CSE 627 Final Project

David SchlettyWestern Oregon University

Summer 2014

Audience for Unit of Instruction

• The audience for this unit of instruction, is a United States history class, comprised of high school juniors.

• At the school where I work, U.S. History is a class that is required for all students.

• Students take this class during their Junior year of high school.

Unit: The 1950s/Cold War

• This unit covers the 1950s and the Cold War. Some of the topics covered are pop culture, The Korean War, Capitalism vs. Communism, Cold War tensions, McCarthyism, and the Atomic Bomb.

• The entire unit, is a few days longer than five days, however, for this presentation, five days of instruction are included.

Learning Objectives

• Describe cultural developments of the 1950’s.

• Identify differences and similarities between modern pop culture and 50’s pop culture.

• Describe the development of Rock and Roll and the Beat movement.

• Compare and contrast capitalism and communism.

Learning Objectives continued…

• Describe the development of The Cold War, and how tensions rose during the era.

• Decide whether or not a free South Korea is worth an American soldier’s life.

• Define McCarthyism and explain why McCarthy did what he did.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of fear as a motivator.

Context

• This is a unit for a high school United States history class.

• It is for the second half of a two trimester course.

• The second half of U.S. History covers from The Great Depression to 9/11.

• This course is required for graduation.

Lesson 1: Pop Culture in the 1950s

• Learning Objective: Describe cultural developments of the 1950’s.

• Language Objective: Identify differences and similarities between modern pop culture and 50’s pop culture.

• Journal: Is there anything good about social conformity?

• Introduce Learning and Language Objectives. – Write these on the white board.

• Unlocking Prior Knowledge– Students get into groups and write down as much as they

know about the 1950’s. Share. Give EC to the group with the most 50’s item. Play Elvis.

Lesson 1: Pop Culture in the 1950s continued…

• Teacher Presentation: 50’s Pop Culture– This is a PowerPoint presentation about

the 1950s.

• 50’s Home Economics– Students gather in groups. One reads

the home economics excerpt from a 50’s textbook. Discuss.

Lesson 1: Pop Culture in the 1950s continued…

• Web 2.0 Tool—Prezi--Venn Diagram www.Prezi.com– Modern times vs. the 1950’s. Create a Venn Diagram

using Prezi, of the differences and similarities of the 1950’s Popular Culture vs Today’s Popular culture.

• Rationale: Prezi is a wonderful presentation tool for sharing information. It is easy to use, and very easy to share your presentation online. For an assignment like this, Prezi would be the perfect fit. It would be easy to add the information needed into the various types of Prezis available to use, and the class would enjoy using this technology to share their presentations.

• Review…

Lesson 2: Rock and Roll and the Beatniks

• Learning Objective: Describe the development of Rock and Roll and the Beat movement.

• Language Objective: Write a beatnik style poem.

• Journal: Film Clips: Hound dog sung by Elvis and by a Delta Blues singer… compare the two. observations

• Introduce Learning and Language Objectives.– Write these on the white board.

Lesson 2: Rock and Roll and the Beatniks continued…

• Teacher Presentation: Rock and Roll and the Beats – Students take notes. This is a

PowerPoint presentation.

• Film Clip: Beatnik Poetry– This is a YouTube clip.

• Read An Excerpt From “On the Road”

Lesson 2: Rock and Roll and the Beatniks continued…

• Web 2.0 Tool—YouTube Video: Poetry Slam– www.youtube.com

• Students create weird Beat style poetry in groups. Once the poetry is created, students will film themselves performing the poetry and then upload the video clip to YouTube, and later present them to the class. Students will then create a playlist of their five (5) favorite Beat Poetry videos found on YouTube.

Lesson 2: Rock and Roll and the Beatniks continued…

• Rationale: YouTube is a great tool for sharing videos not only with classmates or friends, but with the world. Students are on YouTube all of the time, and watching videos. I feel that it would be empowering for students to create their own YouTube video and share it with the class and the rest of the online community. YouTube videos can be inspiring for others, or could provide a quick laugh for someone on a bad day. By creating a playlist, it will allow students to dig deeper into the topic and find more videos that are related to the topic and are of interest.

• Review…

Lesson 3: Capitalism vs Communism and the Beginning of the Cold War

• Learning Objective: Compare and contrast capitalism and communism.

• Learning Objective: Describe the development of The Cold War, and how tensions rose during the era.

• Journal: From each according to his ability to each according to his need… What do you think?

• Interview Activity, Chapter 18.1 – Post sections of the reading around the room in open and hidden

locations. Give pairs of students a worksheet and have them rotate: one finds an answer and brings it back, the other writes it down, and flip it so that every other answer is completed by the same student.

• Review Activity– Graphic Organizer, completed in pairs and stapled to paper

• Teacher Presentation: Communism (Philosophy) and Cold War Tensions– This is a PowerPoint presentation, students take notes.

Lesson 3: Capitalism vs Communism continued…

• Factory Sim– Declare a communist dictator. Divide the class into 2.

The dictator runs a factory. Others organize themselves.– Appoint 2 judges. Judges get 18/20.– Students will be making paper dolls. Each is worth a

point. The goal is for one side to make more than the other.

– The dictator sets a quota. If the workers meet it, they get 20 points. If not they get 16 points.

– Capitalists get 2 points for every doll accepted.– The Dictator gets 25 points if he or she wins, 10 points if

he or she loses. – Don’t tell the capitalists how to organize.

Lesson 3: Capitalism vs Communism continued…

• Web 2.0 Tool—Podcast www.talkshoe.com• Students will create a podcast using

TalkShoe, to compare Capitalism and Communism. Students will form groups of four (4), and create a podcast that compares the two terms. Two (2) students will provide the definition and examples of Capitalism, and two (2) students will provide the examples of Communism.

Lesson 3: Capitalism vs Communism continued…

• Rationale: I recently learned about how to podcast, and I think that this would be a great fun new assignment for the students. There are so many different possibilities with podcasts. The students could put together oral history projects to share with the class, or do reports that way, incorporating primary sources for reference. Students could also do projects based on if they were someone who lived during a certain era, and do the project from that person's perspective, like a veteran of a war, someone who was one of the framers of the Constitution, or someone who is from another country.

• Review…

Lesson 4: The Cold War Heats Up

• Learning Objective: Identify the arena in which the US and USSR actually did trade shots.

• Language Objective: Decide whether or not a free South Korea is worth an American soldier’s life.

• Journal: Describe your greatest loss.• Teacher Presentation: The Korean War

– This is a PowerPoint presentation, students take notes.

• Letters from a Dead Soldier– Students read “Scraps of Love and Loss” from the St.

Petersburg Times. Mind map, each page is a bubble with 4 word items and 1 picture for a total of 20

• Discuss, group mind map on the board

Lesson 4: The Cold War Heats Up continued…

• Web 2.0 Tool—Wiki for the student Cold War Study Guide www.wiki.com

• Students will create a class Wiki about the Cold War, using terms and definitions from the Cold War Study Guide (a worksheet handed out as a review assignment). This will be added to in later days of the Unit, which is longer than 5 total days.

Lesson 4: The Cold War Heats Up continued…

• Rationale: I feel that there could be a use for Wikis in my classroom. I was skeptical at first, however, if I was able to monitor the content and discussions on the Wiki page, I feel that it could be a valuable tool to use. Students would be able to access the Wiki pretty much anywhere, and have access to valuable class information about the current topic. There are a lot of different things that can be done with a Wiki, videos can be included, as well as discussions, that could be of great use in the classroom.

• Review…

Lesson 5:McCarthyism and The A-Bomb

• Learning Objective: Define McCarthyism and explain why McCarthy did what he did.

• Language Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of fear as a motivator.

• Journal: What scares you the most?• YouTube Clip: Atomic Bomb Test• YouTube Clip: 50’s bomb shelter • Teacher Presentation: McCarthyism and the Atomic

Bomb– This is a PowerPoint presentation, students take notes.

• Discussion: Isn’t it easy to get people to do things if they are afraid?

Lesson 5:McCarthyism and The A-Bomb continued…

• Web 2.0 Tool—SlideShare www.slideshare.net

• Students will create a PowerPoint, for uploading onto SlideShare. The PowerPoint is to cover the topics of Fear, McCarthyism and the Atomic Bomb in the 1950s, and how people were affected during that time.

Lesson 5: McCarthyism and The A-Bomb continued…

• Rationale: SlideShare is a great tool for sharing a presentation, and having it available for all to see at any time and almost anywhere. Most students already know how to create a PowerPoint presentation, but this would allow them to submit the assignment from home, and then the teacher could go through it and grade it, and not have to have an entire day of class presentations for everyone to have to sit through. The teacher could assign the class to look them up on their own and take notes on three (3) different presentations for example, instead of having to listen to each and every presentation.

• Review…

The Rest of the Unit

• The rest of the unit is the following:– 6. DBQ: essay assignment– 7. Review: Jeopardy– 8. Unit Exam