What were the causes of the Spanish Civil War? Jigsaw Lesson Approach

This lesson is titled “What were the causes of the Spanish Civil War?”

The lesson begins with a Blankety Blank Starter Activity to introduce the students to a quotation by H. L. Mencken related to the conflict. The Key Question is then made clear along with aims, and lesson objectives are graduated (all will/most will/some will). There are then slides of background information to allow for teacher exposition. The main activity takes the form of a jigsaw classroom approach. Students are given one of five fact files on an alternative cause of the Spanish Civil War (political instability and polarization, social and economic problems, military uprising and coup attempt, regional differences, and foreign intervention and ideology). The students then break away and research their respective area of expertise using the fact file given (as well as a library book box/internet) before rejoining the group. The challenge is for them to then persuade the others in their ‘jigsaw’ that theirs was the principle cause. Following this the lesson objectives are revisited, and a piece of written work is set in which they collaborate their research to arrive at a fuller answer to the Key Question. The lesson concludes with a starfish plenary in which students are asked to vote on which of the five causes they felt was the most important. I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine always do. It is pitched toward high achieving post-16 high school students and requires them to have some research skills.

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Wishing you a terrific day.