Russian Revolution Communism Verse Capitalism

Goals & Objectives

Students will comprehend the ideals of Karl Marx and the ideas of Communism.
Students will examine the economic inequalities of Capitalism, and practice the
ideals of Socialism.
Students will evaluate why a majority of people turned to Communism as a solution
for Communism.
Students will be tested on comprehensive questions from 3 video games

California State Content Standards

California Content Standards 10.7 Students analyze the rise of totalitarian governments
after World War I.
Common Core Literacy Standards
CCSS. WHST. 10.6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update
individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technologys capacity to link to
other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
Driving Historical Question
Do economic inequalities lead to revolutionary change?
Can society ever achieve utopian society?
Was Communism a necessary solution for the Russians?
Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge) Time: 10 min
In the begging of the lesson I will show the students a video clip of the social inequalities
we have in the United State today. This video will be the hook to my lesson, because it will
shock students in their perception of the distribution of wealth in America. After showing
the video the class will turn to a partner and discuss a possible solution to this problem.
Then, I will have some of the students volunteer by raising their hand to share their
thoughts with the rest of the class. Purpose of the video will be to connect this theme
historically to the Russian Revolution of why people turned to the idea of socialism, and
how socialism can equal the playing field of distributing the wealthy of the country equally
to everyone. From the previous lessons in this unit students should have a general
understanding of Socialism and Karl Marx. Also they have been introduced to who is
Vladimir Lenin and his role in pushing Communism. If I feel students are still struggling
with the concepts of Communism and Capitalism there is a video I can show them called
Make Mine Freedom. It is a good primary source made during the Cold War in 1948 telling
the difference between Capitalism and Communism.

Vocabulary (Content Language Development) Time: 5 min

The teacher will give out a vocabulary worksheet that will help them define these
vocabulary words during the lesson. Students will also next to the definition draw a symbol
that represents each vocabulary word.
Karl Marx
Vladimir Lenin
Communism
Socialism
Capitalism
Incentive
Utopian
Propaganda
Joseph Stalin
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) Time:
This will be a two part lesson:
Day 1 5 Min Explanation:
Students will play the Rock, Paper, Scissors game where they actively participate in
Capitalist, Communist, and Socialist ideology. This game will help students compare and
contrast the theories of Socialism, Communism, and Capitalism. Also students will critically
reflect which form of government works best. Students will also have to emphasize the
Russian perspective of why Communism seemed like a better choice than Capitalism.
Simulation Games throughout the Lesson
During this part of the lesson I will hand out Chromebooks (laptops) from the school to the
students. On the BBC website, there is a video game series that covers the events of the
Russian Revolution, Bolsheviks, and Stalin. Each game has an interactive story for students
to follow along, and there is a series of comprehensive questions during the game students
will have to answer. While students are playing the video game they will also answer
questions on a worksheet that goes along with the game. Students will play this simulation
game corresponding with previous lessons throughout the lesson. These simulation games
are designed to help give extra clarification after each lesson it corresponds with. For
example, after students learn about the social classes of Russia, they then will play the BBC
Bolshevik Revolution game towards the end of the lesson.
Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) Time:
Rock, Paper, Scissors Game: 25 min
In this game students will learn the differences between communism, socialism and
capitalism. The teacher will hand out to every student 2 paper tokens. The teacher will explain
to the students that one token is the minimum for survival and any extra represents a safety
blanket. In the first part of the game will represent Capitalism, and some students will be given
more tokens than other students, to represent that some people are already privileged in a
Capitalist society. Students will play the first round for a couple of minutes. The loser of the

game has to move to the back of the room and wait for the game to finish. At the end of the first
round, students with the most tokens have won the game. Ideally, the students who started with
the most tokens at the begging of the game are supposed to win. This is supposed to represent the
social inequalities in Capitalism (inherited wealth). Some people who started with a very little
amount of candy will end up with none after the game. Also only a few players with the lesser
amount of candy will end up with more at the end of the game.
In the second part of the game the teacher will give all the students an equal amount of
tokens. At the end of the second round, most of the students should have the same amount as
their partner or a little less. The second round is supposed to demonstrate Socialism.
The last round, the teacher takes away all of the tokens from the students. The students
reactions are supposed to be upset, and they want their token back from the teacher. Next the
teacher will ask the students what would make them happy enough to appease them. The
students respond should be to have their tokens back, so the teacher hands them only one token
back which is the minimal requirements to survive. The last activity is supposed to represent
Communism.
Simulation BBC Games:
I feel students will be excited knowing they get to play video game as a school activity.
The video games on the BBC website will engage students, because its an interactive story on
the Russian Revolution. Students on the first game learn more factual information in a new
exciting way of following along with a story on the Russian Revolution. Students on the second
game will learn the story behind the Bolsheviks and the influence Lenin had on the Russian
Revolution. Lastly, on the third game students will learn about how the con of Communism, and
how Stalin created a totalitarian regime. All three will be added to the lesson they correspond
with. What I like about these games is it supports student engagement, because it interacts with
them by telling an engaging story on the Russian Revolution. To make sure students are paying
attention to the story it has them answer comprehensive questions. Also the story has great
narration with interesting visuals during the story of the game.
Lesson Closure Time: 15min
Rock, Paper, Scissors Game:
At the end of the unit students will get into three groups of their choice. One group will
argue for Capitalism, second group will argue for Communism, and the third group will
argue for in between Communism and Capitalism (Socialist Government). Each group will
argue which form of government better provides for a more utopian society. The rules of
the debate are: each student most formerly address one another points, no talking while
someone else is talking, and students are allowed to move to different group with a
stronger argument. Before the activity begins the teacher will model the rules for the
students. Also the teacher will play devil advocate and move to the smaller groups during
the debate to help argue points.
At the end of the debate the students will return to their desks and take out a sheet of
paper for an exit slip. The student will write down on an exit slip why they think Russia
turned to Communism as a solution for government in their society. The exit slip needs to
be about 5-7 sentences.

Second part of the simulation BBC game:

For the simulation BBC interactive game students will turn in their scores of the
comprehensive questions. Students at the end of the game will print out their scores.
Students will also write three paragraph critically reflective essays with 5-7 sentences in
each paragraph. Each paragraph will be about each simulation game on the Russian
Revolution, Bolshevik Revolution, and Stalin. Students will be given a rubric that asks
students in each paragraph to critically reflect 3 events that had a huge impact on the
historical event, one historical person that had impact on the event and their significance
towards Communism, and what new information did you learn from playing the simulation
game. Students will use evidence from the game to make their statements. Students will
write each paragraph separately after playing the game.

Assessments (Formative & Summative)

Formative- after the Rock, Paper, Scissors Game students will be assessed on their
reactions to the game, and how they felt about each form of government.
Formative- Simulation BBC game students will turn in their scores of playing the
simulation game.
Summative- For the debate the teacher will assess student participation and see if the
students are using valid points in the argument. The teacher will be able to assess how
much the students know by bring factual evidence into their argument as they are
debating. Also towards the end of the debate the teacher can assess the students with their
exit slip to see how much they understood the content.
Summative- Students after the game will write 5-7sentence paragraphs that critically
reflects their opinion and insight on the game and connections to the lesson. Teacher will
assess the students reflection of the lesson.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs
The BBC game is accommodating to EL students, because it uses a video with a great
narration to tell the story. Also during the story it has comprehensive questions to highlight
key facts of the event. EL students will also find the Rock, Paper, Scissors Game helpful,
because my EL students can be assisted with other students in the class in the group
activity. Also my EL students are given a graphic organizer to help break down the
information.
Students with special needs and striving readers playing the BBC game will be given extra
time to play the game if needed. The visual and auditory component of the game will help
the students understand the content and make them follow along. In the Rock, Paper,
Scissors Game can hopefully play to the strengths of my special need students. Instead of
reading the differences of Communism and Capitalism in a textbook they visually get to
play a game about it. Also they will develop social interaction skills of communicating with
other students in the class.
Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)

Handout Worksheets:
-Vocab List
-Rules for Rock, Paper, Scissor Game
Tokens- for Rock. Paper, Scissors game
Pencil and Paper
Notebook- for notes
Computer
Projector
YouTube America Distribution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM
YouTube American Propaganda Piece against Communism: http://youtu.be/mVh75ylAUXY
Website Inequalities in Russia social classes:
http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/russian-society/
BBC Website of the three Simulation Games:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/russia/
Resource for Rock Paper Scissors Game:
http://oregonteacherblog.chalkboardproject.org/teaching-strategies/rock-paper-scissors-hownot-to-bore-your-students-with-a-lecture-on-communism-socialism-and-capitalism/