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The 1950s

Unit Plan

 

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The 1950s

Grade Levels

10th Grade, 11th Grade, 9th Grade

Course, Subject

Civics and Government, Geography, History, Reading and Writing in History and Social Studies
Related Academic Standards
CC.8.5.9-10.A CC.8.5.9-10.A
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
5.2 5.2

Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
6.5 6.5
Income, Profit, and Wealth
7.3 7.3
Human Characteristics of Places and Regions
8.1.9.A 8.1.9.A

Compare patterns of continuity and change over time, applying context of events.
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  • Big Ideas
    Historical context is needed to comprehend time and space.
    Historical interpretation involves an analysis of cause and result.
    Perspective helps to define the attributes of historical comprehension.
    The history of the United States continues to influence its citizens, and has impacted the rest of the world.
  • Concepts
    Biography is a historical construct used to reveal positive and/or negative influences an individual can have on the United States society.
    Comprehension of the experiences of individuals, society, and how past human experience has adapted builds aptitude to apply to civic participation.
    Historical causation involves motives, reasons, and consequences that result in events and actions.
    Historical causation involves motives, reasons, and consequences that result in events and actions. Some consequences may be impacted by forces of the irrational or the accidental.
    Historical literacy requires a focus on time and space, and an understanding of the historical context of events and actions.
    Historical literacy requires a focus on time and space, and an understanding of the historical context, as well as an awareness of point of view.
    Historical skills (organizing information chronologically, explaining historical issues, locating sources and investigate materials, synthesizing and evaluating evidence, and developing arguments and interpretations based on evidence) are used by an analytical thinker to create a historical construction.
    Learning about the past and its different contexts shaped by social, cultural, and political influences prepares one for participation as active, critical citizens in a democratic society.
    Textual evidence, material artifacts, the built environment, and historic sites are central to understanding United States history.
    United States history can offer an individual discerning judgment in public and personal life, supply examples for living, and thinking about one’s self in the dimensions of time and space.
    United States history can offer an individual judicious understanding about one’s self in the dimensions of time and space.
  • Competencies
    Analyze a primary source for accuracy and bias and connect it to a time and place in United States history.
    Analyze the interaction of cultural, economic, geographic, political, and social relations for a specific time and place.
    Articulate the context of a historical event or action.
    Construct a biography of an American and generate conclusions regarding his/her qualities and limitations.
    Evaluate cause-and-result relationships bearing in mind multiple causations.
    Synthesize a rationale for the study of individuals in United States history.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

List important themes of the 1950s.

Describe the tension among American citizens during the Red Scare.

Brainstorm to initiate thought about what will be covered in the unit.

Describe why Americans were afraid of Communism.

Identify major players in the Red Scare.

Write a short paper on how Communism was feared by Americans.

Compare the conformity of the 1950s to the social aspects of today.

Describe the stereotypical American family during the 1950s.

Explain the reasons for post-war conformity.

Explain what popular culture is and why it is important to understanding a time period.

Work productively in groups.

Describe the origins of the Space Race.

Create a guide to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Gallery of the Space Race.

Analyze the significance of the Space Race in terms of technology and intelligence in 1950s America.

Identify different issues facing the United States during the Arms Race.

Create a list of items that they would take into their fallout shelter.

Empathize with American citizens who experienced life in the United States during the nuclear arms race.

The students will be able to create a list of benefits they feel veterans should receive.

Compare and contrast the treatment of GIs after WWI to the treatment of the veterans of Iraq.

Explain the benefits given to veterans through the GI Bill.

Research minority groups and their struggle for Civil Rights.

Formulate a research paper discussing minorities and equality.

Empathize with individuals’ struggles towards equality.

Analyze US involvement in Korea.

Create a persuasive essay arguing the policy of containment in Korea.

Present their persuasive essay to the class.

Describe the concept of containment.

List important themes of the 1950s.

Describe the tension among American citizens during the Red Scare.

 

 

Unit Essential Question(s)

What were the effects of Communism on the United States during the 1950s?

How did society change during the 1950s as compared to previous decades?

How did various government programs and social movements lead to the transformation of the United States during the 1950s?

End of Unit Assessment

The 1950s Test.pdf

Related Lesson Plans

1950s Lessons and Materials.pdf

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