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Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: The Cold War Cometh

Name: Jacob Larsen

Content Area: Social Studies

Grade Level: 9-10

CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):


10.9

Students analyze the international developments in the postWorld War II world.

1. Compare the economic and military power shifts caused by the war, including the Yalta Pact, the development of nuclear
weapons, Soviet control over Eastern European nations, and the economic recoveries of Germany and Japan.
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.
3. Understand the importance of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, which established the pattern for Americas 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.
4. Analyze the Chinese Civil War, the rise of Mao Tse-tung, and the subsequent political and economic upheavals in China (e.g.,
the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square uprising).
5. Describe the uprisings in Poland (1956), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968) and those countries resurgence in the
1970s and 1980s as people in Soviet satellites sought freedom from Soviet control.
6. Understand how the forces of nationalism developed in the Middle East, how the Holocaust affected world opinion regarding
the need for a Jewish state, and the significance and effects of the location and establishment of Israel on world affairs.
7. Analyze the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the 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.
8. Discuss the establishment and work of the United Nations and the purposes and functions of the Warsaw Pact, SEATO, NATO,
and the Organization of American States.

Big Ideas:

The Big Ideas for this unit which I aim to have the kids walk away with a clear understanding of is: who fought in the Cold War,
what is the difference between a war of ideologies and all others, how did the Cold War change American foreign policy, and the
effects of Communism (+different forms) on each individual country. If the students can understand the answers to these major
questions, than they will be well informed freshmen that will better be able to understand the world the live in today.

Unit Goals and Objectives:


1.Students will be able to describe the collapse of the Soviet Union through grouped station learning and oral
presentations.
2.Students will be able to understand the causes and effects of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan through the
creation of a flow chart.
3.Students will be able to organize the key events of the Cold War into an illustrated timeline.
Unit Summary:
This unit will be a lot about the big picture in which hindsight is used and emphasized. Rather than focusing on the good-guy
vs. bad guy topics within the Cold War, I would prefer to keep the focus on how this period changed the scope of international
politics through present times. Students will be able to grasp why America constantly has their hands in the cookie jar of foreign
affairs. I hope to capture the broad scope of this unit in an effective way which will be memorable and measurable for the
students.

Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level:

Lesson 1

Formative:

Summative:

Student Learning Objective:

Acceptable Evidence:

Instructional Strategies:

Lesson Activities:

Students will be able to


describe the collapse of the
Soviet Union through grouped
station learning and oral
presentations.

Each student will be expected


to present their summary of
the collapse of the Soviet
Union.

x Communication

Working individually, students will


take notes during teacher lecture
on the key moments that led to a
world superpower collapsing.
Having already learned about the
birth of Soviet Union during the
interwar period, students will use
new information provided to
create a 5 minutes powerpoint
presentation which they will
present before the rest of the
class, describing in their words
how the Soviet Union collapsed.

Collection
Collaboration
x Presentation
Organization
Interaction

Lesson 2
Student Learning
Objective:
Students will be able
to understand the
causes and effects of
the Truman Doctrine
and the Marshall Plan
through the creation
of a flow chart.

Acceptable Evidence:
Flow chart collected
will detail how
American foreign
policy saw a major
shift during this
period that still
affects us today.

Instructional
Strategies:
Communication
x Collection

Lesson Activities:
Using their book and other provided online resources, students
will work together in predesignated heterogeneous groupings to
detail the flow of events that led to our modern day view on
foreign policy. By creating a flow chart, students will have tactile
evidence of their learning.

Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
x Interaction

Lesson 3
Student Learning
Objective:
Students will be able
to organize the key
events of the Cold
War into an illustrated

Acceptable Evidence:
Timeline created
detailing the major
events with attached,
appropriate
illustrations.

Instructional
Strategies:
Communication
Collection

Lesson Activities:
Students, having learned most all of the key events by this point
in the unit, will work together in class to compile a list of 15
major points of the Cold War that would need to be on their
poster board. They will write a short summary of each event,
record the date, and then work on finding/drawing an

timeline

x Collaboration
Presentation
x Organization
Interaction

Unit Resources:
Modern World History - Patterns of Interaction by McDougal Littell
Cold War Resource Site: http://www.coldwar.org/resources.asp
US Historical Documents listings: http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/
Cold War Overview: http://history1900s.about.com/

Useful Websites:
Cold War Resource Site: http://www.coldwar.org/resources.asp
US Historical Documents listings: http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/
Cold War Overview: http://history1900s.about.com/

appropriate picture to give life to their project.

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