Lesson Plans are developed as personal responses of teachers who have attended The Churchill Centre’s seminars and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) summer institutes and by The Churchill Centre and our scholars. Teachers designed the lessons for their own classrooms, often adding to curricula they already use. Decisions on using these lessons remain the responsibility of individual teachers. Information in the lesson plans is factually correct.
Course and Level reflect the audience teachers had in mind when planning their lessons. Material may be adapted for other courses and grades.
Note: Selections from the Audio Archive are best accompanied by a handout of the written text.
Churchill and Statesmanship
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Winston Churchill: A Statesman for All Time
by Hillsdale College in partnership with the Michigan Churchill Society
Course: U.S. or World History
Level: Grades 9-12
Synopsis: These three lesson plans help students grasp the meaning of an outstanding figure whose actions helped shaped our understanding of democracy and statesmanship. The three lessons are entitled: Portrait of a Statesman, Democracy and Tyranny: Winston Churchill the Defender and Global Interdependence. Powerful leaders of the twentieth century included Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin as well as people like Churchill and Roosevelt. What differentiates leaders like these? What principles should guide and restrict the actions of a public figure?
Churchill’s Ideas
Winston Churchill and Technology
by Christopher M. Schwarz, Skokie, IL; NEH summer institute (2006)
Course: AP U.S History and AP European History
Level: Grades 11-12
Synopsis: The purpose of this lesson is to investigate and to discuss Churchill's views on technological change in his lifetime and to ponder whether he felt technology is beneficial for humankind or a serious threat to our existence. This is a discussion-based lesson using a series of questions about Churchill's article "Mankind is Confronted by One Supreme Task."
Compare and Contrast: Churchill v. Garraty
by Jeff Gordon, Sioux Falls, SD; NEH summer institute (2006)
Course: U.S History
Level: Grades 9-12
Synopsis: The writings of Winston S. Churchill will be compared and contrasted with the textbook The American Nation, written by Dr. John Garraty. The focus will be on the differing interpretations of events relative to the Civil War. Reading, cooperative learning, discussion and writing will all serve as parts of the lesson.
Aldous Huxley and Winston Churchill: Thinking about the 1930s
by Ken Krummenacker, Huntington, NY; NEH summer institute (2006)
Course: English
Level: Grades 11-12
Synopsis: Students will compare and contrast Churchill's ideas in one or both of his essays, "Fifty Years Hence," and "Mass Effects in Modern Life," with the themes of Aldous Huxley's classic dystopian novel Brave New World. Students will examine the 1930s fear that modernization, industrialization and technology were challenging the notion of individualism and the threat that totalitarian governments could conceivably manipulate the minds and even the biological nature of their enslaved citizens.
The Path to World War II
The "Wooing" of America: Winston Churchill and the Strengthening of Anglo-American Relations, 1938-1941
by Robert B. Patrick, Northrop, MN; NEH summer institute (2006)
Course: U.S. History/AP European History
Level: Grades 11 or 12
Synopsis: By studying three speeches of Winston Churchill, students will analyze Churchill's attempt to persuade the Americans of the threat posed by Hitler and his Nazi regime and the need for the Americans to abandon their isolationist policy.
From Isolationism to Interventionism: America's Entry into World War II
by Mark Baker, Zanesville, OH; NEH summer institute (2006)
Course: U.S. or World History
Level: Grades 9-12
Synopsis: This lesson plan examines American isolationism and the shift from isolationism to intervention to help the British before Pearl Harbor.
Letters from Americans: Churchill’s Broadcast on the Defence of Freedom and Peace, 16 October 1938
by Beverly Hart, Flanagan, IL; NEH summer institute (2008)
Course: U.S. History
Level: Grades 9-12
Synopsis: Students will consider the diversity of opinions in the U.S. about the rise of Hitler by examining letters written to Churchill reflecting public opinion on his 1938 speech.
World War II
Churchill’s Wartime Speeches: 1940-1941
by Jannette R. Milligan, Worthington, OH; NEH summer institute (2006)
Course: Any history course covering World War II
Level: Grades 9-12
Synopsis: The lesson will provide students the opportunity to learn about the time period from May 10, 1940 to June 21, 1941, to read several of Winston Churchill's speeches from this time period, to discuss the context of these speeches, and to analyze their importance in contributing to the formation of a national British consensus to continue to fight the Germans.
Franklin and Winston: And So To War
by John Baran, Charlottesville, VA; NEH summer institute (2006)
Course: U. S. History
Level: Grades 10-12
Synopsis: This lesson is intended to compare and contrast the justifications that led to British (1939) and American (1941) involvement in World War II. It can be used as a stand alone lesson or as a supplement to a lesson outlining the origins of World War II, and is designed to fit into an overall unit on the study of World War II. Students will be asked to read two famous speeches and answer questions, discuss the speeches, work collaboratively in groups answering open-ended questions about the justifications of war, and write a response to a prompt. (Associated Worksheets)
Post World War II
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