gingerbread houses in Germany, England, and the United States. Using modeling material, students create their own gingerbread houses. Gingerbread...

High schoolers research passengers aboard the St. Louis to explore the difficulties Jewish refugees faced when fleeing Nazi Germany. They research print and online resources, construct histories of individual passengers on the St. Louis.

Used as a quick review of the Cold War, Korean War, and Cuban Missile Crisis, this presentation could be in many scenarios. However, the graphics and question types seem more appropriate for younger students, while the content is geared...

Students explore the events that led up to World War I.  In this World History lesson plan, students read an article on Germany and World War I, then answer four study questions and write an essay about the article.

Students participate in ESL/EFL activities as they read an article about nuclear power plants. In this ESL/EFL lesson, students read an article entitled, "Germany To Close All Nuclear Power Plants." They work on building vocabulary,...

Young scholars examine the underlying meaning of the phrase spoken by Pastor Martin Niemoller in 1945, "When they came for me, there was no one left to speak up."  In this World History instructional activity, students share in a class...

Sixth graders investigate Germany during World War II. In this world history instructional activity, 6th graders research the Nazi's during World War II writing a summary of what they find after listening to the story known as The...

Eighth graders discuss the various actions of non-Jewish Germans during World War II. Through various readings and activities, they explore the rejection of Nazi ideology and how many German citizens worked to help Jewish citizens during...

Students spend a month discovering the role of the Nazi Dictatorship during the Holocaust. Using the internet, they research the history of the Nazi party and the decline of the Weimar Republic. They examine how Hitler rose to power...

Studenets are told that Peter Paul Rubens was born on June 28, 1577, in Siegen, Germany. They create their own allegorical painting, think of a favorite story. Young scholars write a summary of one scene in that story, using Crayola...

Introducing your students to general knowledge about a region or topic can spark their interest or get the inquiry ball rolling. This Jeopardy game tests students on what they know about German related topics such as, religion, food,...

Eleventh graders identify new vocabulary related to the Holocaust. In this Holocaust lesson, 11th graders complete a vocabulary self awareness chart and answer questions while viewing a video about the Holocaust.