Turning Points 2

Overview

Students build a clear historical explanation for why World War II began, using evidence from WWI’s outcomes to identify continuity and change from the Treaty of Versailles period. The lesson supports Stage 5 focus on analysing key features of past events and integrating source evidence to form a historical argument.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• analyse key features of the interwar period that contributed to the outbreak of World War II
• explain how significant ideas and events shaped the past from WWI to WWII
• use evidence from short sources to develop an explanation (not just a description)
• identify continuity and change between the Treaty of Versailles era and the causes of WWII

Success criteria

Students can:

• name and explain at least three causes of WWII using historical terms (e.g. reparations, appeasement, authoritarianism, Lebensraum)
• connect WWI outcomes (including the Treaty of Versailles) to later events (continuity/change)
• quote or paraphrase evidence from sources and show how it supports their claim
• communicate a clear, structured paragraph using an evidence-based historical argument

Curriculum links

• HI5-SPE-01 — students analyse key features and structures of past societies, historical periods and events
• HI5-IEP-01 — students explain how significant ideas and events have shaped the past
• HI5-SOU-01 — students integrate evidence from sources to develop historical accounts, explanations and arguments
• HI5-CON-01 — students account for continuity and change over a period of time in relation to a historical context
• HI5-COM-01 — students communicate historical arguments using historical terms for an intended purpose

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Retrieval hook. Teacher writes: “Why did WWII happen? What links can we make from WWI outcomes?” Students do a silent think and record 2 ideas in notebooks.
2. 5–12 min · Mini-lesson: from Versailles to instability. Teacher summarises key Versailles impacts in age-appropriate terms (harsh conditions, humiliation narratives, political and economic strain) and emphasises “not one cause”.

• Students complete a quick guided note: “Versailles effect → interwar reaction → later consequence”.

3. 12–25 min · Source investigation (stations). Teacher divides class into 4 groups and assigns one source set per station (each set includes 2 short extracts and/or images with prompts).

• Students: read, highlight relevant evidence, and answer: “What does this source suggest about causes of WWII?”

4. 25–35 min · Causal ranking and continuity/change. Teacher provides a template with three headings: Economic, Political, Ideological/Military. Students place each group’s evidence into one heading, then complete a quick “Continuity vs Change” table:

• Continuity: “What problem carried on from Versailles/interwar?”
• Change: “What new conditions or leaders made it worse or different?”

5. 35–47 min · Build an evidence-based explanation. Teacher models a paragraph structure:

• Claim (one sentence) → Reasoning (two sentences) → Evidence (one sentence) → Historical link (one sentence) → Concluding sentence.
• Students write their own explanation paragraph answering: “To what extent did the Treaty of Versailles contribute to the start of WWII?”

6. 47–55 min · Peer review with a success checklist. Students swap paragraphs and use a checklist:

• Is there a clear claim?
• Are there at least two pieces of evidence integrated correctly?
• Is there an explicit continuity/change link?
• Are historical terms used accurately?

7. 55–60 min · Exit ticket. Students submit: “Name one cause of WWII and explain one Versailles connection in 2–3 sentences.”

Resources

• Interwar/WWII short source sets (print or digital) with extracts and brief image captions
• Cause categorisation template (Economic/Political/Ideological-Military)
• Continuity vs Change table
• Paragraph scaffold handout (claim–reasoning–evidence–link structure)
• Highlighters/pens
• Student notebooks
• Teacher checklist for peer review

Assessment

• Formative: teacher circulates during source investigation using a “evidence found?” quick check
• Formative: check causal categories and continuity/change table accuracy during the ranking task
• Summative (lightweight): exit ticket demonstrating cause + Versailles link using 2–3 sentences

Differentiation

• Support:
• Provide sentence starters for claims (“One reason WWII began was…”) and evidence integration (“This source shows… because…”)
• Offer a word bank of historical terms relevant to the sources and student level
• Scaffolds:
• Use the paragraph scaffold; allow students to complete frames first, then draft.
• Provide an example paragraph modelled by the teacher (without giving away student answers).
• Extension:
• Challenge students to include a “competing cause” sentence (e.g. role of leadership, aggression, or international failures) and judge its significance.
• EAL/SEN considerations:
• Reduce writing load by allowing a brief bullet plan before paragraph writing.
• Ensure sources are readable with clear headings and chunked text; provide teacher clarification of unfamiliar terms during stations.