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David De Tora Dr. Coiro EDC 448 March 9, 2010 Diverse Text Assignment This is a diverse set of texts I would use if I were teaching high school students about the Vietnam War. These texts are going to be used to teach my 10th grade American History class about the war. This can be a very complicated topic to study because it is one of the most convoluted and controversial issues of our history. It is important to study all aspects of this topic so students can understand why America handled the war the way we did, and also why many people were opposed to the war. In this 10th grade classroom I will most likely have students at all different reading levels. I have comprised a number of different texts for all types of diverse learners. A. Print Resources: Text #1: Citation: Dallek, R. Garcia, J. Ogle, D. Risinger, C. (2008). The vietnam war years (1954-1975), American history (385-399). Geneva, IL: McDougal Littell. Text Summary: This text is from a high school text book. This would be the assigned textbook reading that I would have students read to get objective factual information about the Vietnam war. Rationale: I selected this text because in order for this lesson to take place, students need a to be knowledgeable about the topic. This textbook is geared towards high school students, and this will give them a basic understanding of the events of the Vietnam War. Use of Text: I would ask students to approach this text like I would ask them to approach everything in their textbook. Use the M&MDAVIS strategies for a better understanding of the information. Use the headings, visuals, look at all the charts, make inferences, draw conclusions etc… I would tell them to take notes while they are reading, and come to class prepared for a discussion and to ask questions for clarity. Attachment: I have attached the first 5 pages of the section in the textbook. See Attachment #1. Text #2: Citation: Bagguley, J. & Woolf, C. (1967). Authors take sides on vietnam. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. Text Summary: This was a primary source book put together in 1967 when the war was at its peak. The two editors presented over 100 authors of the time with a questionnaire basically asking them all the simple question of, “do you agree with the war in Vietnam or not?” This book lists all of the authors answers to this question. Each answer is more a less a paragraph long each. Rationale: One thing about the Vietnam war that is particularly important, is how it divided Americas. Some people were strongly in favor of the war, and some were passionately against. This primary source book will give students a perspective on how people felt about the war at the time. Use of Text: I would not have students read this whole book. It is a challenging text, and there are so many opinions in it, the book can be overwhelming. I will go through the text first and make photocopies of certain opinions. I would then present students with certain excerpts from the book and ask them to come up with their own opinion on the matter. Attachment: I have attached a few photocopied pages of this book that I would present to students. See Attachment #2. Text # 3: Citation: Bunting, E. (1990). The Wall. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Text Summary: This is a picture book about a young boy and his dad who travel to the Vietnam Wall. While they are at the wall they find the name of the young boy’s grandfather on the wall. This picture book is aimed for readers 4-8 years old, and explains the tragedy of war in a simple way. Rationale: This is a book that I would read aloud to students at the beginning of the unit. I think it is important to recognize that though these students are teenagers they immediately understand the horror and reality of war. I want to read this aloud to them just to illustrate on a very simple level how war can affect people very tragically at home. Use of Text: I would ask students to just clear everything off their desks, relax, and focus on me so I could read to them and show them the illustrations. At the end of the book I would ask students to reflect on what they thought about me reading to them, and what do they think the book was trying to get across to small children. Attachment: This was not a book I could attach to this assignment. Text # 4: Citation: (1968, February 26). Probably will need troop boost westmoreland says; reserves decision awaits wheeler return. The Blade, p. 1A, 4A. Text Summary: This is an actual article that ran in The Blade, Toledo Ohio’s newspaper, in February of 1968. One topic covered during the study of the Vietnam War is the Tet Offensive. This article is about General Westmoreland, the top general in Vietnam at the time, stating that because of this new military plan more troops are going to be needed in Vietnam. Rationale: This is a great primary source document for students to read. This is much more effective than me standing at the board lecturing about the Tet Offensive. After I explain to them what this is, I can pass out this article and have them read for themselves what people were reading in 1968 when this policy was brand new. Use of text: I will ask students to read the article first. Then I will ask them to get into groups and go back through it looking for any biases in the article that they can find. I will ask them to answer the question, does this article seem to have a bias slant to it? Attachment: I could not attach this text because Google news will not allow me to print archived articles. Text # 5: Citation: O’Brien, T. (2002). The things they carried. Spark Pub Group. Text Summary: This is a novel on many high school summer reading lists. It is about a group of foot soldiers fighting in Vietnam. It is broken up into short stories so the reader can identify with each of the characters. Rationale: I would give this book to students as out of class reading. This is a novel that I want them to be reading a little bit each night, just to form a more personal connection with the topic being studied. If they can get into the book and connect with the characters, it will not only increase their understanding of the War, but also attach them personally to the war. Use of text: I would ask students to purchase the book for outside reading. If their was a financial issue, the student would be accommodated. I would simply ask them to enjoy reading the novel. I would tell them to read a little bit each day, maybe one short story per night before bed. I would not test them on this reading, however there will be time set aside for group and class book discussion. Attachment: I am not able to attach this book. B. Media Resources : Text # 6: Citation: McDonald J. (1967). Feel like I’m fixing to die. Podcast retrieved from http://beemp3.com. Text Summary: This is a song by Country Joe McDonald. It is probably the most famous anti-war protest song, and was performed at Woodstock. The chorus is, “one, two, three, what are we fighting for? Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn, next stop is Vietnam. And it’s five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates. Well, there ain’t no time to wonder why, whoopee we’re all gonna die.” Rationale: I would play part of this song for students, so they can hear how passionately many Americans felt about the war in Vietnam. In the singers voice you can hear the anger, and when the people at Woodstock join in it becomes a very tense song. I can only play parts of the song for students, due to the fact that some verses get very vulgar. Use of text: I would ask students to get into groups before I played the song. After the excerpts of the song were finished I would tell them to discuss some of the song lyrics they heard. I would ask them to think if they liked the song or not. This would also lead to a discussion about the different ways anti-war Americans expressed themselves during this time. Attachment: I am not able to attach this audio file. Text # 7: Citation: PBS (producer). (2009, August 11). Vietnam a television history 1, the roots of war 1. Podcast retrieved from http://youtube.com Text Summary: This is a you tube video. It is an excerpt from a long miniseries that PBS put together about the Vietnam war. I have seen this miniseries and the whole thing is very good. However, I do not have the time to show the class the whole series, and it is very expensive to purchase. This 7 minutes shows actual footage of American soldiers arriving in Vietnam, Americans back at home protesting the war, and a speech by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s speaking about the war. Rationale: Studying any event in history is difficult if one cannot imagine what the events being studied actually looked like. I would spend some time showing this video clip to students so they could get a better vision of what all these events actually looked like. This PBS miniseries is great because it uses all primary source video from the era. Use of text: I would ask students to take out a notebook and while they watched the video jot down any thought that come to mind about what they are seeing, the way the people are dressed, the way people are acting, the protest signs they see. After the video we will have a group discussion about the images students may be curious about. Attachment: I am not able to attach this video clip. C. Online Interactive Resources: Text # 8: Citation: Jacobson, J. The vietnam war: a webquest. Retrieved from http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/wq/jared/webquest.html. Text Summary: This is a webquest designed for 10th grade students. The students work in groups to research a topic about the war. All of the websites that students can gather information from in listed on this website. Rationale: This is a fun way to get students working on a research topic. Teenagers love surfing the web, so this is a good way to incorporate their interests in the classroom. Use of text: I will assign students to groups, attempting to create as many heterogeneous groups as possible. I will then ask them each to select a research topic from the website, and give them class time in the computer lab to work together on the project. Attachment: I am not able to attach this text. Text # 9: Citation: O’Reilly, K. (May 2001). Escalation: vietnam war simulation. Retrieved from http://www.escalationsim.com/history.html. Text Summary: This is a piece of software available for teachers to buy for their classrooms online. It has the student take on the role of President Lyndon Johnson, the man who is responsible for most of the events that took place in Vietnam. It presents students with the same decisions Johnson was presented with, and then the students have to handle the situation themselves. Each decision that the students make effects the series of events, and they have to face consequences just like President Johnson did. Rationale: This simulation is by far my favorite text in this set. When studying the Vietnam war it is easy to point fingers, and say we should have never done that. However, This actually puts the students in the role of the President of the United States. They will have a completely different outlook on the series of events. Use of text: I will ask students to work in pairs for this assignment. I will tell them that as “co-presidents” of the United States they have to come to agreements on how to handle the war in Vietnam. It is easy to teach why Americans were against the war, because many of the decisions that President Johnson made seemed unreasonable an unwarranted. This simulation however is going to make students realize that this was a very complicated situation that did not have an easy solution. Attachment: I am not able to attach this text. D. Instructional Resources: Text # 10: Citation: Sims, B. (May 26, 1998). The vietnam war: past and present. Retrieved from http://tappedin.org/archive/projects/vietnam/ Text Summary: This is a website that is aimed at teachers teaching the Vietnam war to high school students. It offers a historical background of the war for teachers, how to approach the subject, and provides curriculum ideas. Rationale: I would use this text for myself. A good teacher is a life long learner. Before teaching this topic I would need to refresh my memory on the information. Use of text: I would use this website not just for factual information, but also for curriculum ideas. There is an abundance of information that I can learn from other teachers, and after reviewing some of the activities that other teachers used in their classroom I would like to adopt them in my own. Attachment: I have attached the first page of this website. See Attachment #3. None of these texts alone would be able to do justice to this topic in history. Nor, would any of these texts alone give students an adequate background of what occurred during the Vietnam war. However, the whole set I believe does a good job of presenting students with various perspectives of the issue. I have chosen text such as a song, video, and picture book for students who are not strong readers. I have chosen a novel for high school students for those students who are reading at their reading level. Also, I have chosen primary source documents for those students who are above their reading level. I am assuming that I will be teaching this class to different levels of learners so it is important to have diverse texts that can accommodate everyone. I would have all students reading all of the texts, however I have placed the students in groups for all of the texts I believe to be challenging. By creating heterogeneous groups, I am hoping that the students will help each other learn. Learning Objectives: - Students will be able to provide arguments for both being in favor of the Vietnam war, and also opposed to the Vietnam war. (Rhode Island Social Studies Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation.) - Students will actively be able to understand the reading of a historical text with fluency and conceptual understanding. (Rhode Island Grade Level Expectancies 10-11.2)