Guest Speakers - The Vietnam War

Recently, we were very fortunate to have two guest speakers come to our class to talk about their experiences in the Vietnam War. These presentations added a lot to our study of how the Cold War affected America and helped us understand the feelings and experiences of those who actually took part in this conflict.

Students found that Mr. Michael Hebert and Rev. Michael Morris had some very important characteristics in common such as the fact that they were both proud to have served their country, and that their experiences had a positive effect on how they chose to live the rest of their lives.

At the same time, they were able to provide the students with a variety of personal experiences about the war since they served in different branches of the military, at different points in the war, and in different capacities.

I found from our discussion and reflection activities that the students truly gained a lot from these visits, especially through their opportunities to ask questions and compare experiences.

Hunting Communists

On Monday, students participated in an activity to help them gain an understanding of the feelings of suspicion among Americans in the 1940's and 1950's regarding communism in the United States. Students were each given a folded index card, most of which were blank. A few cards however, had a red dot on the inside, which meant that they were communists. Students were then asked to form groups with other students, as large as possible, without any communists in them. Any group that had successfully managed to keep out "communists" won. At the same time, any "communist" who had successfully infiltrated a group won as well.

From this activity, students learned that it is not fair, nor productive, to make judgements and decisions based on fear and suspicion.

Joseph McCarthy and the "Red Scare"

Here is some video footage from the infamous Army-McCarthy Hearings:

Duck and Cover

Here is the Duck and Cover instructional video from the 1950's, telling people what to do in the case of a nuclear attack on the United States:



After watching Duck and Cover in class, students were surprised with their own atomic bomb drill. When the alarm sounded, they quickly got under their desks to protect themselves:





During the 1950's and 60's, a number of families built fallout shelters to protect them in the case of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. This video shows what those shelters were like:

The Butter Battle

On Wednesday, I read The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss, to the classes. This book tells the story of the Yooks, who eat their bread butter-side up, and their enemy the Zooks, who eat their's butter-side down. In order to defend their way of life, each side compete's with the other building newer and more destructive weapons. As I read, students quickly realized that this story was a metaphor for the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.



Here is the TV version of The Butter Battle Book. It is not as good as the book, but may still be helpful in remembering the lesson of the story. The video is in three parts.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:

The Berlin Wall

Here is the Megastructures video we watched in class: