CLASSROOM MATERIALS
These classroom materials and activities were developed by our curriculum team and are meant to be used for the classroom before and after the broadcast.

 

D.J. MacHale

The Never War
• LESSON 1
• LESSON 2
• LESSON 3



CLASSROOM LESSON 1:
The Hindenburg Disaster

BOOK TITLE: The Never War
AUTHOR: D.J. MacHale
LESSON PLAN AUTHOR : Kathleen Robbins

GRADE LEVEL: 6-8
LESSON DURATION: 60 Minutes

OBJECTIVE

  • Students will develop an understanding of the German aircraft The Hindenburg and the disaster of 1937. 
  • Students will explore this type of aircraft, the facts surrounding the disaster, and then create a detective report stating a possible cause of the disaster. 

MATERIALS

  • Inside the Hindenburg by: Mireille Majoor
  • The Hindenburg by: Patrick O’Brien
  • Computer (With Internet Access)

MOTIVATION

  • Give a brief overview of what they just watched. (Explain that this video is live footage from the site of the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. The man speaking is Herb Morrison and he was giving a radio broadcast of what was supposed to be the landing of the Hindenburg)

NEW INFORMATION

  • Introduce the Hindenburg aircraft. *Following are some introductory details; more information can be gained from the book resources listed and the given online sources.
  •  Background information: (The Hindenburg was owned by the Zeppelin Company and supported by the German Nazi Party. It was the largest object to ever fly-804 ft.
  • Makeup: (Had a metal skeleton and inside there were sixteen enormous gasbags containing seven million cubic feet of flammable hydrogen gas, and powered by four diesel engines which allowed it to fly. It also had an airborne hotel with room for fifty passengers in its belly)
  • Have the students look at the book Inside the Hindenburg by: Mireille Majoor for detailed diagrams and large pullout pictures of the airborne hotel section and other parts of the aircraft. Also visit this online view of the Hindenburg’s Interior.
  • The Crash: (The Hindenburg had flown all the way across the Atlantic and planned on landing in Lakehurst New Jersey on May 6th, 1937. The landing was delayed seven hours because of the stormy weather conditions and it was attempting to land a little after 7:00pm when the unthinkable happened. The Hindenburg burst into flames and was brought down in thirty-four seconds some people jumped out windows and leapt to safety but this crash ended up taking the lives of thirty-six people. The real cause of the crash was never proven.
  •  Next review the Hindenburg Glossary and discuss unknown terms. These terms might help with understanding and also give students terms to use when writing their report.

MODELING/GUIDED PRACTICE

  • Students will be using a Persuasion Map to help them formulate ideas to create a thesis on what they believe caused the crash.
  • Go through Persuasion Map sections with the students. Explain and give possible answers for each section. The sections and descriptions are as follows.
  • Goal or Thesis: A statement that describes one side of an arguable viewpoint. What is the cause you are trying to prove?
  • Main Reasons: State three reasons that would support your thesis and convince someone that you cause is valid. (Give three reasons)
  • Facts or Examples: What are some facts or examples you could state to support this reason and validate this argument? (Give three for each reason)
  • If an example is needed to model for students, it might be best to come up with a bogus conclusion so students will still create their own viewpoint. This optional example can be gone through orally or written on the board. (A possible example could be that the dogs on the aircraft got loose, were running through the kitchen. They distracted a cook and caused him to leave the gas burner on. This caused gases to spread, reaching the flammable gases in the gasbags and caused an explosion) Supporting Reasons: 1. There were dogs that were shipped on the Hindenburg 2. There were kitchens on the Hindenburg 3. Dogs can cause trouble when on the loose.

PRACTICE/APPLICATION

  • Explain to students that the cause of the Hindenburg crash was never proven. Students will now become detectives and try to solve “The Case of the Hindenburg Disaster.” Students will take the facts they learned about the Hindenburg, develop a thesis of a possible cause, and write a detective report.
  • The students may use scrap paper to begin form their ideas but will do the main part of prewriting for the report using the Online Persuasion Map Tool. This interactive tool goes through each of the sections explained earlier and allows the student to plug in their ideas. The tool will then create a Persuasion Map in a web-like form that will outline exactly what will go in the student’s detective report.
  • When finished creating a Persuasion Map, students will print the map and use this tool to guide them in writing their report. When writing the report have students write a rough draft, go through an editing process with self and peers and then write their final detective report. The length of the report is not important what must be included are the elements from the Persuasion Map and a strong case must be given.

CLOSURE

  • After writing reports, have students get into groups based on students with similar theses. In each group, have students discuss their thesis and come up with a united front to present to the class. After discussion, each group will try to persuade the rest of the group that their thesis is what really happened.  

EVALUATION

  • Students will be evaluated on completion of the Persuasive Map. Their detective report will be evaluated using a rubric based on critical voice used, cause chosen with strong support given, and whether real facts are used

NCSS STANDARD 2

Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ways human beings view themselves in and over time.

NCSS STANDARD 8

Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of relationships among science, technology, and society.

NCTE STANDARD 2

Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics). 

NCTE STANDARD 5

Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

NCTE STANDARD 6

Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.

NCTE STANDARD 7

Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

NCTE STANDARD 8

Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
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