Lesson 3: Deportation, Starvation, and Mass Death of Armenians
Duration of Days: 1
Lesson Objective
Analyze how Ottoman deportation policies translated into mass death and suffering for Armenians, and evaluate how intent and outcome are assessed in crimes against humanity.
How did deportation function as a mechanism of mass violence during the Armenian Genocide?
Deportation
Forced marches
Starvation
Disease
Intent
Mechanism of violence
Civilian population
D2.His.4.9-12: Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
D2.His.14.9-12: Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
D2.His.15.9-12: Evaluate the relative influence of different causes of events and developments in the past.
Students practice synthesizing information across a sustained informational text and distinguishing between stated intent and observable outcomes, a core skill in evidence-based reading and historical analysis questions.
In this lesson, students read a structured, secondary-source-style text describing the deportation of Armenians during 1915–1917. The reading emphasizes logistics, conditions, and consequences rather than graphic detail.
The purpose is to help students understand how mass death can result from administrative decisions and environmental conditions, even when violence is framed as relocation or security policy.
Depth of Knowledge: DOK 3
Students analyze cause, effect, and historical responsibility rather than recalling facts.
Students connect this case to modern instances where displacement, denial of resources, or forced relocation are used as tools of control against civilian populations. Emphasis is placed on recognizing indirect forms of violence.
Assuming mass death must involve direct killing
Confusing unintended hardship with lack of responsibility
Chunked reading with guiding questions in margins
Optional sentence frames for analytical responses
Vocabulary previews for students needing language support
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Written responses to text-based questions requiring synthesis
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Exit response addressing how deportation led to mass death
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Informal checks during discussion of reading questions
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Reading
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Accompanying question worksheet
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Writing utensils or digital annotation tools