Cold War America, Day 1 - Class Recap

My thoughts on the Berlin Wall, as aptly summed up by some graffiti there. That is how high the wall is, for anyone wondering. Photo taken in June 2013.

Hi everyone,

I am not sure about you, but I have a To Do list that is about a mile long at this point. I do like writing the blogs, though! It reminds me of everything we did today in class and makes me think of how it all went. In this case, I think it went well! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “The Times They Are a-Changin’” by Bob Dylan. Selected because we are changing to a new unit and this is a very famous song about American society changing. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/16/14:
News Brief
Newsflash
Cold War America PowerPoint
Pro/Con: The Bomb

Homework: Missing and/or late work to me by next Wednesday for progress report grades. Read the blog! Next news brief: Cocoro.

News Brief: Nikhil had the news brief today and brought in this developing story: CNN.com - South Korean shipwreck survivors: Passengers told 'don't move' as ship sank. Of course, I asked how this was related to the United States and Nikhil had a great (and correct) reply that the U.S. military was helping with the search for survivors. Here's hoping that more of the missing will be found alive and well.

Newsflash: This is absolutely my favorite way to start a new unit. Good teachers always try and assess where students are at before they teach any specific content (otherwise, we would have no idea if you had actually learned anything or not). If you wanted to see the hilarious "Whose Line is it Anyway?" clip again, here it is:

So awesome. Next, I passed out the "pre-assessment" paper that was geared around going back in time to the Cold War. If you did not know what the Cold War was about, that was fine! Here's the pre-assessment:

Google Drive: The Cold War Pre-Assessment

I enjoyed all the made up news reports! Brr! Many of them seemed to be quite cold in nature!

Cold War America PowerPoint: Next, I started actually teaching the class about the Cold War. If you missed class, or wanted to see the PowerPoint again, here it is (the notes guide is in class - I do not have an electronic copy):

Google Drive: The Cold War and McCarthyism PowerPoint

As I said in class, I really like PowerPoints that are more visual and interactive, so I try to include personal pictures and stories to connect the material with real life. Thank you for all the questions! I am looking forward to diving into the material even more with you.

Pro/Con: The Bomb: One of the slides in the PowerPoint was about the Arms and Space Races between the United States and the Soviet Union. When I asked the class how many atomic weapons had exploded in the world, we had a range from 2 to 80 or so. Here was the video that I showed in class (well, not all of it, but enough to get the point), which gives a visual reference for how many nuclear bombs have been detonated in the world's history:

As anyone can clearly see, there have been quite a lot of nuclear bombs detonated - most of which happened during the "Cold" War as a form of intimidation and power.

To end class, I passed out this reading about the ethics of dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to essentially end World War II. Next class, we will be debating both sides of this issue. Here is the sheet of possible reasons on either side. I would like everyone to come prepared with their top three reasons on either YES or NO, ready to debate next class.

wednet.edu - Was the Atomic Bomb Necessary to Win World War II?

Please be ready to talk about this! Thanks for an enjoyable class. See you next time! :-)