Standard 4: Demonstrate an understanding of contemporary issues in world affairs and evaluate the role and impact of U.S. foreign policy.

This written assessment prompt may be used to assess student knowledge about U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War and Vietnam War. A rubric and sample response are included.

Type: Assessment

This Vietnam War lesson starts with a background reading and questions on tensions with the French and the Domino Theory. Students will make predictions about arguments for and against entering the war and the impact of public opinion. Next, they will map a divided Vietnam and surrounding areas to evaluate Domino Theory. Students will be given primary sources to categorize if the source supports or challenges the war and ultimately write a thesis statement if they think the war was justified. This is lesson 3 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating civics and history.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will debate questions concerning the effects of U.S. trade policy, embargoes, economic sanctions, (positive/negative[pros/cons]) on other nations. Students will evaluate the impact of U.S. foreign policy through the lens of contemporary issues in world affairs and draw informed conclusions on these actions. Students will select and read artifacts from the Library of Congress and apply economic principles to analyze and interpret interrelationships of the United States economy in the international marketplace. Students will deliberate, debate, and defend conclusions drawn from their findings.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will create an interactive Scratch project to show their knowledge about economic systems and the consequences on our economic freedom. They will also reflect on the efficacy of employing Scratch to present their academic learning. This is the final lesson in a three-part integrated computer science and civics mini-unit.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read and complete a chart about significant foreign policy events during the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will analyze U.S. trade agreements with other nations. Teacher or student groups will select an artifact from the recommended attached resource list to read for information regarding trade and policy. They will create a poster or digital flyer on the advantages and disadvantages of U.S. trade agreements based on the information gathered. 

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will create a flowchart that represents the differences between economic systems and use it to explain how a flowchart sequence may be used to create blocks for an algorithm in Scratch. This is part two of a three-part Computer Science (Coding) and Civics integrated series.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will build upon prior knowledge of containment by analysis of primary sources that support and critique how to respond to the spread of communism. They will categorize these sources as ‘for’ or ‘against’ containment and the Truman Doctrine to represent there was disagreements on the best way to handle the USSR. Students will answer reflection questions connecting the view of communism seen in the sources to the Truman Doctrine. Then, students will create two of their own political cartoons, one in support and one against containment. The teacher can choose to extend the activity by doing a gallery walk of the cartoons.

Type: Lesson Plan

• Students will read primary source text from the start of the Cold War. The text will identify the struggle between the democratic nations of the United States and Great Britain to limit the spread of communism by the Soviet Union.
• Along with reading, analyzing, and text-marking, students will answer guided questions related to the text.
• As a final closing activity, students will predict how the events in the quotation will lead to a growing political divide in Europe during the Cold War.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will examine U.S. trade policies/agreements with other nations including: international trade, free trade, and trade barriers [e.g. WTO, EU, NAFTA, ASEAN]. They will form small groups and select 3 countries [e.g. Canada, Cuba, Iran, Syria, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Russia], and 3 government systems [autocracy, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy republic, theocracy] to investigate/review for U.S. trade policies, trade agreements, and/or embargos. Using artifact resources, search for patterns (similarities/differences; advantages/disadvantages) and form inferences about how the U.S. influences other nations.

Type: Lesson Plan

On a blank map, students will identify the political alliance of European countries during the Cold War. A political map of Europe will be provided for students to reference when completing their activity.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will read and examine brief case studies about various U.S. policies related to international trade. They will analyze these cases and identify how the U.S. responded to international conflict and make predictions about future decisions.

Type: Lesson Plan

An interactive student led trade activity. Students will need to problem solve, negotiate and compromise to be successful. World event cards will implement sanctions, embargoes and establishing free trade zones students will need to navigate through. This group activity followed by class discussion will keep students engaged while learning how embargoes and sanctions affect other nations and why nations sometimes establish free trade zones.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will be introduced to international trade, barriers to trade, free trade zones, U.S. Government agencies and policy related to international trade.

Type: Lesson Plan

• Students will be asked to identify the establishment of alliances during the Cold War. Links to two separate brief articles will be provided for students to learn about the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact.
• A guided chart will be included for students to track the alliance of numerous countries. After, students will answer an analysis question comparing the creation and membership of the two separate alliances.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn about early events of the Cold War and containment through analysis of primary sources of the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan. They will annotate the sources and answer critical thinking questions about why containment was imperative and how certain political ideologies conflict with democracy. This is lesson 2 in a mini unit integrating civics and social studies.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn how to conduct research using online books of the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov) to create a comparative chart showing the differences between economic systems. This is part one of a three-part Computer Science (Coding) and Civics integrated series.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will compare the United States and other countries in terms of democratization, economic freedom, free and fair elections, human rights, and rule of law.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn the basic rules for effective paraphrasing. Students will read the 1993 inaugural address of President Bill Clinton. They will paraphrase several key sections to develop their paraphrasing skills and deepen their knowledge of the United States foundational principles and global leadership referenced in the address. Students will also answer text-dependent questions to further analyze the ideas and content of President Clinton’s address.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will become familiar with the creation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War. This lesson will introduce students to the creation of both the Marshall Plan and Truman Docrtine, and how they were both used as tools to contain the spread of communism.

Type: Lesson Plan

Through a two-part gallery walk activity students will view historical documents and investigate diplomatic efforts of governments and nongovernmental organizations to aid refugees from Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Students will also learn about the diplomatic career of James G. McDonald preceding and including his service as the first U.S. Ambassador to the new State of Israel.

Type: Lesson Plan

Through a two-part gallery walk activity students will view historical documents and investigate diplomatic efforts of governments and nongovernmental organizations to aid refugees from Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Students will also learn about the diplomatic career of James G. McDonald preceding and including his service as the first U.S. Ambassador to the new State of Israel.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will review key terms and people during the Cold War era.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will analyze why communism was proposed as an alternative to capitalism during the Industrial Revolution. They will analyze political cartoons and major primary source texts by Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The final task is a Venn Diagram comparing the theories.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will explain the goals of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War. Guided notes will introduce students to the creation and implementation of the Truman Doctrine, the goals of containment, and U.S. involvement in proxy wars. Finally, students will be able to explain how political borders changed in Asia during the Cold War.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will be introduced to the proceedings and verdicts of the Nuremberg trials. Students will also focus on the impact of the trials on human rights worldwide.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will explore various nongovernmental agencies and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages associated with utilizing them as part of U.S. foreign policy.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will describe and differentiate between the various systems of government that exist throughout the world and how they are tied to liberty, economic opportunity, and prosperity.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will examine the four main economic systems: laissez-faire capitalism, socialism, communism, and mixed-market economy. Students will analyze primary sources to support their learning. Students will create a graphic organizer using both primary sources and direct instruction.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will review different forms of government and engage in a discussion and reflection of the advantages offered by the United States' constitutional republic. A slideshow, graphic organizer, pretest, and class activity allow students to apply their knowledge.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students brainstorm, learn, and apply indicators of democratization. After brainstorming signs of democracy, students look for those indicators in country profiles. Finally, students respond collaboratively to synthesis questions regarding democratization.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students use excerpts from various State of the Union addresses to determine how U.S. foreign policy aims to support human rights abroad. After working collaboratively to pull out the main idea from each excerpt, students respond to synthesis questions regarding the extension of founding ideas and the application of those ideas in foreign policy.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will explore how the environmental policies of different countries influence what we consume and how the sustainability of those products influence our society in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will work collaboratively to investigate the current use of fission as an energy source in various nations across the world, as well as the safety risks associated. They will also explore the potential of fusion as a future energy source and how their assigned nation/organization interacts globally with the scientific community to further its progress.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan provides teachers with the tools to help students analyze President Kennedy’s inaugural address. Students will specifically examine the use of three types of rhetorical devices within the text: imagery, alliteration, and anaphora. Students will be able to practice identifying the use of these rhetorical devices and how they support President Kennedy’s purpose.

Type: Lesson Plan

A general overview of the cause, events, and outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The lesson includes close look at foreign policy decisions made by President Kennedy helped to avoid nuclear war during the event.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Grades 9-12 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 4 at these grade levels.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this source analysis activity, students will read and analyze speeches from President Kennedy and President Nixon, as well as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Students will answer questions about each document after reading. At the end, discussion questions require an overall analysis of U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource provides students with the opportunity to analyze President Jimmy Carter's use of rhetoric in his Inaugural Address. The resource contains historical context and both a student and teacher copy of the speech, along with text dependent questions and an answer key. Students will connect Carter’s use of rhetoric in achieving purpose in his speech to the role the U.S. has in establishing and maintaining peace.

Type: Text Resource

This teaching resource provides teachers with the tools to help students analyze the central idea and mood within John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address. This includes examining how President Kennedy supports the central idea relating to foreign policy and protecting liberty throughout his speech. 

Type: Text Resource

Ardian Zika grew up in communist Yugoslavia (now Kosovo). He immigrated to the United States, became a U.S. citizen, and was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2018.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Former U.S Senator and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martínez shares his journey to freedom in the United States. Mr. Martínez was part of Operation Pedro Pan in which unaccompanied Cuban children were sent to the United States to escape the newly formed communist regime of Fidel Castro. Before leaving Cuba, he spent time with his father who shared life lessons with his son. Mr. Martínez distinctly remembers the pilot announcing that they were in America. After moving around the state of Florida in settlement camps, Mr. Martínez was placed in foster care. After four years he and his family were reunited. Mr. Martínez helped his father become a veterinarian in the U.S and as a family they were highly active in the community. His family’s spirit of activism was the foundation of Mr. Martínez’s career as a public servant. He graduated from Florida State University Law School in 1973 and began his political career. He was appointed the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 2001 and became a United States Senator in 2005.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Alejandro Brice and his family immigrated from Cuba at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. His father was jailed as a counter-revolutionary sympathizer and upon release, the family fled the country. Dr. Brice shares his memories of his “freedom wings”, the culture shock of growing up in Ohio as immigrants, learning English in elementary school, watching his family start over, and becoming a U.S. Citizen. Dr. Brice is a college professor specializing in the education of immigrant children and English language learners.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Ivonne Blank immigrated to the United States in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus on unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere. Ms. Blank talks about how difficult it was waiting for her parents and living in an orphanage in Denver, CO. Her parents later left the island by boat, were rescued by the Coast Guard, and resettled in the United States. After the family was reunited, they were able to rebuild their lives with support from their community. Ms. Blank went on to become a lifelong educator and U.S. citizen.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation