FRANKLIN COLLEGE

Education Department
Field School Lesson Plan
Name___Daryann Moudy______________________________________________Lesson
Number_____1____________
Subject Area____United States History______________________________________ Grade
Level____________11_____________
Date__________________________________ Start time________________ End
time___________________________
Cooperating Teachers
Signature_______________________________________________________________________
Topic/Concept/Skill:
Containment Policy during the Cold War.
Related Standard:
USH.6.1 Understand the domino theory and its relationship to the principle of containment.
Identify key events and individuals as well as their connections to post World War II tensions
(Cold War). (Government, Geography)
Background:
Students will have already learned about World War II and the relationship between the US and
the Soviet Union following the war. From their chapter readings, they will be familiar with key
policies relating to containment, including the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine.
Main Objective of Instruction:
In order to understand the principal of containment during the Cold War, TSWBAT identify and
explain key events and policies from the Cold War period from a brief timeline to group members
in a given amount of time.
Teacher Materials/Resources:
Projected document with Cold War Timeline and key terms
Explanation of activity
Student Materials:
American Pageant Textbook
Class notes
Cold War timeline and Key terms
Anticipatory Set (Introductory Approach):
The lesson will begin by asking students what they can tell me about the Cold War. I will then ask
them to imagine what it would be like if they did not know anything about the outcome of the
Cold War. I will pose the question, What if there was a group of people who had been sealed
away, essentially put in a time capsule, at the height of the Cold War? And what if those people
were to suddenly find themselves in present day America? How do you think they would react?

How would you explain to them what had happened in the world since they had been sealed
away?
Instructional Procedures (Whole Group):
1. Explain the activity.
a. Due to concerns about losing the American way of life, during the height of the
Cold War, the government locked away a group of American citizens in a remote
Utah mountain. Those people were put in stasis and were to be released if the US
was destroyed by the Soviet Union. Their task was to restart society should this
happen. Over the years, these people were forgotten about, and were not released
once the Cold War ended. They were recently rediscovered and now have to be
educated on everything that has happened since they were locked away.
2. Once the activity is explained, the class will count off by twos and be split into two
separate groups. Group 1 will start off as the group of people that were locked away during
the Cold War. Group 2 will begin as the government officials that have been assigned to
teach Group 1 about what has happened since they were locked away. Remind students
that when explaining and looking for information to focus on the who, what, when, where,
and why.
3. After the class has been split into their groups, they will have 20 minutes to review their
notes and look through their books for any information they feel they may need to
complete this activity (Intrapersonal, Verbal/Linguistic). Remind the students to be quiet so
that everyone can focus on the task. During this time a list of key events, policies, and
dates that the students will be projected. There will be two lists on this projection, one
labeled for each group. Each student should choose at least five topics from their list to
discuss. Students can also use this time to ask questions about the material or activity.
Provide a few extra minutes for students to prepare if it looks like it is needed.
4. After the 20 minutes of preparation are up, the students will pair up with someone from
the other group. Students in Group 2 will have 20 minutes to teach Group 1 students
about what they missed while they were locked away. (Interpersonal)
5. Once that 20 minutes are up, students will find a different partner from the opposite group
and switch roles. So Group 1 students will now be the government officials and will have to
explain the events of the Cold War to the students from Group 2. Group 1 will then have 20
minutes to teach Group 2.
6. After this set of 20 minutes are up, the students will come back together as a class and
spend the remaining time in class to discuss the activity.
Provisions for Individual and/or Group Differences:
For students that need it, a more detailed timeline will be provided with directions on where to
find additional information in the book.
Closure:
After all students have had a chance to go through the activity in all roles, we well come back
together as a class to discuss the activity. I will ask them:
Do you think that locking away a group of people could have been something that the
government considered during the Cold War? Why or why not?
What would you have done if you were the president and there was a possibility of
mutually assured destruction?
What do you think was the most important policy or event that occurred during this time?
How do you think this activity went?
Evaluation of Learning:
At the beginning of the next class, there will be a short quiz over material that should have been
covered during this lesson.

Independent Practice:
Students will finish reading the chapter to prepare for the next class period.

Group 1

"Hot and cold" wars (ex. Korea)

the Marshall Plan
NATO
containment
the Berlin/Germany situation,
the Cuban missile crisis
the arms race
the collapse of the Soviet Union
Group 2

the status of communism today

the era of McCarthyism
instances of domestic communism and blacklisting
the Truman Doctrine
the Berlin Wall

 the Korean War

the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis
"Mutual assured destruction" doctrine

the Vietnam War

Cold War Activity Quiz

1. Explain the idea of containment as used during the Cold War.

2. Explain the Marshall Plan and how it relates to the domino theory.

3. Identify Joseph McCarthy and explain the role he played in America during the Cold War.

4. Explain the importance of the Berlin Wall.

Cold War Activity Quiz Answer Key

1. Containment was a policy used by the US during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism to
countries that were not already communist.
2. The Marshall Plan allotted $13 million to provide aid to Western European countries following World
War II. The idea behind this was that the aid would allow these countries to rebuild and keep them from
falling to communism. This was part of domino theory, which was the belief that if one country fell to
communism, then all surrounding countries would eventually fall to communism.
3. Joseph McCarthy was a US Senator who spent much of his time in Senate attempting to identify
communists, Soviet spies and sympathizers within the United States.
4. The Berlin Wall separated East Germany from West Germany for the entirety of the Cold War. This wall
also essentially cut off communist East Europe from the rest of Europe (Iron Curtain).