11th Grade Semester Two
Unit 7: Cold War II
Stage 1: Desired OutcomesTopic / Unit Title: Cold War Heats Up
· Did the Cold War change America for better or worse?
NYS Content Standards
Standard : 1 Key Idea 2
Standard : 1 Key Idea 3
Standard : 1 Key Idea 4 / Common Core Skills
· RH 1, 3, 6, 7, 8
· W 3, 4, 5
· SL 1, 4, 6
· L 1, 2, 4
Understandings:
· The contribution of image to Kennedy’s election
· The positives and negatives of the New Frontier.
· The role of Kennedy’s image and his accomplishments
· The causes, effects and decisions of the Bay of Pigs
· Which nation should be blamed for the Cuban Missile Crisis
· How diplomacy solved the Cuban Missile Crisis
· Who was viewed as the victor of the Cuban Missile Crisis
· The contributions and legacy of Robert F. Kennedy
· The roles Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson played in the involvement of America in Vietnam
· The programs, goals and effectiveness of the Great Society
· The role Vietnam had in distracting and taking away finances from the Great Society
· The effects the assassination of Kennedy, the decline to run from LBJ and the Watergate Scandal had on the American people and mistrust of government
· How the Vietnam War divided American society: Kent State, the growth of the counter-culture, Tinker v. Des Moines, Democratic National Convention Riots
· How Nixon ended American involvement in Vietnam
· The debate if America could have won the Vietnam War
· The issues and tests of checks and balances during the Nixon Presidency (Watergate, U.S. v. Nixon, New York Times v. U.S., War Powers Act, Resignation, Presidential Pardon by Gerald Ford)
· The extent if Nixon caused his own downfall
· The reasons why Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon. / Essential Questions:
· Should religion play a role in the Presidency?
· Was the New Frontier effective?
· Did Kennedy’s assassination preserve his mystique?
· Was the Bay of Pigs a risk worth taking?
· Who should be blamed for the Cuban Missile Crisis?
· How did diplomacy solve the Cuban Missile Crisis?
· Was there a victor in the Cuban Missile Crisis?
· What if Robert F. Kennedy had not been assassinated?
· Who should the most responsibility for the escalation of Vietnam?
· Was the Great Society effective?
· How did the Vietnam War distract from the Great Society and its goals?
· How did the Presidential turmoil of Kennedy, LBJ and Nixon lead to a mistrust of the Presidency?
· How did the Vietnam War divide American society?
· Was withdrawal/Vietnamization from Vietnam an effective solution to the Vietnam War?
· Was victory in Vietnam possible?
· Was our system of government made stronger or weaker from the Nixon scandals?
· Did Nixon cause his own downfall?
Should Nixon have been pardoned?
Stage 2: Assessments and Tasks
Common Core Literacy Task
· Analyze and answer questions about primary and secondary source documents.
· Exit ticket: Television Broadcast: Prepare a television broadcast Kennedy’s legacy – including domestic, foreign policy, civil rights and image/mystique – how should Kennedy’s Presidency be viewed? 1-2 paragraphs 5-7 sentences using at least 4-5 specific facts from the lesson
· Exit Ticket: Who should be seen as the winner of the Cuban Missile Crisis? (5-7 sentences with at least 3 details from the lesson)
· ACTIVITY: Create a re-election poster (with 3-4 sentence explanation) of why he should be re-elected based on the Great Society Programs. Make sure to use at least 3 specifics from the lesson in the poster and explanation.
· ACTIVITY: You are a Congressman: right a response in whether you decide to support the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or not? (one paragraph 5-7 sentences, using at least 3 specifics from the lesson).
· Exit Ticket: Explain if you are a hawk or a dove during the Vietnam War. One paragraph, include at least 3-4 details from the lesson and unit.
· Activity: Create a re-election poster (with 3-4 sentence explanation) of why he should be re-elected based on his handling of foreign policy. Make sure to use at least 3 specifics from the lesson in the poster and explanation.
· Exit ticket: answer the question: Did the Watergate scandal strengthen or weaken the American system of government: in one paragraph, using at least 3-4 specifics from the lesson.
Thematic Essay on Presidential Actions: Did the Presidents of the Cold War era help or hinder American prosperity? / Performance Task(s) – Other Evidence
· Document Analysis
· Scenario analysis
· Writing Assignments including policy making, perspective analysis, news broadcast
· Persuasive Speech Writing
· Exit ticket summary activities
· Document creation (political cartoons)
· Document creation – campaign posters
· Thematic Essay
Accommodations: Scaffolds and Differentiation
Content / o Modify primary source texts (variety, complexity, length)
o Incorporate alternative materials (visual, video, audio, internet)
o Provide supplementary resources for supports
o Group with a purpose
Process / o Model skills, task and/or product
o Utilize graphic organizers / note taking template
o Provide individual or group intervention and support
o Re-enforce vocabulary / concept development
o Provide choice / variety of activities or tasks
o Group with a purpose
Product / o Assign specific, purposeful assessments to individuals or groups
o Allow students to choose from a variety of assessments
o Provide scaffolds / supports (outlines, templates, models)
o Provide extension activities to expand thinking or understanding
o Group with a purpose
How will students reflect upon and self-assess their learning?
· Exit Tickets
· Writing Assignments
· Document Creation
· Creating debates
· Scaffolding Questions based on primary and secondary sources
· Graphic Organizers
· Thematic Essay
Stage 3: Learning Plan
Instructional Activities and Materials (W.H.E.R.E.T.O.)
AIM: Did the image of John F. Kennedy outshine the reality?
· Effective legislation requires strong presidential leadership combined with a cooperative Congress.
· The programs and goals of the New Fronteir
· In an age of mass media, image is often more important than reality.
o Describe the major issues and campaign in the presidential election of 1960.
o Compare and contrast the legislative programs and accomplishments of President Kennedy with his predecessors Truman and Eisenhower.
o Compare and contrast the Kennedy “mystique” with Kennedy’s congressional accomplishments.
o Form a judgment about why Kennedy’s style is often imitated by presidential aspirations.
o Form a judgment if recent revelations about Kennedy’s personal behavior and character have tarnished his image and the public’s perception of his presidency.
o Determine the degree to which the image of President Kennedy outshone the reality.
o ACTIVITY: Television Broadcast: Prepare a television broadcast Kennedy’s legacy – including domestic, foreign policy, civil rights and image/mystique – how should Kennedy’s Presidency be viewed? 1-2 paragraphs 5-7 sentences using at least 4-5 specific facts from the lesson.
AIM: Should the United States have risked nuclear war to remove Russian missiles from Cuba?
· The chief objective of any country’s foreign policy is to protect and promote the safety and security of the nation-state.
· United States foreign policy after World War II has focused on the containment of the spread of communism in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
· United States hegemony in the Western Hemisphere was challenged by Fidel Castro’s espousal of communism, which was supported by the Soviet Union.
o Describe and analyze the conditions in Cuba that enabled Castro to seize power and the process how he established a communist-type dictatorship in Cuba and made it a member of the communist bloc.
o Explain and analyze President Kennedy’s actions and ultimatum to the Soviet Union to withdraw its missiles and to dismantle the missile installations in Cuba, which were capable of reaching every important city in the Western Hemisphere.
o Describe how this Cold War crisis between the Soviet Union and the United States led the world to the brink of a nuclear war.
o Although United States prestige abroad was bolstered by this show of firmness, there was evidence that Soviet troops and advisors remained on the island.
o Assess whether President Kennedy’s firm stand against communism in the Cuban Missile Crisis was a prudent foreign policy or a reckless risk of nuclear war.
o ACTIVITY: Exit Ticket: Who should be seen as the winner of the Cuban Missile Crisis? (5-7 sentences with at least 3 details from the lesson)
AIM: Did Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” program fulfill its promises?
· The “Great Society” programs for national prosperity and progress as well as progressive plan of reform continued the philosophy of the New Deal of the 1930s.
· The Nixon administration dismantled many of the anti-poverty programs of the “Great Society.”
o Explain the objectives of the “Great Society” enunciated by President Lyndon Johnson.
o Describe the legislative accomplishments of the “Great Society,” including the war on poverty, V.I.S.T.A., Medicare, civil rights, etc.
o Explain how Johnson succeeded in securing congressional approval for the “Great Society” measures.
o Describe how the Nixon administration dismantled much of the “Great Society” program.
o Evaluate whether President Johnson’s “Great Society” program fulfilled its promises.
o ACTIVITY: Create a re-election poster (with 3-4 sentence explanation) of why he should be re-elected based on the Great Society Programs. Make sure to use at least 3 specifics from the lesson in the poster and explanation.
AIM: Should the United States have fought a war in Vietnam?
· The United States became gradually involved in the Indo-China War for complex reasons, particularly the fear of communist expansion.
· Technology has limited value and effectiveness in a guerilla war.
· The Vietnam War was the United States’ longest and, except for the Civil War, most domestically divisive conflict.
o Describe the sequence of events that culminated in the United States military intervention in Vietnam.
o Explain and analyze the reasons given by the United States government for the nation’s increasing involvement in the military conflict.
o Analyze the arguments presented by the opponents of American involvement in Vietnam.
o Evaluate whether or not the United States should have fought a war in Vietnam.
o ACTIVITY: You are a Congressman: right a response in whether you decide to support the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or not? (one paragraph 5-7 sentences, using at least 3 specifics from the lesson).
AIM: Did the Vietnam War affect America and our culture for better or worse?
· While only a minority of Americans actively protested the war, millions of others doubted the wisdom of involving United States armed forces in a distant and limited Asian war that did not directly affect the security of the nation.
· Because of the tragic loss of life, the vast expenditures of money, the length of the conflict, and the lack of a clear understanding of the nation’s objectives, the war eroded the spirit of national unity, led to disillusionment and cynicism, and was a contributing factor to an era of social unrest and domestic violence. Moreover, the United States foreign policy of containing communism everywhere in the world was now widely questioned and criticized. For nearly the next two decades, both the American people and Congress were reluctant to become involved in another foreign conflict.
· The domestic protest against the United States escalating involvement in the Vietnam conflict influenced President Johnson’s decision not to seek reelection and President Nixon’s decision to gradually withdraw United States military forces from Vietnam.
o Discuss the reasons for and the nature of the protest movement on the college campuses and society in general.
o Explain the impact of the protests on President Johnson’s political career, President Nixon’s foreign policy, and the long-term effects of the war on United States foreign policy.
o Assess the extent to which the domestic protest movement influenced the outcome of the war and affected the future foreign policy of the United States
o ACTIVITY: Explain if you are a hawk or a dove during the Vietnam War. One paragraph, include at least 3-4 details from the lesson and unit.
AIM: Did Nixon return stability to a nation in chaos?
· A constantly changing world power balance has brought about changes in the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
· Arms races and wars represent failures of diplomacy.
· President Nixon’s attempts to relax cold war tension with the Soviet Union sought to set limits on the production of nuclear weapons and halt the arms race between the world’s two superpowers.
· President Nixon’s overture to establish relations with China underscored that communism is not internationally monolithic and sought to establish diplomatic and trade relations with China.
o Explain the objectives of the United States foreign policy of “détente” and compare it to the United States’ previous policy of “containment” of communism.
o Explain the reasons for the change in the United States foreign policy toward the communist nations of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
o Describe the actions taken by the Nixon administration that illustrate the policy of “détente”: presidential visits to the Soviet Union and China, the signing of the S.A.L.T. agreement to limit nuclear arms between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1972, the “grain deal” which ended the U.S. trade ban with the Soviet Union since 1949, the Seabed Agreement, and the establishment of trade as well as cultural and athletic exchange programs with China in 1979.
o Assess the impact of the United States policy of “détente” on its international relations with communist nations and evaluate its effect on the likelihood of world peace.
o Activity: Create a re-election poster (with 3-4 sentence explanation) of why he should be re-elected based on his handling of foreign policy. Make sure to use at least 3 specifics from the lesson in the poster and explanation.
AIM: Did the Watergate scandal strengthen or weaken the American system of government?
· The United States political system survived a crisis in public confidence in the 1970s.
· The Constitution of the United States with its system of “separation of powers” and “checks and balances” protects the nation against abuses of government power.
o Describe the important events and the roles of major government officials in the Watergate scandal.
o Analyze how the constitutional principles of “separation of powers” and “checks and balances” operated during the Watergate investigation and congressional hearings.
o Evaluate whether Watergate was a sign of the strength or weakness in the United States system of government.
o Regretting the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the President total war-making power in Vietnam, Congress limited the President’s power to wage war in the future by enacting the “War Powers Act” in 1973.
o Activity: Exit ticket: answer the aim in one paragraph, using at least 3-4 specifics from the lesson.
Culminating Activity: Thematic Essay on Presidential Actions: Did the Presidents of the Cold War era help or hinder American prosperity?
Teacher Reflection for Future Planning
· Evaluate student work and response to questions during discussion
· Will explore test results and essay writing skills on class exams to shape future writing lessons
Regents Essay