Diamond 9 Activity: Hitler's Rise to Power

This great thinking skills activity is designed to get your students discussing, prioritising and deciding which factors were the most important in helping to explain Hitler’s rise to power. The key theory underpinning this 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. If you are looking for a more traditional exercise then please check out my card sort matching exercise on this topic, which can be downloaded from my TES shop. This resource will easily work alongside any main steam textbook or resource on this topic.

The resource includes nine diamond shaped cards which include a range of factors which explain Hitler’s rise to power. 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 for Hitler’s rise to power that you don’t think are important. Record and explain why you have removed them.

2. Arrange the reaming 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 what you think are the four most important reasons for Hitler’s rise to power. Record and explain your reasons.

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 understanding of the topic.

The aims and objectives of this lesson are:

Theme: Germany 1919 - 1945
Know: What factors helped Hitler become a dictator?
Understand: What factors are linked together?
Evaluate: Which factors are more important
Skills: Cause and Consequence

WILF: What Am I Looking For?
Identify and describe: The key stages to Hitler’s rise to power?
Explain: Which factors are linked together?
Analyse: Which were the most important reasons?

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.

Anyway, have fun and stay in touch via social media for the latest updates.

Kind Regards

Roy