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Everything students need to know about The Cold War
Action-packed lessons – students perform in front of the class!
Mapping. Debates. Board game. Film worksheets.
Write a persuasive essay: “I am Chairman Mao . . .”
Rank the famous people from best to worst.
Begin with Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the fire . . .” A timeline by decades – 1945 to 1990.
Collapse of the Soviet Union: A great lecture with graphics.
Using political cartoons, we explain all the conflicts in the Third World.
Excerpts from 45 documents - students must guess the speaker and event.
“The Cold Warriors”: Using photos and clues, the class must guess who you are.
Games galore, including “The Gong Show.”
Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech: The Soviets turned Eastern Europe into a police state!
Group analysis: “Winning hearts and minds . . .”
Projects: Students teach the class. Homework on the internet.
Heavy on terms: “The ABCs of the Cold War” (recall terms). “Can you talk like Truman?” (define terms). “Can you speak Polish?” (define terms).
“Let your classroom BLOOM!” (Using Bloom’s taxonomy, explore terms in depth.)
Assessment: Learn the logic of a multiple-choice test by playing “Honk if you hate history!”
Concludes with the mother of all tests: 602 questions.
Reverse designers: give a test at the beginning of every class.
The Cold War toolbook covers:
• The Causes: Mutual mistrust, two ideologies, the arms race, competition in the Third World.
• The People: Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro, Churchill, U.S. Presidents.
• The Events: The Cold War began in Eastern Europe. Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech. Marshall Plan. Truman Doctrine. The A-bomb. The Berlin Wall, symbol of the Cold War. East vs. West. McCarthyism.
• Conflicts in the Third World: Mao’s China. Korea. Cuba. The Congo. Vietnam. Chile & Nicaragua. The Middle East.
• The Results: Fall of the Berlin Wall – and the collapse of the Soviet Union!
The Test
602 questions
If your students can do well on our test, the state test should be a breeze.
Simple to use
One book for the whole class.
No learning curve: Lessons are ready to reproduce.
Saves time
All the facts are included:
There is no need to use a textbook or reference books.
Your students will zip through the material.
Each lesson is 20 minutes in and out. Perfect for block scheduling.
1. The Topics
OVERVIEW
Timeline and definitions.
THE COLD WAR BEGAN IN EASTERN EUROPE
World War II caused a powershift in the world.
Two superpowers (US and USSR) face off.
Yalta. Hiroshima, the A-bomb. Winston Churchill and the “Iron Curtain”
speech. The Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment. The Marshall Plan.
Berlin blockade, Berlin airlift, NATO.
THE CAUSES
The Causes: Mutual Distrust. Two Ideologies. Arms Race. Competition in Third
World.
East vs West: The Free World, Eastern bloc, Khrushchev, Red China, NATO, Warsaw
Pact
The Arms Race and the Space Race: Sputnik, Yuri Gagarin, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong
Presidents of the Cold War. McCarthyism.
CONFLICTS IN THE THIRD WORLD
The Truman Doctrine: The U.S. promised to help any nation fighting against communism.
The Korean War: Truman, Limited war, General MacArthur, Eisenhower
Cuba: Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, nationalization, Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile
Crisis, JFK
The Congo: Lumumba, Mobutu
The Vietnam War: Dien Bien Phu, Ho Chi Minh, Vietcong, Gulf of Tonkin, LBJ,
Brezhnev, Nixon, Watergate, Vietnamization, Tet Offensive, fall of Saigon
Chile: Allende, nationalization, Nixon
Nicaragua: Sandinistas, Iran-Contra scandal, Ollie North, Ronald Reagan
MAO’S CHINA
Civil War, Chinese Revolution of 1949, The Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution,
Tiananmen Square.
EASTERN EUROPE
From the Iron Curtain to the fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989.
Resistance to Soviet rule: The Hungarian Uprising (1956), Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia
(1968), and Solidarity in Poland (1980s).
Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul, Lech Walesa.
THE MIDDLE EAST
From the birth of Israel in 1948 to the Camp David Accords.
The Holocaust, Arab nationalism, Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War, Iranian Revolution
of 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini.
COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION
The Causes: Weakness of the command economy, burdens of military commitments,
and growing resistance to Soviet rule by dissidents in satellite states and
the non-Russian Soviet republics.
Gorbachev: Glasnost, perestroika, “Star Wars,” fall of the Berlin
Wall
ORGANIZATIONS
U.N., NATO, SEATO, OAS, and the Warsaw Pact.
2. The Lessons
The worksheets are . . .
Designed to involve students at the moment and on the day of the state test.
Chock full of facts: Using reasoning, students manipulate the facts.
Action-packed: Students perform what they know in front of the class!
| INTRODUCTION |
| Timeline of the Cold War | The best timeline ever! |
| “We didn’t start the fire” | Billy Joel’s song: How to use it to teach the Cold War. |
| The Cold War: An overview | As you tell the story, students fill in the graphic organizer. |
| THE COLD WAR BEGAN IN EASTERN EUROPE |
| When World War II ended | Mapping: The Red Army occupied Eastern Europe and never left. |
| The “Iron Curtain” Speech | Winston Churchill: The Soviets turned E Europe into a police state. |
| The Marshall Plan | E Europe got a police state; W Europe got the Marshall Plan. |
| East Germany, West Germany | Mapping: Berlin was the symbol of the Cold War. |
| Bloom! | Group Analysis: The Marshall Plan |
| The Superpowers face off | Graphic Organizer: Berlin blockade, Berlin airlift, and the Berlin Wall. |
| The A-bomb | Soviets steal atomic secrets, build their own bomb. The Rosenbergs. |
| Summary | Homework on the Internet |
| The ABCs of Eastern Europe | Recall terms. |
| Can you speak Russian? | Define terms. |
| THE CAUSES |
| Causes of the Cold War | Distrust. Two Ideologies. Arms Race. Competition in Third World. |
| The Gong Show | Game: The Four Causes |
| The Great Race | Game: Guys vs. Gals. The Four Causes |
| The World was split into . . . | East vs. West |
| Political Cartoons | The U.S. presidents during the Cold War |
| Political Cartoons | Events of the Cold War |
| CONFLICTS IN THE THIRD WORLD |
| Nationalism and Communism | There’s a big difference! |
| Competition for the Third World | Local conflicts became global. |
| Timeline of conflicts by REGION | Asia, Africa, Latin America |
| Famous Dictators | List of Third World dictators who were anti-communist. |
| The ABCs of the Third World | Recall terms; define terms. |
| The Korean War | Homework on the internet |
| Life is like a Rock Group | Examine from 5 viewpoints: The Korean War. The 38th Parallel. |
| Cuba in Political Cartoons | Fidel Castro, Revolution of 1959, Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis |
| The Cuban Missile Crisis | Homework on the intenet |
| Life is like a Rock Group | Examine from 5 viewpoints: Bay of Pigs. Cuban Missile Crisis. |
| The Congo | The complete story of Lumumba in words and photos. |
| Life is like a Rock Group | Examine from 5 viewpoints: Lumumba |
| Vietnam War in Political Cartoons | We tell the complete story (1965-75) using political cartoons. |
| Students teach the class! | Using the internet, students explain concepts from the Vietnam War. |
| Life is like a Rock Group | Examine from 5 viewpoints: The Vietnam War |
| Chile & Nicaragua in Political Cartoons | From Allende to the Iran-Contra scandal. |
| Life is like a Rock Group | Examine from 5 viewpoints: Assassination of Allende. Iran-Contra. |
| MAO’S CHINA |
| China in the 20th Century | Civil War, Revolution, Great Leap Forward, Cultural Rev, Tiananmen. |
| Life is like a Rock Group | Civil War, Revolution, Great Leap Forward, Cultural Rev, Tiananmen. |
| Quotations from Chairman Mao | Interpret famous lines from the Little Red Book. |
| “I am Chairman Mao” | Student speeches: expressive, narrative, informative, persuasive |
| The ABCs of Mao’s China | Recall terms; define terms. |
| FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL |
| Resistance Movements | Lecture with graphics: Hungarian Uprising, Prague Spring, Solidarity |
| Why Poland listed to the Pope | Mapping: The Catholic Church in Eastern Europe. |
| The ABCs of Resistance | Recall terms |
| Can you speak Polish? | Define terms |
| NATIONALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST |
| The Holocaust | Mapping: The concentration camps. This is powerful. |
| The World of Islam | Mapping: The Muslim countries |
| The Arab-Israeli Conflict | Lecture with Graphics: NationalismThe Middle East in political cartoons From the Six-Day War to the Camp David Accords. |
| Life is like a Rock Group | Examine from 5 viewpoints: Six-Day War. Camp David Accords. |
| The Great Debate | “Resolved, the Palestinians deserve their own nation-state.” |
| Students teach the class! | The Palestinian view. The Israeli view. |
| The ABCs of the Arab-Israeli Conflict | Recall terms, define terms. |
| COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION
| | Extensive Lecture: The Four Reasons | Weakness of the command economy
Burdens of military commitments
Resistance by dissidents in Eastern Europe
Resistance by dissidents in the Soviet republics |
| How the Soviet Union broke apart | Mapping: What happened after the Berlin Wall fell? |
| The Collapse in Political Cartoons | We tell the whole story in cartoons. Heavy on Gorbachev. |
| The ABCs of the Collapse | Recall terms, define terms. |
| WORLD ORGANIZATIONS |
| The Gong Show | Game: Distinguish between UN, NATO, Warsaw Pact, OAS, SEATO |
| The Great Race | Game: Guys vs. Gals. UN, NATO, Warsaw Pact, OAS, SEATO |
| SUMMARY |
| Famous people of the Cold War | Game: Using photos and clues, the class guesses who you are. |
| Cold War documents | We give you excerpts from 45 documents: Who said it? |
| The Great Debate | “Does the means justify the ends?” |
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