NY Social Studies 10.5e

Social Studies10th GradeKey Idea 10.5

The Standard

Human atrocities and mass murders occurred in this time period.

New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework

Key Idea 10.5

UNRESOLVED GLOBAL CONFLICT (1914–1945): World War I and World War II led to geopolitical changes, human and environmental devastation, and attempts to bring stability and peace.

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students examine maps, government orders, photographs, and survivor testimony from the Armenian Genocide, Holodomor, and Holocaust. They identify targeted groups, state actions, methods of persecution, and human consequences. They compare the cases without treating them as identical.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students can place each case in its correct location and time period. They can explain how deportation, engineered starvation, propaganda, mass shootings, ghettos, and killing centers were used, citing evidence from sources.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume all three cases happened in the same place or resulted from battlefield fighting. They may treat the cases as identical, overlook state planning, or reduce the Holocaust to concentration camps alone.
How to Assess It: Give students one short source from each case. Ask them to identify the event, name one state action, and cite evidence showing its effect on civilians.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Set up source stations with maps, orders, photographs, and testimony excerpts, then have students complete an evidence chart for each case.
Ask students to write: How did governments use policy, force, and information control to target civilian groups?
Have pairs arrange event cards on a 1915 to 1945 timeline, then justify two placements using dates and locations.
Read two clauses from the 1948 Genocide Convention, then connect each clause to specific evidence from one historical case.

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