 | As the Program Director and curriculum developer for a new Gilder-Lehrman Saturday Honors Academy, I was tasked with creating a primary source driven activity for students, centered on Cold War relations with Russia. At this Saturday Academy, high school juniors will hear lectures from college professors about American foreign policy relations with Russia, China, and the Middle East since World War II. After their first lecture from Professor Jonthan Bone, the students were asked to take the role of advisors and suggest a course of action to President Kennedy with regards to the Cuban Missile Crisis. |
What follows is the lesson plan and sources from that experience. My hope is that this lesson is adaptable enough that students and teachers will find it to be a useful lesson and activity in investigating the circumstances and consequences of action surrounding the tense, two-week standoff known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Overview
Taking on the role of foreign policy advisors to the president, student groups will research, write, and produce a briefing that will clearly identify their assigned foreign policy issue, connect it to prior foreign policy precedence, propose an action or solution, and evaluate the potential costs and benefits of their plan. Students will present their four to five minute brief on the Cuban missile crisis.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
Essential Question
Should President Kennedy have risked thermonuclear war to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba?
Number of Class Periods
One 90 minute period
Grade Level
11th Grade
Common Core Standards
Materials
#2: Notes on Meeting with President, October 21, 1962
#3: Record of Meeting During the Cuban Missile Crisis, October 19th, 1962
#4: Report on Major Consequences of Certain US Courses of Action in Cuba, October 20, 1962
#5: Handwritten Summary Note of Meeting, October 22nd, 1962
#6: Scenario for Airstrike Against Offensive Missile Bases & Bombers in Cuba, October 25, 1962
“Forty Years Ago: The Cuban Missile Crisis,” Prologue, Vol. 34, No. 3
Individual Graphic Organizer student handout
Group Graphic Organizer student handout
How to Conduct a Presidential Briefing student handout
Optional: Computer access (additional research)
Procedure
Taking on the role of foreign policy advisors to the president, student groups will research, write, and produce a briefing that will clearly identify their assigned foreign policy issue, connect it to prior foreign policy precedence, propose an action or solution, and evaluate the potential costs and benefits of their plan. Students will present their four to five minute brief on the Cuban missile crisis.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Identify and explain America’s past foreign policy relations with Russia
- Examine primary source documents to ascertain relevant Russo-American foreign policy lessons
- Apply American foreign policy lecture notes to an historical problem in Russo-American relations
- Propose an action or suggested diplomatic idea that will address a current issue in Russo-American foreign policy
- Provide historical precedence for their suggested action or idea
- Present their findings in a concise presentation that clearly defines a problem and how their solution contributes positively and negatively to on-going Russo-American relations
Essential Question
Should President Kennedy have risked thermonuclear war to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba?
Number of Class Periods
One 90 minute period
- 35 Minutes research
- 35 Minutes writing/editing
- 20 Minutes presenting
Grade Level
11th Grade
Common Core Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2 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.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.3 Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7 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.
Materials
- Primary Source Documents
#2: Notes on Meeting with President, October 21, 1962
#3: Record of Meeting During the Cuban Missile Crisis, October 19th, 1962
#4: Report on Major Consequences of Certain US Courses of Action in Cuba, October 20, 1962
#5: Handwritten Summary Note of Meeting, October 22nd, 1962
#6: Scenario for Airstrike Against Offensive Missile Bases & Bombers in Cuba, October 25, 1962
- Secondary Sources
“Forty Years Ago: The Cuban Missile Crisis,” Prologue, Vol. 34, No. 3
- Student Handouts
Individual Graphic Organizer student handout
Group Graphic Organizer student handout
How to Conduct a Presidential Briefing student handout
Optional: Computer access (additional research)
Procedure
- Teacher distributes copies of secondary source, INDIVIDUAL graphic organizer, and primary source texts one and two (half of the students get #1, the other half get #2).
- Students review the documents independently and record their findings on the graphic organizer
- Students are partnered with another student who read the same primary source and they compare notes
- Students are then group with another pair who has read a different document
- Students are given the GROUP graphic organizer and share out their partner research
- Students are given documents #3-6 and must utilize information from at least two of these new sources in their briefing
- Students are given the “How to Conduct a Presidential Briefing” handout
- Groups collaborate to produce one concise written policy brief
- Each student group presents their policy brief to the class and teacher
| week_two_honors_academy_russia.docx |
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