​rethink.

Overview:

Students will use explore and discover several different modalities of media that influenced the Vietnam War as a whole. By studying print sources, TV coverage, journals, and images, the students will gain an understanding of how technological advances changed how society saw the war. By the end of the unit, students will have analyzed propaganda, personal journal writing, and multiple pieces of art. They will form and express their own ideas about the Vietnam War, as well as how they see the influence of media.The students will take inspiration from the story of Patrick Seamus Faherty as well as the artwork of Martha Rosler in order to create their own 3D map of the Vietnam War, in which they will cover the basic timeline of the war along with other important aspects.

 

 

 

Rationale:

Teaching the topic of war to young children can be difficult. Students must be introduced to the subject in a way that is respectful, honest, and appropriate to their age and level of understanding. Because children often times absorb dates and facts with little understanding of the causes of war, the realities of the battlefield, or the devastating consequences for war-torn nations, it is important that teachers create and choose sincere and relevant lessons to share with her or his students. For this reason, we have created a unit plan that includes four lessons that go beyond the textbook description of the Vietnam War and allow students to create their own connections and personal understandings of war as well as its causes and effects. Our lessons feature a variety of teaching techniques that encourage students to engage in critical thinking skills including higher-order thinking, visual thinking, and conceptual thinking among others. Overall, we hope our unit plan allows students to make meaningful connections with the Vietnam War in way that using only the textbook does not.