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Frey Mitchum UnitPlan
Frey Mitchum UnitPlan
Created by Katie Rose Frey and Shawn Mitchum
The purpose of this unit is to familiarize students to all perspectives on the
Vietnam War. In all too many US History classes, we hear the American side of the
story and nothing else. This unit is designed to open the minds of students to other
perspectives as well. There is a focus on American involvement (this IS a US History
course), but it’s important to understand history is not only the tale of one side.
Homework assignments in this unit are geared toward student interaction with
history, from talking to somebody they know who experienced the war, talking to a
guest speaker, discussing the material they’re interacting with, and finding songs
that help students put into perspective American sentiment regarding the war. We
integrate reading, videos, lectures, songs, group and class discussions, and a speaker
to help make this a complete experience. Having an emotional response to
something helps us remember it; therefore, all of our activities are geared toward
facilitating an emotional connection with all aspects of the Vietnam War. Our goal is
to have students engaging with and responding to what they’re being exposed‐
especially primary sources. Each day begins with a warm‐up, and usually the warm‐
up follows up on what the students have engaged with the day before. This
reinforces what students have seen/heard/learned the day before and connects it to
the activities of the new day.
Our reasoning behind day one: we want to see what students already know
about the Vietnam War and what their preconceptions are. We also want to get
them thinking about what they already know so they can build upwards or to
reconstruct what they thought when they started. We begin with an interesting
lecture/PowerPoint presentation to give students a base from where to build:
names, dates and important events, just so they have a foundation. This
presentation will include photos, video clips, and music to make it more engaging.
Our reasoning behind day two and three: we want students to read first hand
accounts from Vietnamese people from different perspectives on the war, so they
can have a better understanding of the people.
Our reasoning behind days four and five: we want students to understand
what Americans were experiencing in Vietnam and at home. This lesson will lead us
into anti‐war protests and into the guest speaker.
We feel our use of transitions will help facilitate our activities and give the
unit a natural feeling. Our days are self‐explanatory in how they flow, and are
designed to give students the most bang for their tax buck.
Day 1:
1. Warm‐up: Teacher will write the words “Vietnam War” on the board, and at the
beginning of class, teacher will ask students to come up to the board and write
words or phrases that come to mind when they think of the Vietnam War. (5‐7
minutes)
2. Teacher will ask the students to talk about what they wrote and why. (5‐10
minutes)
3. Teacher will ask students to take out their notebooks and will play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAa6_574nAs for transition video while
students get ready, sharpen their pencils, whatever they have to do. This is a video
with VN War footage set to the song “Run Through the Jungle” by Creedence
Clearwater Revival.
4. Teacher will give an amazing, exciting, PowerPoint presentation with facts and a
background for the Vietnam War with video and music clips throughout.
5. Students will be fascinated.
6. Teacher will ask students for homework, to read pages ?‐? from their “textbook”
(whether we chose the recommended school text, or a text of our own that better
compliments the class) about the war in Vietnam (not all of it, specified sections that
compliment material covered in class‐ our aim is not to bog students down after
school, especially since we all know textbooks can be SUPER boring…)
Day 2: Northern Vietnamese perspectives
1. Warm‐up: Describe in your own words two factors that led to the Vietnam War
based upon your textbook reading and the lecture from the day before. (10 minutes)
2. Teachers will number students off into twos, and students who are number 1 will
receive the print out from the book Portrait of the Enemy by David Chanoff and
Doan Van Toai, and they will read “Le Thanh: Coming of Age in the North” (pro‐
communism); students numbered 2 will read “Xuan Vu: The War Correspondent
and Propaganda Chief Goes North” from the same book (skeptical of communism).
(20 minutes for the reading).
3. Teacher will have students write at least one question in the margin, underline
one thing they found interesting on each page (to incorporate content reading
strategies).
4. Teacher will have students get into groups of four (two number 1s and two
number 2s in each) and students will talk to each other about their articles with
guided discussion points:
1) Describe the person writing. Who were they? Where were they from?
What did they believe? What did they do?
2) How did your person feel about communism in the north and why?
This activity will last the remainder of the hour, until the teacher brings class
together to describe the homework for the next day.
5) Teacher will explain homework: for students to talk to a relative or someone
close to them who lived during that time, what they thought about the war and how
they remember it.
Day 3:
1. Warm‐up: Teacher will have prompt written on the board: “Write about what
your relative/friend told you about the Vietnam War.” Alternative Warm‐UP for
those without people to talk to, or students who “forgot”: (8‐10 minutes)
2. Teacher will read from excerpts from Last Night I Dreamed of Peace by Dr. Dang
Thuy Tram‐ a woman who was a doctor for the Vietnamese resistance in the south.
(Specifically her entries on 1968: May 12, June 4, November 3; and 1969: March 27,
April 2, and any others teacher feels shows the passion in the southern resistance)
*Student classroom discussion to guided questions:
1) Who was Dang Thuy Tram
2) What did she do? Where was she?
3) What did she believe about communism? What did she believe about
Vietnam?
*Reading= 6 minutes, discussion, 5 minutes
3.Teacher will read aloud excerpt from a pro‐US government Vietnamese and then
student discussion of guided questions.
*Reading 6 minutes, discussion 5 minutes
4. Video clips of Vietnamese interviews ( 15 minutes)
5. Teacher will describe homework: Find an American song that was written during
the Vietnam War period. (This can be pro or anti war, but must be about the war or
politics during the time.) Students must bring a copy of lyrics and the web address
to class the next day.
Day 4: American Perspective
1) Warm‐Up: Write about one of the Vietnamese people we read about over the last
two days. What did they believe and why? Do you agree or disagree with what they
believed and what they did? (7‐10 minutes).
2) Americans in the war (20 minutes)
‐Soldier experience: the draft, draft dodgers
‐Soldier experience: Vietnam‐ video
*Ask students after: What would you do if you were drafted?
‐American citizens: what were people thinking and feeling about the war
back in the states? Show pictures and advertisements, and other visual aids, and
then transition into the students’ songs.
3) Students have brought in protest songs, we will listen to several in class and
students will answer questions about them in‐group discussion. (15‐20 minutes)
1) What does this song say about the war?
4) Teacher will pass out homework: students will be numbered by 3,
1: SDS Vietnam Anti‐War Speech (1965) 2 pages
2: Vietnam War Veteran John Kerry’s Testimony Before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, April 22, 1971 (select pages from)
3: Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam Speech by Martin
Luther King Jr. (1967) (select pages from)
*Students must write at least one of the following: one question, one
comment, and highlight one interesting quote for each page in their
numbered reading. (I will collect this).
Day 5: American Protests
1) Warm‐Up (10 minutes): Students get into groups of 3 (one from each reading)
and they talk with each other about:
Guided discussion questions:
1) Who was speaking out against the Vietnam War?
2) What were their reasons for speaking out against the War?
3) Who was the audience?
2) Bring students back together. Ask, how are these all related? How are they
different? (5 minutes)
3) Introduce guest speaker
*In our dream world, we would have one of my history professors from
college come and speak to the students about his experiences in the US during the
war: the draft, anti‐war sentiment, and how he participated in actively protesting
the war. (This is a real person). When he is done, a time for questions. This will take
the rest of the hour. If it doesn’t, students can write about war protests.
4) Teacher will describe summative assessment. This will be a 1‐2 page double‐
spaced paper that will assess their learning over the past week. It will be due on the
following Monday.
Prompt: Write about one aspect of the Vietnam War that stood out to you
over the past week. Include at least two primary sources as part of your paper (this
can be from the readings, songs, and/or speaker.) In addition, how do you feel about
the US’ involvement in Vietnam?