Foldenauer 1

Unit Plan
Introduction:
For this unit map the lessons being taught would be found in a high school U.S history class which depending on the school can be taught at
either in ninth grade or tenth grade. The topics of the map are about the Cold War and the U.S. The standards for these can be found in the Michigan
Social Studies High School Content. The Era this is covering is Era 8 the Post- World War II United States (1945-1989). The goal of this unit is for
students to learn the importance of the Cold War and how it shaped history during the second half of the twentieth century. My goals for this unit go
beyond making the students be able to identify key people, significant events, and other factors of the Cold War. In order to be a scholar of history
and an active citizen of a state, students must learn and understand how the world became what it is today. From 1946-1991, Western Democracy
fought against Totalitarian Communism in order to determine which was more superior. Although there was limited fighting (None directly between
the U.S and Soviet Union), there was an ever present fear of a Third World War that would destroy civilization with the use of nuclear weapons.
Also a second red-scare and a diminished trust in the government also took place during this time-period. The biggest advancement in U.S foreign
policy occurred during this time as well which has made the U.S a powerful state that it is today. Because of all these changes and events that took
place during this era it is very important for students to learn about these and develop an understanding of the importance of this event not only
during that time, but how it still currently affects society. In order to make sure the students develop a clear understanding of the material I will
provide as much material as I can for the students. This includes textbooks, primary sources, notepaper for them to write notes on, and lessons made
available on a school based blog. For students who may have difficulty reading the PowerPoints, I will have a typed copy of them made available for
students to copy down for their on notes. I also use a lot of videos in my class as an introduction or as part of the lesson. This is to both relax the
students and to make the class more enjoyable, than if I were to spend the whole class time lecturing. For students with learn disabilities and who are
ELL, I will do my best to accommodate their needs so they do not fall behind in the learning process and feel included as well. For these students, I
will need to work with their advisors and find materials they can comprehend and get the same level of understanding as a student without disabilities
would. Because of the massive size of this unit, this unit will take at least fifteen days (fifteen 1 hour class periods) for me to teach and additional
days if I find through assessments and students opinions if they do not understand the material.
Days
2

Topic
Origin of the Cold
War

Learning Targets I Learner Will

Know the difference between a Hot War and a Cold
War
Know the difference between Capitalism and
Communism
Know who created the communism belief and why
Know the difference between a Democracy and
Totalitarianism

Activities/Strategies/Formative Assessments
As a warm-up the students will be asked to list
who was allies to the U.S during WWII and
what organization did they form following the
war
During the lecture, the teacher will ask the
students about the American industrial
revolution and what the labor conditions were

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like during this time
After explaining what communism was ask
them how the U.S laborers would have felt
about communism
At the end of the class, the students will receive
a blank world map and they need to shade in
the countries that are democracies in Blue and
countries that are Communist in Red in 1945
For homework, the students will read Winston
Churchills Iron Curtain Speech and write a
summary of what Churchill is discussing in his
speech
2

Foreign Policy of the

Cold War

Korean War

Know what the main goal of the U.S foreign

policy was at this time
Know and be able to explain the Marshall Plan
Know and be able to explain the Truman
Doctrine
Know who had nuclear power at this time and
who disagreed with it
Be able to identity member of NATO and the
Warsaw Pact

Understand how China became Communist

Know why the U.S went to Korea

As a warm-up the students will discuss

what the summary of the Iron Curtain
Speech was that they read for homework.

During the discussion of the foreign policy,

ask the students if they think it was the U.S
responsibility to get involved in this mostly
European problem?

Think-pair-share this because this is

part of the students becoming global
citizens by thinking about what is
the U.S responsibility to the rest of
the world

To help the students visualize the foreign

policies and Berlin Airlift, the students will
have to option to either make a propaganda
piece for a foreign policy of their chose, or
make a comic strip of the Berlin Airlift (If
not complete this will be homework)
As a review of the previous homework, I will
ask the students about their propaganda or

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Why the Korean War, was not really a war
Know what were the outcomes of the Korean War

The Cold War in the

1950s U.S
Homefront

Know and experience what McCarthyism was like

Know how the Blacklist effected society and
economy of the U.S

comic strip, having the students state what they

meant by what they drew.
During the short PowerPoint, the students will
be asked what they think of the Korean War
Following this the class will be divided into two
groups (one group pro-Truman, one proMacArthur) after they are done researching in a
class (no longer than fifteen minutes) they will
present their views and explain why they felt
their pro group was correct
Also the students will read chapter twelve in
their textbooks which covers what was
presented in the lecture in more detail,
following this, the students will define the key
terms that is given to them and with defining
each term they have to explain why each term
is important. This gives purpose to each term
Students will participate in an activity call Is
your Neighbor a Commie? The activity is to get
students to experience what it was like living
during this time period when people were
concerned of a second red-scare causing them
to turn on each other.
The homework assignment is for the students to
go home and write about their experience
during the activity. In these response students
will write about their experience of being
accused of having a red dot or how they felt
accusing people without having any
information and did the students feel it was
right for the sake of the group to accuse their
fellow classmates of having a red-dot?

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1

The Space Race and

JFK

Be able to explain why the space race was very

important
Demonstration of Countrys technological
advancements
Be able to explain the significance of the 1960
election
Understand who John F. Kennedy was

U.S and Cuba

conflict of the Cold
War

Be able to explain why Kennedy allowed for the Bay

of Pigs assault
Be able to explain why the Bay of Pigs was a failure
Understand the causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Understand how the relationship between Cuba and
the U.S has been rough and is now recently
softening

Their warm-up question the students will

answer this question, How did McCarthyism
affect the U.S Public?
o This can be done as a think-pair-share,
so when I record what they said on the
board students who missed some effects
can write them down
During the lesson I will ask the students how
they feel about the space program and if it was
right to be shut down in the 200s
o Students can group up and eventually
we will discuss it as a group
Homework will have the students go home and
watch either part of or the whole John F.
Kennedy Inaugural address (the short one is
only a few minutes, the whole thing is fifteen
minutes) The students will then respond on
what they thought Kennedy meant by asking
Americans what they could do for their country.
The warm-up question for this lecture will be
for students to discuss what they wrote down
for their homework assignment on JFKs
inarguable address
At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher will
ask the students what they remember about the
U.S and Cuban relationship that was previously
discussed earlier this year during the Gilded age
unit and lessons about the Spanish-American
War and U.S interventions of Latin America
during the early twentieth century
Students will be asked during the discussion of
the Berlin Wall about how the U.S should of
have reacted to this?

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Kennedy
Assassination

Be able to explain the magic bullet theory

Learn who may have killed John F. Kennedy
Be able to understand how JFKs death greatly
affected the U.S

Vietnam War
Introduction

Know about the start of the Vietnam War

Know what the Domino Theory is and how it greatly
affected U.S involvement in Vietnam
Be able to explain the significance of the Gulf of
Tonkin incident and determine what this does to the
reputation of the cause for war

The final assessment will be for the students to

go home and watch a three minute video of
President John F. Kennedys announcement of
Cuba having nuclear missiles from the Soviet
Union. From this, students will write a
paragraph on their reaction as American
citizens in regards to what sort of emotions do
they experience learning of the potential
destruction of the U.S and how they would
think the U.S should react?
The warm-up question is for the students to
make a list of Kennedys actions during the
Cold war and determine if he was a good
president because of them?
Ask the students what kind of reaction do they
think they would have if they just heard the
President had been assassinated?
Present to students the JFK Magic Bullet
theory courtroom scene
Ask the students how they think killed JFK and
why?
Ask the students what would you think would
happen to the U.S now that it has lost its
president?
If enough time is allowed at the end of the
lesson show how Seinfeld makes fun of the
Magic Bullet Theory
Ask the students how they feel about the U.S
sending troops to Vietnam?
This can be done through a think-pairshare activity leading to a huge class
discussion
This can get students to think about how

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2-3

Vietnam and Nixon

Be able to explain why people were protesting the

war
Be able to explain why men were leaving the U.S for
Canada
Learn about Nixons Presidency and election
Be able to explain the significance of the Watergate
Scandal
Explain the significance of the Moon Landing

End of the Cold War

Examine how Reagans Star Wars program effected

the Cold War
Be able to explain what Solidarity is and its
significance in ending the Cold War
Understand how the destruction of the Berlin Wall
affected people of Germany and helping end the
Cold War
Explain how the Soviet Union declined
Explain the significance of the Cold War and how it
has shaped U.S history and can still be seen in

they feel about going to war today

Ask the students if they think it was a good idea
to prevent communism from spreading.
As a warm-up to this lesson, the students will
answer a question based on a short movie trailer
that depicts the Battle of Ia Drang. After
watching this how would they feel seeing this
occur? Would you volunteer to fight? Would
you possible dodge the draft and leave the U.S?
During the discussion on the war-protest ask
the students based on what they know about the
Cold War at this point, do you think that we
should have continued fighting? Would they
have joined the peace rallies?
The activity for the class from this question is
for them to draw a propaganda piece for their
beliefs that reflects what the people were
thinking during this time period
As a final assessment (homework) for the
lesson have the students write a short essay on
Nixons presidency (one paragraph on the good
things he did, one paragraph explaining the bad
things he did)
As a warm-up to this final lesson, ask the
students, what they think the U.S or the Soviet
Union would have to do at this point to win the
Cold War
o This should lead into a brief discussion
on the students ideas about this
During the lecture ask the students how they
feel about Reagans spending for the SDI
program
o This kind of question students will have

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policies today.

to consider when voting on their

representative because they need to
know if they support a high defense
budget or not
As the final and summative assessment for this
unit, the students will be assigned to make a
timeline of the Cold War from 1946-1991.
Following this the students will need to pick
five major events or policies during the Cold
War and define them, then explain the
importance of each of them.