Instructional Plan Vietnam Home Front

Background Information
Grade: 11th
Unit/Subject: Vietnam War/ American Studies
Instructional Plan Title/Focus: The Vietnam War Home Front: Images of Tension
a. Instructional Plan Purpose: The purpose of this lesson plan is for students to explore the tensions in
American society that were heightened by the Vietnam War. Students will also practice analyzing images
and classifying their analysis into political, economic or social tensions. Students will have to be able to
analyze and classify images like these to answer their DBQ for the district assessment.
b. Alignment to State Learning Standards:

Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g.,
visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7)
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate
summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas. (CCSS.ELALITERACY.RH.11-12.2)

c. Content Objectives:
SWBAT analyze primary source images for evidence of tensions in American society connected to the
Vietnam War.
Language Objectives:
SWBAT participate in collaborative discussions by expressing their opinion clearly and persuasively.
d. Previous Learning Experiences: This is the seventh lesson in a two-week long unit on the Vietnam
War. In the previous two lessons, students have read secondary and primary source texts about the effect
of the Vietnam War on American society and the protests to the war that arose in the late 1960s.
f. Assessment Strategies
Content/Language Objectives
SWBAT analyze primary source
images for evidence of tensions in
American society connected to the
Vietnam War.

SWBAT participate in
collaborative discussions by
expressing their opinion clearly
and persuasively.

Assessment Strategies
Formative: Student progress towards this learning target will be
formatively assessed during the whole-class discussions of each
image. Student understanding will also be formatively assessed
on the Images Graphic Organizer.
Summative: Student achievement of the learning target will be
summatively assessed by the paragraph writing activity.
Paragraphs will be scored on grammar/conventions, use of
evidence and commentary. (See attached rubric)
Formative: Student progress towards this learning target will be
formatively assessed during the whole-class discussions of each
image. The instructor will make note of students participation
and contribution to these discussions and encourage participation
by all students.

g. Student Voice:
K-12 students will be able to:
1. Explain student learning targets
and what is required to meet
them (including why they are
important to learn).
2. Monitor their own learning
progress toward the learning
targets using the tools provided.

Student-based evidence to
be collected:
Opener-Closure Sheets

Opener-Closure Sheets

Description of how students will

reflect on their learning.
On their opener sheets, students will
write the learning targets. The class
will also have a brief discussion of
the learning targets at the beginning
of the period.
On their closures, students will rate
themselves from 1 to 4 on their
progress towards the learning targets
and explain why they gave
themselves that rating and how they
can improve.

h. Grouping of Students for Instruction:

a. Students will complete the opener individually initially to activate their prior knowledge. Students
will then share with their partners and the whole class to benefit from the prior knowledge of their
peers.
b. Students will work in small groups during the whole-class discussion based on where they chose
to move in the room. This will allow students to collaborate on the points they make during the
whole-class discussion.
c. Students will complete their Images Graphic Organizers and the final paragraph writing activity
individually.

Instruction and Engaging Students in Learning

a. Introduction: Class will begin with students filling out the opener section of their opener-closure sheets.
Students will write down the learning target and answer the opener question individually. The opener
will ask students to brainstorm a list of tensions that existed in American society during the Vietnam War
to review our previous lessons, activate students prior knowledge and front-load some information on
the topic of the lesson. After students individually fill out the openers, the class will have a brief
discussion of the learning targets and their importance. Students will then share their answers to the
opener with their elbow partner before sharing out in a whole-class discussion.
b. Learning Activities:
After completing the opener, the instructor will pass out the graphic organizers and explain the
images activity, including reviewing what social, political and economic mean.
The class will then participate in the images activity.
i. Three walls will have signs labelling them as economic, social and political.
ii. The instructor will display an image on the board and students will decide whether the
image depicts a social, political or economic tension and move to the side of the room
that matches their decision.
iii. Each group of students will then get a chance to present their case to the class, telling us
what tension they think the image reveals and why it fits in their category. Students can
move to other categories at any time if they are convinced by another groups arguments.
iv. After the class has discussed the image (not everyone has to agree on what category it fits
into), students will take 2 minutes to fill out their graphic organizer for that image. The
instructor will then display the next image on the board.
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v. Finally, students will be given ten minutes to write a paragraph answering the question:
What economic, social or political tensions (choose 1) in the United States were
heightened by the Vietnam War? Students will cite evidence from the images to back up
their response.
c. Closure: In the last three minutes of class, students will fill out the closure section of their openerclosure sheets. Students will rate their understanding of the learning target from 1 to 4 and explain their
rating. Students will also answer the closure question which will ask students to decide if the Vietnam
War had a bigger effect on the economic, social or political tensions in the country. The class will then
briefly discuss students answers to the closure question.
d. Instructional Considerations:
Multiple means of access: The material will be presented verbally and visually during the images
activity.
Multiple means of engagement: Students will be able to participate individually, in partner pairs,
in small groups and in whole-class discussions. Students will also be able to participate
kinesthetically by moving to each side of the room, verbally during the class discussions and in
writing on the graphic organizers and in the final writing activity.
Multiple means of expression: Students can express their learning kinesthetically by moving to
each side of the room, verbally during the class discussions and in writing on the graphic
organizers and in the final writing activity.
Modifications/Accommodations: Struggling students or students with IEPs can receive help from
their groups during the images activity and when filling out the graphic organizer. Students with
writing related IEPs will also be given a modified rubric for the final writing assignment (see
attached modified rubric).
e. Acknowledgements: Lesson plan and all materials created by Ryan Smith.

Vietnam War Tensions: Images

Image 1:
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This political cartoon depicts the strain that government spending on the Vietnam War put on funding
for Johnsons Great Society programs.

Image 2:
This photograph shows demonstrators protesting the draft. Poor and minority men were far more likely
to be drafted than middle- or upper-class white men.
Image 3:

In this photograph, protestors clash with police outside of the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
The protestors were calling for the Democratic Party to officially adopt an anti-war position during the upcoming presidential elections.

Image 4:
This political cartoon depicts what the author believed was hypocrisy by anti-war protestors who
sometimes used violence and rioting.
Image 5:

This photograph comes from a joint anti-war and civil rights protest. Many saw the Vietnam War as a
distraction from addressing important problems at home like racial discrimination and poverty.
Image 6:
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This photograph is from the Kent State Shooting. On May 4, 1970, National Guardsmen fired into a
crowd of anti-war protesters at Kent State University in Ohio.

Image 7:
This political cartoon makes fun of both the pro-war and anti-war movements.

Image 8:

This political poster highlighted the contrast between President Johnsons goals for a Great Societyat
home and his support for escalating the Vietnam War.

Name: _________________________
Period: ___
Vietnam War Tensions: Images
Image 1
What tension or
problem does the
image reveal?
Is this a social,
political or economic
tension?
Why?

Image 2
What tension or
problem does the
image reveal?
Is this a social,
political or economic
tension?
Why?

Image 3
What tension or
problem does the
image reveal?
Is this a social,
political or economic
tension?
Why?

Image 4
What tension or
problem does the
image reveal?
Is this a social,
political or economic
tension?
Why?
Image 5
What tension or
problem does the
image reveal?
Is this a social,
political or economic
tension?
Why?

Image 6
What tension or
problem does the
image reveal?
Is this a social,
political or economic
tension?
Why?

Image 7
What tension or
problem does the
image reveal?
Is this a social,
political or economic
tension?
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Why?

Image 8
What tension or
problem does the
image reveal?
Is this a social,
political or economic
tension?
Why?

Use of Evidence

Commentary

Grammar/
Conventions

Use of Evidence

Commentary

Cuban Missile Crisis Paragraph Rubric

4
3
2
Paragraph cites
Paragraph cites
Paragraph cites
relevant and
relevant evidence
evidence from at
significant evidence from at least 3
least 3 images, but
from at least 3
images.
evidence is not
images.
entirely relevant.
The meaning of all The meaning of all The meaning of
evidence is clearly
evidence is clearly most evidence is
explained. All
explained. All
clearly explained.
commentary clearly commentary
Some commentary
and convincingly
explains how the
attempts to explain
explains how the
evidence answers
how the evidence
evidence answers
the prompt.
answers the prompt.
the prompt.
Paragraph is free
Paragraph includes Paragraph includes
from any
1-2 grammatical or 3-5 grammatical or
grammatical or
spelling errors.
spelling errors
spelling errors.
Cuban Missile Crisis Paragraph Rubric (modified)
4
3
2
Paragraph cites
Paragraph cites
Paragraph cites
relevant and
relevant evidence
evidence from at
significant evidence from at least 2
least 2 images, but
from at least 2
images.
evidence is not
images.
entirely relevant.
The meaning of all The meaning of
The meaning of
evidence is
most evidence is
some evidence is
explained. All
explained. Most
explained. Some
commentary
commentary
commentary
explains how the
explains how the
attempts to explain

1
Paragraph cites
evidence from less
than 3 images OR
evidence is not
relevant.
The meaning of all
evidence is not
clearly explained
OR commentary is
missing.

Paragraph includes
more than 5
grammatical or
spelling errors.
1
Paragraph cites
evidence from less
than 2 images OR
evidence is not
relevant.
The meaning of all
evidence is not
clearly explained
OR commentary is
missing.
9

Grammar/
Conventions

evidence answers
the prompt.
Paragraph includes
1-3 grammatical or
spelling errors.

evidence answers
the prompt.
Paragraph includes
4-7 grammatical or
spelling errors.

how the evidence

answers the prompt.
Paragraph includes Paragraph includes
7-10 grammatical
more than 10
or spelling errors.
grammatical or
spelling errors.

10