SS.912.CG.4.3

This written assessment prompt may be used to assess student knowledge about U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War and Vietnam War. A rubric and sample response are included.

Type: Assessment

In this lesson, students will read and complete a chart about significant foreign policy events during the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn the basic rules for effective paraphrasing. Students will read the 1993 inaugural address of President Bill Clinton. They will paraphrase several key sections to develop their paraphrasing skills and deepen their knowledge of the United States foundational principles and global leadership referenced in the address. Students will also answer text-dependent questions to further analyze the ideas and content of President Clinton’s address.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will become familiar with the creation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War. This lesson will introduce students to the creation of both the Marshall Plan and Truman Docrtine, and how they were both used as tools to contain the spread of communism.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will explain the goals of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War. Guided notes will introduce students to the creation and implementation of the Truman Doctrine, the goals of containment, and U.S. involvement in proxy wars. Finally, students will be able to explain how political borders changed in Asia during the Cold War.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will be introduced to the proceedings and verdicts of the Nuremberg trials. Students will also focus on the impact of the trials on human rights worldwide.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students use excerpts from various State of the Union addresses to determine how U.S. foreign policy aims to support human rights abroad. After working collaboratively to pull out the main idea from each excerpt, students respond to synthesis questions regarding the extension of founding ideas and the application of those ideas in foreign policy.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan provides teachers with the tools to help students analyze President Kennedy’s inaugural address. Students will specifically examine the use of three types of rhetorical devices within the text: imagery, alliteration, and anaphora. Students will be able to practice identifying the use of these rhetorical devices and how they support President Kennedy’s purpose.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Grades 9-12 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 4 at these grade levels.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this source analysis activity, students will read and analyze speeches from President Kennedy and President Nixon, as well as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Students will answer questions about each document after reading. At the end, discussion questions require an overall analysis of U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource provides students with the opportunity to analyze President Jimmy Carter's use of rhetoric in his Inaugural Address. The resource contains historical context and both a student and teacher copy of the speech, along with text dependent questions and an answer key. Students will connect Carter’s use of rhetoric in achieving purpose in his speech to the role the U.S. has in establishing and maintaining peace.

Type: Text Resource

This teaching resource provides teachers with the tools to help students analyze the central idea and mood within John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address. This includes examining how President Kennedy supports the central idea relating to foreign policy and protecting liberty throughout his speech. 

Type: Text Resource

Alejandro Brice and his family immigrated from Cuba at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. His father was jailed as a counter-revolutionary sympathizer and upon release, the family fled the country. Dr. Brice shares his memories of his “freedom wings”, the culture shock of growing up in Ohio as immigrants, learning English in elementary school, watching his family start over, and becoming a U.S. Citizen. Dr. Brice is a college professor specializing in the education of immigrant children and English language learners.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Ivonne Blank immigrated to the United States in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus on unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere. Ms. Blank talks about how difficult it was waiting for her parents and living in an orphanage in Denver, CO. Her parents later left the island by boat, were rescued by the Coast Guard, and resettled in the United States. After the family was reunited, they were able to rebuild their lives with support from their community. Ms. Blank went on to become a lifelong educator and U.S. citizen.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation