Domino Theory

20/21 April 2016

Standards:
3. Communicates clearly in writing and speaking.

4. Uses engaging ways to begin a new unit of study or lesson, and applies sound pedagogical
practices of lesson construction.

5. Builds on students prior knowledge and experience, and offers real world learning activities
that address school, community and societal issues.
12. Assigns practice or homework with the intended purpose of solidifying and extending student
learning and providing a check for understanding.
Learner Background: Students will have covered the Cold War up until the Cuban Missile Crisis
of 1962. This will mark the beginning of a new unit and will build on the background of prior
proxy wars, such as the Korean War.
Student Objectives: Students will be able to describe the history of the USs attempt at
Containment against Communism and the history of the Domino Theory. Students will analyze a
film clip on the Vietnam War.
Materials: Domino Theory PowerPoint, Ride of the Valkyries Clip from Apocalypse Now,
World War II and Cold War exam
Initiation:
D: Students will finish their exams on the unit prior for the first twenty minutes. The exam will
cover the essay section of the exam.
G: The DO NOW will read: Grab a post-it notes, in your own words define Communism and
give an example of three Communist countries during the Cold War. The class will list the
countries on the board and decide on a class definition of Communism.
My definition of Communism will be: A collective economy, based on the worker being ruled by
the elite party.
Learning Activities:
D: A PowerPoint on Domino Theory and what that fear of Communism spreading meant for the
American people. Students will orally summarize each slides information into one sentence that
will be written on the whiteboard. They will take notes on a printed copy of the PowerPoint
slides.
G: A PowerPoint on Domino Theory and what that fear of Communism spreading meant for the
American people. Students will orally summarize each slides information into one sentence that
will be written on the whiteboard. The Korean War slide will emphasize the vocab word of proxy
wars and how Vietnam could be used to define proxy war. The PowerPoint will last thirty five
minutes. They will take notes on a printed copy of the PowerPoint slides.
Students will end with a five minute clip of The Ride of the Valkyries from Apocalypse Now.
The students will respond to a question written on the board, The average ages of the soldiers
who fought in Vietnam ranged from 16 to 22, imagine you were an American soldier, and how
would you feel about being in this battle? Imagine you were a Vietnamese soldier, how would
you feel about being in this battle? This conversation should last for ten minutes.
Closure: The students will answer the exit slip question, How does the Vietnam War follow the
footsteps of the prior actions of the United States? The students for homework will be find out
if they knew a relative that served in Vietnam. (Five minutes).
Assessment: Assessment for the lesson itself will come from the closure activity, and will reflect
whether the students learned that the Vietnam War was the next step in the development of
Trumans Containment policies that had dragged the United States into the Korean War prior.
Strategies for Modification: Slide sheets of the PowerPoint will be printed out for all students so
they may take notes alongside the slide the class is currently on.