Alabama Social Studies SS24.HOS.5b
The Standard
- SS24.HOS.5
- Explain how the Nazi Party grew into a mass movement that gained and maintained power in Germany through totalitarian means from 1933 to 1945 under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.*
Evaluate the Nazis’ propaganda efforts regarding the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and describe how the performance of Jesse Owens contradicted the Nazis’ position.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies · The Rise of Hitler and the Nazis
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how Nazi officials used the Berlin Games to make Germany look welcoming while hiding antisemitic policies. They use Jesse Owens's four gold medals to challenge Nazi claims of Aryan superiority.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given an Olympic poster and an account of Nazi policies, students identify the poster's message and what it leaves out. They explain why Owens's wins contradicted Nazi racial claims without saying the wins ended Nazi racism.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume Germany was tolerant because visitors saw festive crowds. They may think Owens's wins changed Nazi policy or that athletic results can prove one race superior to another.
How to Assess It
- Show a 1936 Games poster and list Owens's four gold medals. Ask students to name the poster's message, one Nazi policy it hid, and how Owens's wins challenged Nazi racial claims.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a 1936 Games poster and a short excerpt from the Nuremberg Laws; have them mark what the poster leaves out.
Ask students to write: Why did Owens's four gold medals challenge Nazi claims, and why did those wins not end Nazi racism?
Play evidence match: students pair Nazi claims on cards with Owens's results or Nuremberg Laws excerpts, then explain each mismatch.
Compare a 1936 Games poster with a current Olympic host-city ad; have students name each image's audience and one missing fact.
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Related Standards
- SS24.HOS.6c
Assess how the Nazis’ antisemitism and racial beliefs influenced their foreign policy.*
- SS24.HOS.5a
Describe how the Nazis utilized various forms of propaganda, including education and youth programs, to indoctrinate the German population and exploit antisemit...
- SS24.HOS.6b
Analyze the Nazis’ pursuit of racial purity, including sterilization and other eugenics practices.
- SS24.HOS.2b
Analyze how the Nazi regime utilized and built on historical antisemitism to cast the Jewish people as a common enemy.*
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