Primary Source Databases
This database discusses international relations during the Vietnam War and contains telegrams, memos, and documents from several nations before, during, and after the war. Documents and sources range from 1950 through the early 1970's.
This site contains several key documents and speeches beginning with the Potsdam Agreement and ending with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Federal documents and speeches are critical primary sources that give insight into governmental actions and policy creation.
This database has primary sources ranging from Truman's response to Joseph McCarthy, JFK's comparison of American and Soviet military powers, and personal notes written by JFK while in office.
This is a massive database that lists all types of primary sources in chronological order. It begins in 1945 shortly after WWII ended and continues all the way until the conclusion of the Cold War in 1991. Types of sources include memorandums, letters, photos, federal documents, and speeches from several Cold War participants.
Photographs from the time period are great primary sources to consult and this database offers a wide variety of pictures from several points throughout the Cold War.
This site contains several key documents and speeches beginning with the Potsdam Agreement and ending with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Federal documents and speeches are critical primary sources that give insight into governmental actions and policy creation.
This database has primary sources ranging from Truman's response to Joseph McCarthy, JFK's comparison of American and Soviet military powers, and personal notes written by JFK while in office.
This is a massive database that lists all types of primary sources in chronological order. It begins in 1945 shortly after WWII ended and continues all the way until the conclusion of the Cold War in 1991. Types of sources include memorandums, letters, photos, federal documents, and speeches from several Cold War participants.
Photographs from the time period are great primary sources to consult and this database offers a wide variety of pictures from several points throughout the Cold War.
Cold War Online Interactives
Two Cold War Related Lesson Plans
U.S. Foreign Policy post-WWII - Cold War Impact on Vietnam War
Goals & Objectives -
Goal: Students will be able to understand the origins of nationwide unrest in Vietnam and reasons for U.S. military involvement.
Objective: Students working in pairs will be able to analyze and evaluate three primary sources regarding the Vietnam War, including one song, one photograph, and one document and will complete a short in-class writing activity.
Objective: Students working in pairs will be able to analyze and evaluate three primary sources regarding the Vietnam War, including one song, one photograph, and one document and will complete a short in-class writing activity.
Content Standard:
California State Content Standards: 11.9.3 - Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, including the following: The Vietnam War
Common Core Literacy Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.5:
Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.6:
Evaluate authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.
Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.6:
Evaluate authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.
Driving Historical Questions:
What events occurred that created unrest in Vietnam before the U.S. became involved?
Why did the U.S. feel compelled to intervene in Vietnam? What reasons did U.S. citizens give for ending involvement in Vietnam?
Why did the U.S. feel compelled to intervene in Vietnam? What reasons did U.S. citizens give for ending involvement in Vietnam?
Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge) ‖ Time: 10 minutes
As the class gets settled the teacher will write “Why did the U.S. feel compelled to intervene in Vietnam?” on the board and that will serve as the focus question for the day’s lesson. Students will write that question down and we will return back to it. Students will then get into pairs and read a timeline of the Vietnam War, see attached, to build some context and access prior knowledge. With this timeline they will verbally assess whether Vietnam faced nationwide unrest and why prior to the U.S. directly intervening with military force. The class will already have some sense of primary source usage but we will review how to read or interpret primary sources and where to locate them. I will show the class an online database for selecting primary sources in the future. For the sake of the lesson students will use primary sources that I selected to understand the background of unrest in Vietnam and the reasons for U.S. involvement.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development) ‖ Time: 5 minutes
Students will be instructed to write down any unfamiliar terminology or phrases they come across while analyzing the primary sources. Below are two terms that potentially are unfamiliar to students. Since the analysis worksheets are pdf copies I cannot format in an additional text bubble with the definitions for the words below so they will be written on the board.
- cogently
- indignation
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) ‖ Time: 15 minutes
After students finish viewing the timeline they will get back into pairs and will begin analyzing their three primary sources. The sources include a letter from JFK to Ngo Dinh Diem in 1961 prior to U.S. direct military involvement, a photograph of French soldiers at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, and a transcript of Bob Dylan’s Masters of War song. Students will use these sources to determine, in their opinion, why the U.S. wanted to involve itself in Vietnam. Students will receive analysis organizers for inputting information and thoughts while evaluating the primary sources. There are two different organizers students will use; one organizer for photographic analysis and another for analyzing documents. During this time the teacher will instruct students the proper methods for analyzing primary sources. The teacher will explain how to best source the image or document and determine its origins and the who, what, when, where, and why regarding the source. The teacher will next explain how to narrow down the context of the source and how to place it within historical context. Third, the teacher will describe how a reader or viewer can corroborate or legitimize a source by assessing its viability. Lastly, the teacher will describe close-reading techniques such as “chunking” or underlining key terms which helps break the source down into more manageable sections.
Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) ‖ Time: 20 minutes
The first primary source students will analyze will be the photograph from Dien Bien Phu as this will help to establish chronology. I will explain to them about the significance of the French army’s defeat and how western nations became concerned about the spread of Communism from the North Vietnam. Students will focus on the image for approximately 2 minutes before writing answers into the analysis organizer, see attached.. They will input information such as picture date and location, picture title, inferences from the image and questions the image raised. We will spend approximately five minutes analyzing the image and responding to the written questions. The second source students will view is the letter from JFK to Ngo Dinh Diem from 1961. Before reading the letter I will explain to students how the U.S. took charge of containing Communism and felt obligated to defend South Vietnam. Students will use the document analysis organizer, see attached, to break down this source. Students will input into the organizer information that includes the date of the letter, the author and intended recipient, three important factors drawn from the letter, why it could have been written, two things that were happening in the U.S. at the time of the letter, and any unanswered questions. The letter will take approximately ten minutes to evaluate. The third source, which is the Bob Dylan song, will be listened to as a whole-class and students will respond to questions on a song analysis work sheet. Students will also receive a written transcript of the song lyrics to read as we listen to the song. After listening, students will answer on the song analysis sheet what they think the song is about, emotional responses from the song, text examples of what the author was trying to convey, unfamiliar words or phrases, and an alternate title of their own creation.
Lesson Closure ‖ Time: 5 minutes
Students working independently will choose one of the three primary sources and answer additional questions during a QuickWrite activity to close the lesson. Students will choose one source and answer why that source most clearly answers either why the U.S. chose to intervene in Vietnam or how the source contributed to the origins of unrest in Vietnam. Students will write six to eight complete sentences answering the prompt and will include direct references, or observations in the case of the image, back to the source to support their claims.
Assessments (Formative & Summative)
Formative: Prior to the analyzing sources I will monitor student questioning and assess their prior knowledge levels regarding the Vietnam War. As students converse about the timeline I will be listening for questions and misconceptions. When students are working collaboratively to complete the analysis organizers I will be walking around assessing their progress by viewing their worksheets.
Summative: Students will engage in a QuickWrite activity to complete the lesson. Students will turn in their writing as an exit card for leaving class and they will serve as an assessment for the teacher in seeing where to pick up the following lesson.
Summative: Students will engage in a QuickWrite activity to complete the lesson. Students will turn in their writing as an exit card for leaving class and they will serve as an assessment for the teacher in seeing where to pick up the following lesson.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs
ELL’s - The photograph primary source assists ELL’s in creating a big picture of what the class is analyzing. There are two potentially problematic terms in the JFK letter so they will be written on the board before the lesson.
Striving Readers - Understanding song lyrics may be difficult for striving readers, but by listening to it as a class and having time to collaborate with peers, they can gain understanding.
Students with Special Needs: Working in pairs will assist students with special needs in understanding the context of the written sources and creating understanding from the image and song.
Striving Readers - Understanding song lyrics may be difficult for striving readers, but by listening to it as a class and having time to collaborate with peers, they can gain understanding.
Students with Special Needs: Working in pairs will assist students with special needs in understanding the context of the written sources and creating understanding from the image and song.