Philip Forlenza

His 396
Lesson Plan

World History 10th Grade 45 minute period

Theme/Topic: French Revolution

Subject Discipline/Grade: 10th Grade World History

Goals: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning
points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a
variety of perspectives.

Objectives: By the end of the class students should be able to

1. Describe the background causes to the French Revolution
1. Describe the makeup of the classes in French society
2. Understand the impact that these class divisions had on the events that
became the French Revolution
3. Understand and review important vocabulary both terms and people
associated with the topic: First estate, Second Estate, Third Estate,
Enlightenment, Jon Locke, absolutism, Louis XIV
Skills: Terminology/Vocabulary, Note Taking, Compare and Contrast

Materials needed: White board/ Chalk Board, Poster Paper, and markers

Detailed Plan
The lesson will be a lecture with students taking notes in their notebooks
using the Cornell Method which was taught earlier in the year

Do now: Write on the board the question: What are three things that you
think are associated with the French Revolution? As students come in have

them write down the answers that come to them quickly; they shouldn't sit
thinking long. Give the students about two minutes to answer the question
then go around the room and have each student share what they had wrote.
This should take from about five minutes to seven minutes. If it begins to
take longer than eight minutes move on to the instructional part of the
lesson.
Instruction: It is important to use the next five to eight minutes to go over
the Enlightenment which was taught last week. Ask students what the
Enlightenment was and where it came from. The answer would be that the
Enlightenment was a philosophical movement grown out of the Scientific
Revolution and tried to apply the scientific method to politics and people.
The students should remember this as it was taught in the week prior. Next
write the name John Locke up on the board. Have students answer what he
thought. Locke thought that people have rights, such as the right to life,
liberty, and property, that have a foundation independent of the laws of any
particular society. Another essential part is that if the government which is
born from the people is not representing the people then it deserves to be
overthrown. John Locke and his theories play a key role in the French
Revolution so remind students to keep his theory in the back of their minds.
The next part of the lesson is France as a country prior to the French
Revolution. France was having major issues in the early to mid 1700s. The
new emerging class the bourgeoisie resented the exclusion from political
power and positions of honor in the government. The Bourgeoisie is the
middle class that emerges in Europe during this time. Another problem in
France was the failure of the feudal system in the rural parts of France. Both
nobles and peasants in the countryside were unhappy with their situation.
Peasants over time in France began to ignore the demands of the lords who
ruled over them as the peasants were aware of their situation and were less
willing to support the feudal system. Due to the slow failing of the feudal
system lords in the rural areas were often not much better off than the
middle class inside of the cities. They were stuck in cold stone castles with
no ways to better themselves or their situation. Another issue France had
was the wide access to Enlightenment materials that the common classes
took hold of. The bourgeoisie especially read the philosophies that were
written and began to question the government which kept them locked out of
power. Another issue that France had was that their participation in the
American Revolution had drove the government to the brink of bankruptcy.
The French decided to aid the young American nation during its revolution

but sending an army across the Atlantic is very costly and it drained the
French treasury. Another issue that was tied to the ailing feudal system is
that crop failures in 1788 which capped off a long period of economic
difficulties only compounded the issues the already existed. Next explain to
students that the current Monarch Louis XVI, under pressure from the nobility
called the Estates General in order to solve the issues that plagued the
country. This leads into the next part of the lesson which discusses each of
the estates. This should take ten to fifteen minutes
Next is moving into French Society prior to the French Revolution. Ask
students what they remember about absolutism and Louis XIV. Absolutism
in France plays a large role in the collapse of the monarchy during the French
Revolution. Absolutism is the idea that the King is God's messenger on Earth
and that he should have absolute power over the place that he rules. Louis
XIV is the poster child of absolutism and students should recall the Place of
Versailles and the intricate rituals that took place there. After this the next
part of the lesson is the breakdown of the French estate system. The first
estate that we are going to talk about is the first estate. This estate is
compromised of the clergy of France. Tell students that there was a division
between the first estate. The upper clergy were clerical nobility from the
families of nobles while the lower clergy were those that were normal
citizens who joined the faith. Next comes the second estate which was
comprised of the nobility of France. These were the nobles of the Feudal
system which had long rules Europe. The third estate comprised ninety five
percent of the French population. It contained everyone who did not fall into
the first two estates. There was a large division between those who lived in
the countryside and those who lived in urban areas. Inside of the third estate
there was a new group emerging that would shake up France as a country.
The bourgeoisie or the middle class was emerging in French cities and was
looking to grow in power. This should take about ten to fifteen minutes to go
over with the students.
Activity: Break the students up into three different groups and situate them
in three different spots in the room. Write on three poster boards the names
of each of the estates. Give these to each of the three groups and ask them
to write what each of the groups would be looking for in the Estates General
that was called in 1789. The students don't have to be right as the estates
general will be covered tomorrow but have students think about the
problems in France and how their estate would want solutions to those
problems. From their knowledge of Feudal society and the issues in France

students should be able to come up with various answers. Give students five
to ten minutes to come up with ideas and when the time is over keep them
in the classroom and refer to them during the lesson tomorrow to show if the
students were right or wrong.
With the last five to seven minutes of class it is important to wrap up and
give students a review of what was learned today. Ask them what were some
of the problems that France faced prior to the French Revolution. Entertain a
couple of answers then fill in the ones that they miss to remind them what
they all were. Next ask them what each of the estates was made up of and
see if they remember what each was. After this tell the students that the
issues that they just said effected each of the classes in France differently.
Each estate would have different ways of looking at the issues in France and
how to solve them. This is why the Estates General that was called is so
important as it is a way for all the people of France to be in the same place to
solve these issues. As a final point tell students that the Estates General is
the event that sends France into their revolution which would shake Europe
to its very core. This should take about five minutes or to the end of the
class.