Diamond 9: Why did the USSR and Germany sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

This outstanding diamond 9 activity has been designed to provide stretch and challenge for students studying why the USSR and Germany signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939. The key theory underpinning this type of strategy is that when we rank items, either statements, objects or images, we are required to make explicit the over- arching relationships by which we organise our knowledge and connect our learning. It can be used as a starter, plenary, revision or as a focus for an assessment activity. If you are looking for something more suitable for lower and middle ability then please check out my card sort matching exercise on this topic.

The resource includes nine diamond shaped cards which include a range of factors which explain why Germany and the USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939. The document is provided in Microsoft Word so you can edit the resource if you wish to customise it further by changing any of the key factors that I have included. Once students have cut out the cards out they are set three tasks including:

1. Remove any reasons that you don’t think are important. Record and explain why you have removed them.
2. Arrange the remaining diamonds to show any links that you can find between the different reasons. Record and explain your reasons.
3. Make a smaller diamond shape using the four most important reasons to explain why Germany and the USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact? Record and explain the reasons for your choices.

At each stage students should be feeding back to their group or the class and explaining their choices. The discussion and explanation around the choices that they have made are critical in helping them develop their thinking skills skills as well as their understanding of the topic.

The aims and objectives for this lesson are:

Theme: How far was Hitler responsible for the outbreak of the SWW in 1939?
Know: What were the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
Analyse: Why did Stalin and Hitler sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
Skills: Cause, Consequence, Evaluation and Judgement.

WILF: What Am I Looking For this lesson?
Identify & describe: The terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact
Explain: Why did Germany & USSR sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
Analyse: How far Hitler was responsible for the outbreak of the SWW?

If you like this resource then why not check out my other resources on this topic in my TES shop. You can also follow ‘The History Academy’ on Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube and Facebook for the latest updates or even to get in touch and chat about how you have used this resource or to ask questions. We aim to produce cheap and affordable resources for either the price of a good cup of coffee or a happy meal so that you can spend more time doing the things that you want.

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Kind Regards

Roy