Teacher Name: Mary Barcroftgrade Level(S): 11-12Course: American History, US Wars

Lesson Plan
Korean War Timeline and Journaling

Teacher Name: Mary BarcroftGrade level(s): 11-12Course: American History, US Wars

Describe the classroom or homework activity to be performed(individual assignment, cooperative learning, cross curricular, technology based, using artifacts and/or primary sources, etc.)

• Using the Truman Library Korean War Document collection, the students will read primary documents, analyze and evaluate them, synthesize a summary and place them on a timeline. Once the timeline has been compiled, the students can then go around them room, read their classmate summaries, and journal their responses to each one.

Rationale (why are you doing this?

• This lesson will help students trace important events of the Korean War, learn to use methods of research, and allow them several opportunities to work with the material on their own terms to allow them to retain the information.

Required time frame: 3-4 days

Where in the teacher conference did you get the idea for this activity or assignment(speaker, document,photograph,activity, audio recording, other)?

• This idea came from the suggestion of one of the presidential library representatives who discussed using primary documents on a room wide time line and also from the documents available on the Truman Library website.

Lesson objectives – the student will:

• Evaluate primary resources related to the Korean War
• Summarize the events discussed in their primary sources
• Organize their information in chronological order
• Review the information once summarized by their classmates
• Reflect on their review and discuss what they consider to be important issues from the documents

District,state, or national performance and knowledge standards/goals/skills met (be specific when referencing):

• NATIONAL HISTORY STANDARD 2
• How the Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics.
• Explain the origins of the Cold War and the advent of nuclear politics. [Hold interpretations of history as tentative]
• Examine the U.S. response to the Chinese Revolution and its impact on the Cold War. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]
• Analyze the causes of the Korean War and how a divided Korea remained a source of international tension. [Formulate a position or course of action on an issue]
• Explain the rationale, implementation, and effectiveness of the U.S. containment policy. [Evaluate the implementation of a decision]
• Examine the U.S. response to the Chinese Revolution and its impact on the Cold War. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]
• Analyze the causes of the Korean War and how a divided Korea remained a source of international tension. [Formulate a position or course of action on an issue]

Secondary materials (book, article, video documentary, etc.) needed – cite title and other detailed information:

• None. This is intended as an introductory activity for students to discover on their own what happened.

Primary sources (document, photograph, artifact, diary or letter, audio or visual recording, etc.) needed – cite detailed information:

This is the Truman Library document collection from the Korean War. It has the documents available in PDF form, organized by month and year.

Fully describe the activity or assignment in detail. What will both you and the students do?

• Before the class, the teacher will (TTW) chose months and years that they want to cover with the students. Example: June, 1950 and make slips of paper with this date for the number of students they want to work on that month. TTW also place a tape line around the classroom to serve as the base for the timeline the students will create.
• TTW give students a brief background of the events leading up to June 25, 1950, including the role of Korea at the end of WWII. TTW bring the students right up to June 25, and then turn them over to do the activity.
• TTW divide students into small groups (size based on class size, and/or the number of documents in the month assigned) by having students draw the prepared slips. Their partners will be students with matching slips.
• In the computer lab, the students will (TSW) go to the Truman Library website ( and read the documents from their month and year. They can divide the documents among the group and then discuss what they have discovered. TSW receive a guide to organize their analysis of primary source document, and a set of instructions for the assignment.
• Within each group, TSW choose the document(s) they believe are the most important for that month, and put them above the tape on the wall in chronological order.
• TSW summarize the important points of their documents, and recommend those documents their classmates should read in full.
• After all students have completed their summaries and posted their documents on the timeline. All students will, as individuals, move around the room reading the summaries and applicable documents, creating a short journal entry for each period. (These journal entries can serve as their notes for the Korean War).

NOTE: If you have access to electronic resources such as Moodle, Blackboard, or VoiceThread, this can all be done electronically. Have students create a Wiki article with their information that is posted on the wall, and set up a discussion forum where they can discuss the documents back and forth between the classes. This expands the lesson to deeper discussion and consideration. Electronic resources would also cut down on the amount of time required in the classroom as students can read and reflect outside the classroom and post their reflections as homework.

Assessment: fully explain your assessment method in detail or create and attach your scoring guide:

• The students will be evaluated on the quality of their summaries and their journal entries by the attached scoring guide.

Handouts for Students
Korean Timeline and Journal Assignment

With your partner(s), go to the following website:

Go to the year and month you have been assigned and review the documents listed under that period.

Use the table below to summarize your findings.

With your partner(s), choose one to three documents that you think are the most important and print them.

Write a short summary of the information in the documents you have chosen, and explain why you think those are the most important ones for the period you are studying.

Find the correct area on the timeline on the wall in the classroom.

Tape your Primary source document ABOVE the line in chronological order

Tape your summary UNDER the line, beneath your primary document.

After all groups have posted their documents:

• As an individual, go around the room and read the work of your classmates.
• Take advantage of reading the primary source document provided for you
• At each station, take notes on the material and create a short journal entry reflecting on the meaning of what you read.

This information will serve as your notes on the Korean War so make sure you take thorough notes and journals.

Primary Document Analysis

Who wrote document / Who is the
audience / What does it say? / Most important points:

Document Summary

We chose the following document:

What Does it Say:

What we think it means:

Why we chose this as an important document

(Think about cause and effect, influence on the war, who, what, when, where, why)

Korean War Timeline and Journal Rubric

CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 / Weight
Resources / Evaluated all documents available for assigned dates / Evaluated ¾ of documents available for assigned dates / Evaluated ½ of documents available for assigned dates / Did not evaluate at least ½ of the documents assigned / X3
Total:
Content/Facts / Facts were accurate and complete for summary / Facts were accurate and complete for almost all of the summary / Facts were accurate and complete for half of the summary. / Most of the facts were inaccurate and incomplete for the summary / X4
Total:
Dates / An accurate, complete date has been included for each summary / An accurate, complete date is missing for ¼ of summaries / An accurate, complete date is missing for ½ of summaries / Dates are inaccurate and/or missing for most summaries. / X2
Total:
Use of Time / Classroom time was used to work on the project. Conversations were not disruptive and focused on the work. / Classroom time was used to work on the project the majority of the time. Conversations were not disruptive and focused on the work. / Classroom time was used to work on the project the majority of the time, but conversations often were disruptive or did not focus on the work. / Student did not use classroom time to work on the project and/or was highly disruptive. / X2
Total:
Spelling and Capitalization / Spelling and capitalization are correct throughout. / There were several (1-3) spelling and capitalization mistakes. / Spelling and capitalization were mostly correct. / The amount of spelling and capitalization errors was unacceptable for a high school level project. / X2
Total:
Journaling / The journal notes contain important information for all parts of timeline / The journal notes contain important information for 3/4 of timeline. / The journal notes contain important information for ½ of timeline / Less than half of timeline is recorded I journal. / X5
Total:
GRADE ______/100