Goals and Objectives
Goal: Student's will understand the fundamental political, economic, and diplomatic differences between Democracy and Communism with respect to the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
Objective: Students will complete a Popplet Double Bubble demonstrating the similarities and differences between the two superpowers and complete a Summary Template.
Objective: Students will complete a Popplet Double Bubble demonstrating the similarities and differences between the two superpowers and complete a Summary Template.
California State Content Standard/Common Core Standard
CA State Content Standard:
10.9.2 Analyze the causes of the Cold War, with the free world on one side and Soviet client states on the other, including competition for influence in such places as Egypt, the Congo, Vietnam, and Chile.
10.9.3 Understand the importance of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, which established the pattern for America's postwar policy of supplying economic and military aid to prevent the spread of Communism and the resulting economic and political competition in arenas such as Southeast Asia (i.e., the Korean War, Vietnam War), Cuba, and Africa.
Common Core Standards:
RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
10.9.2 Analyze the causes of the Cold War, with the free world on one side and Soviet client states on the other, including competition for influence in such places as Egypt, the Congo, Vietnam, and Chile.
10.9.3 Understand the importance of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, which established the pattern for America's postwar policy of supplying economic and military aid to prevent the spread of Communism and the resulting economic and political competition in arenas such as Southeast Asia (i.e., the Korean War, Vietnam War), Cuba, and Africa.
Common Core Standards:
RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
Introduction (Hook/Access Prior Knowledge)
[5-7 minutes] Students will be asked to Think-Pair-Share with their seat partner with regard to the following question: "Think about all of the rights that you have as a citizen of the United States. List as much as you can about what freedoms you are given and what responsibilities, privileges, and duties you have as a citizen." Students will be given two minutes to bullet and quick write, and two minutes to discuss with their ideas with their seat partner. The instructor will circle the room and cold-call on students and ask for volunteers to hear their responses. Some of these rights, privileges, and duties may come up during the lesson and they can be recalled.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development)
Key Terms: Democracy, Communism, Capitalism, Command Economy, Free-Market Economy, Totalitarianism, Bill of Rights, Social Classes.
These key terms should mostly be review for the students as most of these vocabulary words have been addressed in previous units. These key terms will be introduced during the lecture but also incorporated into the student activities for reinforcement and repetition. A word wall will be created for each new unit and the words will remain on the board for the entirety of the unit.
These key terms should mostly be review for the students as most of these vocabulary words have been addressed in previous units. These key terms will be introduced during the lecture but also incorporated into the student activities for reinforcement and repetition. A word wall will be created for each new unit and the words will remain on the board for the entirety of the unit.
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction)
[10 minutes] The main concept of the lesson is comparing and contrasting the fundamental differences between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and how this influenced the origins and exacerbation of the Cold War conflict. Understanding the key terms and the fundamental differences between the two superpowers in essential to understanding why this conflict occurred. The instructor will give a brief lecture on the ideological origins of the cold war by introducing the form of government for the U.S. (Democracy) and for the Soviet Union (Communism). The instructor will define each form of government and give examples and the students will take notes on their graphic organizer. The teacher will also define the economic systems for each and provide examples and students will again take notes on their graphic organizer.
Student Engagement and Critical Thinking (Student Activities)
[10 minutes] Students will get out of their seats and partake in a gallery walk. Around the room there are phrases and examples of democracy, communism, and the different economy types. There are six of each for each column of the venn diagram on their graphic organizer. The students will need to write them down in the correct column according to their prior knowledge and critical thinking skills. Some examples include:
U.S.
- Government of the people
- Has different economic classes
- Freedom of the Press
U.S.S.R.
- Classless society
- Had Satellite Nations
- No Freedom of the Press or Speech
Both
- Involved in Space Race
- Participated in Yalta Conference
- Competed for dominance in other countries
U.S.
- Government of the people
- Has different economic classes
- Freedom of the Press
U.S.S.R.
- Classless society
- Had Satellite Nations
- No Freedom of the Press or Speech
Both
- Involved in Space Race
- Participated in Yalta Conference
- Competed for dominance in other countries
Demonstrated Learning (Formative & Summative Assessments)
[25 minutes] Individually, students will create a Popplet double bubble organizer to highlight the ideological differences between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. This is a formative assessment and will allow the instructor to assess whether any of the fundamental concepts need to be retaught. Students will be expected to have three phrases or events from their graphic organizer in each column of their double bubble Popplet and the student's can choose to explain two from each column using two sentences of explanation, using Key Vocabulary where applicable. Students will be graded based on completeness of the assignment and informally assessed and the instructor will use this activity to inform future reteaching of key concepts.
Lesson Closure
[5 minutes] Students will do a quick write in their journals highlighting the main differences between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and how they predict those differences will play out in world affairs. This is an informal assessment and will also be looked at to determine if students seem to have mastery of the content.
Accommodations for English Learners, Struggling Readers, and Students with Special Needs
English Learners will be accommodated using through the use of a word wall which will remain on the board for the entirety of the unit. This will help them develop the academic language for the unit and also assist their reading and writing skills. The gallery walk, graphic organizer, and Popplet allows for ELs to organize their thoughts and to create databases of information for them to draw upon during student activities and the formative assessments. ELs will also be provided with sentence starters or summary templates when writing is assigned.
Struggling Readers will be accommodated through the use of the Gallery Walk and through heterogenous grouping. Struggling readers will be paired with someone who can assist with reading assignments. The instructor will read through any and all descriptions to ensure that the flow of good reading will be modeled for students who struggle with reading.
Students with additional special needs will be accommodated according to their IEP or any additional resources on campus.
Struggling Readers will be accommodated through the use of the Gallery Walk and through heterogenous grouping. Struggling readers will be paired with someone who can assist with reading assignments. The instructor will read through any and all descriptions to ensure that the flow of good reading will be modeled for students who struggle with reading.
Students with additional special needs will be accommodated according to their IEP or any additional resources on campus.
What Came Before...
Prior to this lesson the students had learned about the international developments following World War II, beginning with an intro to the Cold War with key vocabulary for the unit being defined and added to the Word Wall. Students have also been introduced to the Yalta Conference and the shape of Europe both geographically and economically, after World War II.