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Overview
The target student group will be for 11th and 12th graders, U.S. History. Students will be able to determine the central ideas or information of primary sources and provide an accurate summary of how the Vietnam War connected to the history of the 1960s and 1970s. Students will use the primary sources to look for the truths within the different narratives during the Vietnam War and the 1960s and 1970s. This will help students think critically about information presented to them and understand that a truth for one narrative might not be the same for a different one.
For this lesson, it would be a great mini-lesson to be tacked on after discussing U.S. involvement of the Vietnam war on U.S. soil. Giving students a chance to analyze content and sources from varying perspectives can allow them to gain a better understanding of varying viewpoints in the U.S. during this time. I would probably use this as a part of the live instruction. This mini-lesson could use the Google Forms as an exit ticket for students to provide feedback on what they learned and critically use the information used in class through a critical lens. Students will be able to use Google Forms to collect their thoughts and ideas. The questions will guide the students to locate specific things within the sources to further their understanding of the anti-war perspectives. However, if it is revealed that the students need more help or more time with the content, Google Form could be transformed into a supplemental activity for the students to work through at their own pace.
Here are the links to the forms: What is Truth? and Anti-War Demonstration Photo
This was really fun. I loved the use of the song as a part of your primary documents. I think that’s something that isn’t used enough. As long as we’re talking about biases, I’d love to see how the war is covered in American textbooks versus Vietnamese textbooks and media.
Excellent layout and design for learning and effective communication of your material. I like that you make use of two different media. And they both work well together to explore the theme of youth and war.
I’m pleased that the photo of the protest gives students what they need to answer the question. That’s the point I made earlier in the course about selecting content that students can interpret without background knowledge. The signs and the size of the crowd should help students with questions.
My only suggestion is that you might think about re-ordering them chronologically. In 1967, protest was still rather radical. After the Tet Offensive early in 1968, the anti-war position had a much broader appeal. Cash’s song captures that “questioning” attitude of 1970.
Angela – I loved the unique perspective you decided take with your lesson plan. I think that music is so important to historical context, especially during this era. There are so many songs which are written as protests to prolonged US war intentions, “What is Truth,” being one of them. I think this is a great lesson, and I hope you get to use it in future instruction, and hopefully play that video in class.
Great sources! I love that this lesson incorporates both visual elements and song. With so many Vietnam protest songs out there, it would be interesting to break students into groups and ask them to analyze differnt ones.