SS.912.W.8.2

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

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

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

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