Unit 8: The Cold War and Life in the Fifties
Content Area:
Course(s):
Time Period:
Length:
Status:
Social Studies
US History 2H
MarApr
3 Weeks Grades 11-12
Published
Title Section
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Belleville Public Schools
Curriculum Guide
United States History 2 Honors:
Grade 11
Unit 8: The Cold War and Life in the
Fifties
Belleville Board of Education
102 Passaic Avenue
Belleville, NJ 07109
Prepared by: Linda McKay
Dr. Richard D. Tomko, Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Giovanni Cusmano, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Mathematics and Science K -8
Mr. George Droste, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Mathematics and Science 9 - 12
Mr. Carmine Guinta, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Language Arts and Social Studies K - 12
Board Approved: September 19, 2016
Unit Overview
Unit 8 explores America at home and abroad in the 1950s. New technological inventions inspired by the Race for
Space impact most Americans; the US is engaged with the USSR in a Cold War causing Containment to be an important
American policy. A fear of Communism is prevalent throughout America. Popular culture, music, art and literature
evolves as a response to War.
NJSLS
SOC.6.1.12.D.12.a
Analyze the impact of American governmental policies on independence
movements in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
SOC.6.1.12.D.15.a
Compare United Nations policies and goals (i.e., the International Declaration of
Human Rights and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals) intended
to promote human rights and prevent the violation of human rights with actions
taken by the United States.
SOC.6.1.12.A.15.c
Evaluate the role of diplomacy in developing peaceful relations, alliances, and
global agreements with other nations.
LA.11-12.W.11-12.1
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts,
using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
SOC.6.1.12.A.15.d
Assess the impact of the arms race and the proliferation of nuclear weapons on
world power, security, and national foreign policy.
LA.11-12.SL.11-12.1.A
Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study;
explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other
research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well reasoned exchange
of ideas.
SOC.6.1.12.B.14.b
Analyze how regionalization, urbanization, and suburbanization have led to social
and economic reform movements in New Jersey and the United States.
LA.11-12.RI.11-12.1
Accurately cite strong and thorough textual evidence, (e.g., via discussion, written
response, etc.), to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferentially, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
SOC.6.1.12.D.14.a
Determine the relationship between United States domestic and foreign policies.
SOC.6.1.12.B.12.a
Evaluate the effectiveness of the Marshall Plan and regional alliances in the
rebuilding of European nations in the post World War II period.
SOC.6.1.12.C.16.c
Assess the impact of international trade, global business organizations, and
overseas competition on the United States economy and workforce.
SOC.6.1.12.A.15.e
Analyze the impact of United States support for the policies and actions of the
United Nations and other international organizations.
SOC.6.1.12.D.13.f
Relate the changing role of women in the labor force to changes in family
structure.
LA.11-12.RI.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and
refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how
Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
SOC.6.1.12.D.12.c
Evaluate how the development of nuclear weapons by industrialized countries and
developing counties affected international relations.
LA.11-12.RI.11-12.7
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different
media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to
address a question or solve a problem.
SOC.6.1.12.A.12.b
Examine constitutional issues involving war powers, as they relate to United States
military intervention in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts.
LA.11-12.W.11-12.8
Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources,
using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each
source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the
text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance
on any one source and following a standard format for citation. (MLA or APA Style
Manuals).
SOC.6.1.12.D.15.b
Compare the perspectives of other nations and the United States regarding United
States foreign policy.
SOC.6.1.12.C.12.b
Assess the impact of agricultural innovation on the world economy.
LA.11-12.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence and make relevant connections to
support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
LA.11-12.SL.11-12.4
Present information, findings and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and
logically. The content, organization, development, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
LA.11-12.W.11-12.9.B
Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and
evaluate the reasoning in seminal texts, including the application of constitutional
principles and use of legal reasoning [e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court Case majority
opinions and dissents] and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of
public advocacy [e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses]”).
SOC.6.1.12.D.13.d
Determine the extent to which suburban living and television supported
conformity and stereotyping during this time period, while new music, art, and
literature acted as catalysts for the counterculture movement.
SOC.6.1.12.A.12.c
Explain how the Arab-Israeli conflict influenced American foreign policy.
SOC.6.1.12.B.13.a
Determine the factors that led to migration from American cities to suburbs in the
1950s and 1960s, and describe how this movement impacted cities.
SOC.6.1.12.A.15.b
Determine the effectiveness of the United States in pursuing national interests
while also attempting to address global political, economic, and social problems.
SOC.6.1.12.C.13.b
Evaluate the effectiveness of economic policies that sought to combat post-World
War II inflation.
SOC.6.1.12.D.12.b
Analyze efforts to eliminate communism, such as McCarthyism, and their impact
on individual civil liberties.
SOC.6.1.12.C.12.d
Assess the role of the public and private sectors in promoting economic growth
and ensuring economic stability.
SOC.6.1.12.A.12.a
Analyze ideological differences and other factors that contributed to the Cold War
and to United States involvement in conflicts intended to contain communism,
including the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War.
SOC.6.1.12.A.15.f
Evaluate the effectiveness of United States policies and actions in supporting the
economic and democratic growth of developing nations.
SOC.6.1.12.C.12.a
Explain the implications and outcomes of the Space Race from the perspectives of
the scientific community, the government, and the people.
Exit Skills
By the end of Unit 8,
1. Students should be able to apply domain-specific vocabulary in their verbal and written responses, essays and
papers.
2. Students should be able to choose a side to a query and provide logical argument for their choice.
3. Students should be able to deductively use new information and logically apply this evidence to a related problem.
4. Students should be able to inductively gather information and deduce a theory based on their findings.
5. Students should be able to gather information in meaningful clusters and apply their findings to specific problems.
Enduring Understanding
1. From the beginning of the American republic, Americans have debated to what extend individual freedom should be
limited when the safety of the nation is at stake.
2. The balance of power in American government changes over time.
3. Not all Americans have shared in the nation’s more prosperous times.
4. New technology advances in the 1950s impacted American cultural life.
5. Americans are constantly moving, lending to the rise and fall of populations in cities, states, and regions.
6. Fear of Communism moved people and the American government to great lengths during the 1950’s
7. The United States and the USSR played a game of Global Chess around the globe in the 1950’s
8. Containment was and is an important American foreign policy.
9. Popular culture and art change in response to upheavals and wars.
10. The Cold War was a non-shooting war of tension with the USSR over the spread of Communism
Essential Questions
1. Is it right to give up individual liberties for the sake of protection?
2. How did Eisenhower and Truman differ in their approaches to Communism and the Cold War in general?
3. How was the 1950’s America’s second gilded age?
4. In what ways did technology, both militarily and domestically alter American life in the 1950’s?
5. What are demographics? What can they tell you about American society?
6. Why was Joseph McCarthy frightening to many Americans?
7. What is the overall policy of the US towards Communism and Terrorism in their eras similar? Different?
8. Considering the Korean War, Suez crisis, Hungarian revolt, was Containment successful?
9. Why does art and music change so much after a time of massive upheaval such as war?
10. What does the term “Cold” imply about the relationship between the United States and USSR from 1945-1990?
UNIT
Learning Objectives
1. Explain how the Soviet Union came to dominate much of Eastern Europe.
2. Discuss provisions of the Truman Doctrine & the Marshall Plan.
3. Explain and give examples of the policy of containment
4. Describe the causes and effects of the Korean War
5. Discussion the rise of the Military Industrial Complex
6. Understand how containment and massive retaliation helped to prolong the Cold War
7. Describe the 2 major transportation programs of the Eisenhower Presidency.
8. Define McCarthyism
9. Analyze the changes in America in the 1950s.
10. Explain why U.S. was called the “Affluent Society”
11. Identify major scientific achievements of the 50’s
12. Discuss factors that led many Americans to move to the Sun Belt.
13. Analyze effects of the growth of the suburbs.
Below are examples of action verbs associated with each level of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. These are useful in
writing learning objectives, assignment objectives and exam questions.
Remember
Choose
Describe
Define
Label
List
Locate
Match
Memorize
Name
Omit
Recite
Select
State
Count
Draw
Outline
Point
Quote
Recall
Recognize
Repeat
Reproduce
Understand
Classify
Defend
Demonstrate
Distinguish
Explain
Express
Extend
Give Examples
Illustrate
Indicate
Interrelate
Interpret
Infer
Match
Paraphrase
Represent
Restate
Rewrite
Select
Show
Summarize
Tell
Translate
Associate
Compute
Convert
Discuss
Estimate
Extrapolate
Generalize
Predict
Apply
Choose
Dramatize
Explain
Generalize
Judge
Organize
Paint
Prepare
Produce
Select
Show
Sketch
Solve
Use
Add
Calculate
Change
Classify
Complete
Compute
Discover
Divide
Examine
Graph
Interpolate
Manipulate
Modify
Operate
Subtract
Analyze
Categorize
Classify
Compare
Differentiate
Distinguish
Identify
Infer
Point out
Select
Subdivide
Survey
Arrange
Breakdown
Combine
Detect
Diagram
Discriminate
Illustrate
Outline
Point out
Separate
Evaluate
Appraise
Judge
Criticize
Defend
Compare
Assess
Conclude
Contrast
Critique
Determine
Grade
Justify
Measure
Rank
Rate
Support
Test
Create
Combine
Compose
Construct
Design
Develop
Formulate
Hypothesize
Invent
Make
Originate
Organize
Plan
Produce
Role Play
Drive
Devise
Generate
Integrate
Prescribe
Propose
Reconstruct
Revise
Rewrite
Transform
Interdisciplinary Connections
Please list all and any cross-curricular content standards that link to this Unit.
MA.9-12.S-CP.B
Use the rules of probability to compute probabilities of compound events in a
uniform probability model
MA.9-12.S-IC
Making Inferences and Justifying Conclusions
TECH.8.1.12
All students will use digital tools to access, manage, evaluate, and synthesize
information in order to solve problems individually and collaborate and to create
and communicate knowledge.
TECH.8.1.12.B
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge and develop
innovative products and process using technology.
TECH.8.1.12.C
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work
collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and
contribute to the learning of others.
TECH.8.1.12.F
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects,
solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and
resources.
TECH.8.2.12.C
The design process is a systematic approach to solving problems.
LA.11-12.SL.11-12.1.A
Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study;
explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other
research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well reasoned exchange
of ideas.
LA.11-12.RI.11-12.1
Accurately cite strong and thorough textual evidence, (e.g., via discussion, written
response, etc.), to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferentially, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
LA.11-12.W.11-12.1.A
Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the
claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an
organization that logically sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and
evidence.
MA.9-12.S-MD.B
Use probability to evaluate outcomes of decisions
MA.9-12.S-ID.A
Summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement
variable
LA.11-12.RI.11-12.9
Analyze and reflect on (e.g. practical knowledge, historical/cultural context, and
background knowledge) documents of historical and literary significance for their
themes, purposes and rhetorical features, including primary source documents
relevant to U.S. and/or global history.
LA.11-12.W.11-12.8
Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources,
using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each
source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the
text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance
on any one source and following a standard format for citation. (MLA or APA Style
Manuals).
LA.11-12.W.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas,
concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content.
LA.11-12.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence and make relevant connections to
support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
LA.11-12.SL.11-12.4
Present information, findings and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and
logically. The content, organization, development, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
Alignment to 21st Century Skills & Technology
Key SUBJECTS AND 21st CENTURY THEMES
Mastery of key subjects and 21st century themes is essential for all students in the 21stcentury.
Key subjects include:

English, reading or language arts

World languages

Arts

Mathematics

Economics

Science

Geography

History

Government and Civics
21st Century/Interdisciplinary Themes
• Civic Literacy
.
• Environmental Literacy
.
• Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy
.
• Global Awareness
.
• Health Literacy
.
21st Century Skills
• Communication and Collaboration
.
• Creativity and Innovation
.
• Critical thinking and Problem Solving
.
• ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy
.
• Information Literacy
.
• Life and Career Skills
.
• Media Literacy
.
Technology Infusion
What technology can be used in this unit to enhance learning?
Differentiation
As a Reminder:
The basis of good differentiation in a lesson lies in differentiating by content, process, and/or product.
Resources:

NJDOE: Instructional Supports and Scaffolds for Success in Implementing the Common Core State Standards
http://www.state.nj.us/education/modelcurriculum/success/math/k2/
Special Education
•
printed copy of board work/notes provided
.
• additional time for skill mastery
.
• assistive technology
.
• behavior management plan
.
• Center-Based Instruction
.
• check work frequently for understanding
.
• computer or electronic device utilizes
.
• extended time on tests/ quizzes
.
• have student repeat directions to check for understanding
.
• highlighted text visual presentation
.
• modified assignment format
.
• modified test content
.
• modified test format
.
• modified test length
.
• multiple test sessions
.
• multi-sensory presentation
.
• preferential seating
.
• preview of content, concepts, and vocabulary
.
• reduced/shortened reading assignments
.
• Reduced/shortened written assignments
.
• secure attention before giving instruction/directions
.
• shortened assignments
.
• student working with an assigned partner
.
• teacher initiated weekly assignment sheet
.
• Use open book, study guides, test prototypes
.
ELL
•
teaching key aspects of a topic. Eliminate nonessential information
.
•
using videos, illustrations, pictures, and drawings to explain or clarif
.
• allowing products (projects, timelines, demonstrations, models, drawings, dioramas, poster boards,
charts, graphs, slide shows, videos, etc.) to demonstrate student’s learning;
.
• allowing students to correct errors (looking for understanding)
.
• allowing the use of note cards or open-book during testing
.
• decreasing the amount of workpresented or required
.
• having peers take notes or providing a copy of the teacher’s notes
.
• modifying tests to reflect selected objectives
.
• providing study guides
.
• reducing or omitting lengthy outside reading assignments
.
• reducing the number of answer choices on a multiple choice test
.
• tutoring by peers
.
• using computer word processing spell check and grammar check features
.
• using true/false, matching, or fill in the blank tests in lieu of essay tests
.
Intervention Strategies
•
allowing students to correct errors (looking for understanding)
.
•
teaching key aspects of a topic. Eliminate nonessential information
.
• allowing products (projects, timelines, demonstrations, models, drawings, dioramas, poster boards,
charts, graphs, slide shows, videos, etc.) to demonstrate student’s learning
.
• allowing students to select from given choices
.
• allowing the use of note cards or open-book during testing
.
• collaborating (general education teacher and specialist) to modify vocabulary, omit or modify items to
reflect objectives for the student, eliminate sections of the test, and determine how the grade will be
determined prior to giving the test.
.
• decreasing the amount of workpresented or required
.
• having peers take notes or providing a copy of the teacher’s notes
.
• marking students’ correct and acceptable work, not the mistakes
.
• modifying tests to reflect selected objectives
.
• providing study guides
.
• reducing or omitting lengthy outside reading assignments
.
• reducing the number of answer choices on a multiple choice test
.
• tutoring by peers
.
• using authentic assessments with real-life problem-solving
.
• using true/false, matching, or fill in the blank tests in lieu of essay tests
.
• using videos, illustrations, pictures, and drawings to explain or clarify
.
Evidence of Student Learning-CFU's
Please list ways educators may effectively check for understanding in this secion.
• Admit Tickets
.
• Anticipation Guide
.
• Common benchmarks
.
• Compare & Contrast
.
• Create a Multimedia Poster
.
• Define
.
• Describe
.
• Evaluate
.
• Evaluation rubrics
.
• Exit Tickets
.
• Explaining
.
• Fist- to-Five or Thumb-Ometer
.
• Illustration
.
• Journals
.
• KWL Chart
.
• Newspaper Headline
.
• Outline
.
• Question Stems
.
• Quickwrite
.
• Quizzes
.
• Red Light, Green Light
.
• Self- assessments
.
• Socratic Seminar
.
• Study Guide
.
• Teacher Observation Checklist
.
• Think, Pair, Share
.
• Think, Write, Pair, Share
.
• Top 10 List
.
• Unit tests
.
Primary Resources
http://millercenter.org/academic/dgs/primaryresources/cold_war
http://www.historywiz.com/primarysources/coldwarprimary.html
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/1945-present/postwar-politics-and-cold-war/primary-sources
Ancillary Resources
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/coldwar.ht
http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/27/cold-war-origins