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The American Conflict

Examine the Vietnam Conflict from the American perspective through primary source documents and images.

Lesson Plan

Goals and Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will understand the American political climate that led to U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the cause-effects events that led to the prolonged engagement. Students will select, analyze, and summarize primary source documents and images from the Vietnam War to reveal the impact of political decisions and cultural influences on the outcome of the war.

Content Standards

11.9 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II.
  1. Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, including the following:
    • The Vietnam War

Vocabulary

Key terms will be taught within the body of the lesson. The teacher will introduce key terms within the lecture and students will define the terms in their museum display. Key terms may vary depending on the primary source documents selected by the students Key terms may include:
  • containment
  • domino theory
  • guerrilla warfare
  • treaty
  • Pentagon papers

Lesson Introduction

Communication Strategy (dramatic reading)  - The teacher will read parts of Harry Truman's speech on March 1947 that introduces the policy of containment that was later used as a reason for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. After the speech, the teacher will ask for students reactions to the content of the speech and what it means for the American people.

Truman Speech 1947

Content Delivery

Organization Strategy (timeline) - The teacher will introduce the Vietnam war through a timeline lecture that outlines the critical events in the history of the conflict. The teacher will identify a few key primary sources that reveal the impact of decisions and events in the outcome of the war. The teacher will demonstrate how to analyze primary sources to ask specific questions about the war. The teacher will then direct students to search for and collect relevant sources to summarize political and public events in the war.

Student Engagement

Collection Strategy (archive search) - Students will explore the myriad primary sources from the Vietnam Era using national database search tools. Students will collect 10-12 primary sources (documents, images, artifacts) that they think best summarizes the critical events of the war in Vietnam and at home. Students will curate a museum exhibit that explores the Vietnam conflict from the early years to the fall of Saigon. The exhibit must seek to answer the following historical questions:
  1. What was American Foreign Policy in the 1950's and 1960's? What historical evidence shows the enactment of this policy?
  2. What was American public opinion of the political climate in Vietnam? What evidence shows this?
  3. What events provoked American involvement in Vietnam? What evidence shows this?
  4. What was American public opinion of initial American involvement in the war? What evidence?
  5. What was the reaction in Vietnam to American intervention? What evidence?
  6. What was American public opinion of the war in the later years? What evidence?
  7. In what ways did the media influence the war? What evidence?
  8. What was the perspective of the north Vietnamese? Evidence?
  9. What was the perspective of the south Vietnamese? Evidence?

Students can use a variety of presentation tools to display and annotate their museum collection (Weebly, Wikispaces, Prezi)

Primary Source Archives

Docs Teach
Digital Vaults
National Archives

Lesson Closure

Interaction Strategy (ranking) - Students will rank the primary sources they collected according to importance. They will trade their sources with a partner to have them rank the sources and then compare the rankings. As a class, students will discuss the primary sources they ranked as most important and why.

Assessment

Entry-Level - The teacher will assess students' prior knowledge of the policy of containment through a class discussion after reading Truman's speech.

Formative -  The teacher will roam the room aiding students in their collection and analysis of primary sources documents, and will check on their understanding of the documents as they put together their museum display.

Summative - The students will display their comprehensive knowledge of the Vietnam War through their museum display. The teacher will assess the projects for historical accuracy and historical thinking.

Lesson Resources

Websites
Docs Teach - Vietnam

The Pentagon Papers
Ford Library Documents on Vietnam
The Veterans Project: Experiencing the War
Teaching with Documents: The War in Vietnam
The Wars for Vietnam
The American/Viet Nam War
The Pentagon Papers
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