Standard 8: Recognize significant events and people from the post World War II and Cold War eras.

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 Korean War lesson, students will activate background knowledge by analyzing a quote on containment. They will investigate the Korean War through primary sources while creating a map of the war. The map focuses on the 38th Parallel, major battles, the new Demarcation Line, and Demilitarized Zone. Students will compare their maps from the beginning of the lesson to their final map in order to reflect on the Korean War. 

This lesson can be done independently, in small groups, or in stations. 

 This is lesson 2 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating Civics and History

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson starts with background reading and textual questions on the Chinese Civil War. Students will be given three propaganda primary sources from the Chinese Communist Party on the topics of the Great Leap Forward, Red Guards, and Cultural Revolution. They will write 3-sentence scenarios from the point of view of the targeted audience of the propaganda to give a written representation of those who would have supported the idea. This is lesson 1 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating Civics and World History.

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

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

Power point that displays propaganda of the Cold War.

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

In this lesson, students will learn about the early stages of the Cold War when the United States and Soviet Union navigated how to both be superpowers through a short reading. Then, they will identify and color countries on a map that exemplifies the divide between the East and West. This is lesson 1 of 3 in a mini unit integrating civics and social studies.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will understand how political parties can impact public policy.

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

Students will analyze presidential responsibilities and decision-making, notably in the diplomatic/foreign policy realm.  Students will examine Constitutional diplomatic powers and responsibilities of the U.S. presidency by exploring the example of President Truman’s decision to formally recognize the State of Israel. Students will also explain why the creation of the State of Israel was a significant event of the 20^th century by exploring the context surrounding the event, including the role of the U.S.

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 tutorial video from Khan Academy, you'll learn about the origins of the Cold War. This unusual conflict pitted the United States (and its Western democratic allies) against the Soviet Union (and its communist satellite states). Although these nations never went to war directly, their rivalry would shape the world for decades!

Type: Tutorial

This web resource provides a full teaching unit in PDF format designed to help students understand shifts in world politics during the second half of the twentieth century. Through an examination of primary and secondary source documents, students will work to gain awareness of the process that led to the creation of more than fifty independent sovereign states. Students will analyze the influence that the Soviet Union and the United States held over new states during the Cold War. The unit's summative assessment asks students to present research findings explaining the specific contexts of one newly-independent African state and one newly-independent Southeast Asian state.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Francisco Márquez was born in Venezuela and spent his childhood in both Venezuela and the U.S. He studied political science and law in Venezuela and earned his MBA in the United States. After receiving his MBA, Francisco returned to Venezuela. Under the authoritarian Nicolás Maduro regime, Francisco was arrested as a political prisoner and spent time in a Venezuelan prison. Eventually, Francisco was released and is now a political rights activist.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Lily Tang Williams was born in communist China during Mao Zedong’s rule. She witnessed Mao’s Cultural Revolution first hand as she was growing up. She was a member of the Young Pioneers and the Red Guard, but yearned to come to the United States to learn about and live in a democracy. In 1988, she was able to come to the United States for schooling and was granted asylum status.

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