Goals and Objectives
Goal: Students will analyze the U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America and its influence in establishing pro-democratic governments while undermining or orchestrating the overthrow of pro-communist dictatorships.
Objective: Students will analyze primary sources in order to better understand the Iran-Contra Affair and U.S. Intervention in Latin America by completing a graphic organizer. Students will then discuss their documents with the class.
Objective: Students will analyze primary sources in order to better understand the Iran-Contra Affair and U.S. Intervention in Latin America by completing a graphic organizer. Students will then discuss their documents with the class.
California State Content Standard/Common Core Standard
CA Content Standards:
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.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
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.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
Introduction (Hook/Access Prior Knowledge)
[5-7 minutes] Ask students to recall what they remember from the Monroe Doctrine (that the U.S. will protect Latin America from foreign intervention) and to predict how the Monroe Doctrine will come into play during the Cold War. Students will write in their Open Activities Journal and the teacher will come around and stamp their responses. Students will then Pair-Share their responses with a partner and the instructor will cold-call on students to share their responses with the class.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development)
Key Terms: Iran-Contra Affair, Monroe Doctrine, Truman Doctrine, Containment, Sandinistas, Contras, Boland Amendment, Interventionism.
Students will need context for the events in Latin America in order to be able to complete todays lesson and the subsequent activities. The instructor will provide a brief introduction to the political revolutions in Latin America and introduce the key vocabulary for the lesson. Students will be provided with a timeline of events in Latin America to assist with their content language development.
Students will need context for the events in Latin America in order to be able to complete todays lesson and the subsequent activities. The instructor will provide a brief introduction to the political revolutions in Latin America and introduce the key vocabulary for the lesson. Students will be provided with a timeline of events in Latin America to assist with their content language development.
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction)
[10 minutes] The instructor will provide the students with historical context and a timeline of the events in Latin America to give students the background knowledge they will need to complete the Jigsaw activity. The instructor will read the historical background provided below and go through the timeline with them so that they understand the key vocabulary and are able to complete the activity.
Historical Background:
Throughout his presidency, Reagan pursued an aggressively anti-Communist foreign policy. Early in his first term, Reagan had authorized a covert CIA operation to overthrow leftist governments in Nicaragua. Radicals known as Sandinistas had overthrown Nicaragua's military dictatorship and were threatening to do the same in El Salvador. The Contras were a coalition of paramilitary groups that opposed the Sandinistas. Fearing the spread of communism in the Western hemisphere, Reagan dubbed the Contras “freedom fighters” and channeled weapons and C.I.A. support to them. Congress remained skeptical, though; in 1984, it passed the Boland Amendment banning U.S. military aid to the Contras. Administration officials did not give up their support of the Contras, however; they merely looked for new sources of funds, other than federal appropriations from Congress, to send to Nicaragua.
National security advisors hatched a plan to fund the Contras with money brought in by the sale of weapons to Iran. Officials also hoped the weapons sales would make Iran more favorable to helping the U.S. negotiate with Islamic radicals who had taken several Americans hostage in Lebanon. The proposed sale of weapons, however, was illegal; the U.S. had passed an embargo and publicly denounced Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism since the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. In order to hide U.S. actions, Reagan officials sold millions of dollars worth of weapons secretly through an intermediary.
The profits from this illegal arms trade, along with other money that was raised secretly from foreign governments, were then used to fund the Contras in their war against Nicaragua’s radical Sandinista government. Several NSC officials went to jail, and much evidence suggested that Reagan had condoned the illegal acts. At the very least, it is clear that he supported the sale of weapons to Iran for the release of hostages and he supported the covert aid to the Contras. No one ever testified that he approved the weapons sales in order to fund the Contras. Although Democratic lawmakers shied away from any effort to impeach the still-popular president, the Iran-Contra Affair nonetheless deprived Reagan of his ability to set the national political agenda for the remainder of his term.
Historical Background:
Throughout his presidency, Reagan pursued an aggressively anti-Communist foreign policy. Early in his first term, Reagan had authorized a covert CIA operation to overthrow leftist governments in Nicaragua. Radicals known as Sandinistas had overthrown Nicaragua's military dictatorship and were threatening to do the same in El Salvador. The Contras were a coalition of paramilitary groups that opposed the Sandinistas. Fearing the spread of communism in the Western hemisphere, Reagan dubbed the Contras “freedom fighters” and channeled weapons and C.I.A. support to them. Congress remained skeptical, though; in 1984, it passed the Boland Amendment banning U.S. military aid to the Contras. Administration officials did not give up their support of the Contras, however; they merely looked for new sources of funds, other than federal appropriations from Congress, to send to Nicaragua.
National security advisors hatched a plan to fund the Contras with money brought in by the sale of weapons to Iran. Officials also hoped the weapons sales would make Iran more favorable to helping the U.S. negotiate with Islamic radicals who had taken several Americans hostage in Lebanon. The proposed sale of weapons, however, was illegal; the U.S. had passed an embargo and publicly denounced Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism since the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. In order to hide U.S. actions, Reagan officials sold millions of dollars worth of weapons secretly through an intermediary.
The profits from this illegal arms trade, along with other money that was raised secretly from foreign governments, were then used to fund the Contras in their war against Nicaragua’s radical Sandinista government. Several NSC officials went to jail, and much evidence suggested that Reagan had condoned the illegal acts. At the very least, it is clear that he supported the sale of weapons to Iran for the release of hostages and he supported the covert aid to the Contras. No one ever testified that he approved the weapons sales in order to fund the Contras. Although Democratic lawmakers shied away from any effort to impeach the still-popular president, the Iran-Contra Affair nonetheless deprived Reagan of his ability to set the national political agenda for the remainder of his term.
Student Engagement and Critical Thinking (Student Activities)
[30 minutes] Students will receive a worksheet entitled "Decoding U.S. Foreign Policy" and also a document entitled "Reagan Administration Officials Debate How to Support the Contras." The teacher will ask seven volunteers to read each individual administrator's role in the debate to act out the reading. This will allow students to become actors and become more actively engaged in the reading.
When we have read through the debate, the teacher will model how to decode the worksheet using the ELMO visual document presenter. The teacher will use the worksheet to answer questions pertaining to where this fits in on the timeline of events and how to answer each of the questions on the worksheet. Students will then be broken up into groups of four for the next activity. Students will be handed one of four documents to decode using their worksheets as the instructor modeled with the whole class. The groups will read through the documents and fill out their worksheet. Students will then present their findings to the class and the instructor will project their document on the ELMO for the class to see how each group decoded it. The instructor will ask each group probing questions about their document to elicit critical thinking. Some of these questions may include:
When we have read through the debate, the teacher will model how to decode the worksheet using the ELMO visual document presenter. The teacher will use the worksheet to answer questions pertaining to where this fits in on the timeline of events and how to answer each of the questions on the worksheet. Students will then be broken up into groups of four for the next activity. Students will be handed one of four documents to decode using their worksheets as the instructor modeled with the whole class. The groups will read through the documents and fill out their worksheet. Students will then present their findings to the class and the instructor will project their document on the ELMO for the class to see how each group decoded it. The instructor will ask each group probing questions about their document to elicit critical thinking. Some of these questions may include:
- Were the actions of Reagan's administration in the Iran-Contra Affair justifiable? Why or why not?
- Had Reagan or his administration officials committed illegal acts and should they have been held accountable? Why or why not?
- What do these documents tell us about U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War?
- Do these events challenge the assumptions of the Monroe Doctrine? Is the Monroe Doctrine a sound foreign policy?
Demonstrated Learning (Formative & Summative Assessments)
The formative assessment for this lesson will be that students are able to read and decode their primary source documents in order to complete their worksheet. The worksheets will be collected and informally checked for completeness, accuracy, and critical thinking skills. Students must demonstrate reading comprehension and that they are knowledgeable about their specific subject matter.
The summative assessment for this lesson will be the small group presentation. Students will share their document with the class and demonstrate how they decoded it and answered their questions. This will demonstrate that students are able to read and comprehend the primary sources and to think critically about purpose, author, audience, and biases. The instructor will also ask probing questions (listed above) to ensure that students have comprehended the material and are able to analyze the material effectively.
The summative assessment for this lesson will be the small group presentation. Students will share their document with the class and demonstrate how they decoded it and answered their questions. This will demonstrate that students are able to read and comprehend the primary sources and to think critically about purpose, author, audience, and biases. The instructor will also ask probing questions (listed above) to ensure that students have comprehended the material and are able to analyze the material effectively.
Lesson Closure
[5 minutes] The instructor will allow time for each group to present and then the teacher will go over the documents and cold-call on students to discuss what they learned about the Iran-Contra Affair by reading these documents. Students will need to summarize and synthesize what they learned and the teacher will do a "Whip-Around" to have each student share one thing that they learned.
Accommodations for English Learners, Struggling Readers, and Students with Special Needs
English Learners will have the benefit of working with groups, partners, and having the instructor model the expectations for the lesson. They will be given a graphic organizer to help them organize their thoughts and to help them analyze the documents. Students will be in homogenous groups based on L1 and possibly reading level. The students who struggle with reading English will get the easier documents with pictures and Spanish Language on them to assist with their reading comprehension in their L1, if their L1 is Spanish. This will lower affective filters and assist with the presentation of their document to the class and their completion of the worksheet.
Struggling readers will benefit from homogenous groupings based on reading level. Students with a lower reading level will be asked to analyze one of the two picture documents which have limited reading and very simple sentences. This will allow students to glean information from the primary sources without feeling overwhelmed. They will also be able to organize their thoughts using the graphic organizer and will have the benefit of seeing the other documents being presented up on the screen and students will demonstrate how they went about decoding them. This will help struggling readers establish reading strategies to help them dissect primary sources.
Students with additional special needs will be accommodated according to their IEP.
Struggling readers will benefit from homogenous groupings based on reading level. Students with a lower reading level will be asked to analyze one of the two picture documents which have limited reading and very simple sentences. This will allow students to glean information from the primary sources without feeling overwhelmed. They will also be able to organize their thoughts using the graphic organizer and will have the benefit of seeing the other documents being presented up on the screen and students will demonstrate how they went about decoding them. This will help struggling readers establish reading strategies to help them dissect primary sources.
Students with additional special needs will be accommodated according to their IEP.
References
This lesson has been adapted using the American History Project's Center for Media and Learning lesson on the Iran-Contra Affair. http://herb.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1582#historicalcontext