Goals and Objectives
Goal: Students will understand what is was like for ordinary citizens living in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Objectives: Using information gathered through independent research, students will use at least two key terms in deliberating the pros and cons of Communism and decide whether it is a viable economic system.
Objectives: Using information gathered through independent research, students will use at least two key terms in deliberating the pros and cons of Communism and decide whether it is a viable economic system.
Content Standards
10.9.2. Analyze the causes of the Cold War, with the free world on one side and Soviet client states on the other, including competition for influence in such places as Egypt, the Congo, Vietnam, and Chile.
10.9.7. Analyze the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the weakness of the command economy, burdens of military commitments, and growing resistance to Soviet rule by dissidents in satellite states and the non-Russian Soviet republics.
10.9.7. Analyze the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the weakness of the command economy, burdens of military commitments, and growing resistance to Soviet rule by dissidents in satellite states and the non-Russian Soviet republics.
Lesson Introduction
First Day of the Lesson:
The teacher will host a brief discussion about what students think life was like for ordinary people in the Soviet Union based on their prior knowledge of what has been discussed in class as well as what they have heard from parents, friends, and multimedia sources about communism. The teacher will then explain that over the next couple of days the students will find out what capitalism and communism really are and will learn how those kinds of economies affected the quality of life in America and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Day Two:
The teacher will begin the class by asking for a couple of student volunteers to describe any interesting information that they learned about while doing research. This will give the students time to think about what they researched and to get their mind ready for the debate. This will also allow students to share information that they found with the entire class and will add to the entire class' knowledge base.
The teacher will host a brief discussion about what students think life was like for ordinary people in the Soviet Union based on their prior knowledge of what has been discussed in class as well as what they have heard from parents, friends, and multimedia sources about communism. The teacher will then explain that over the next couple of days the students will find out what capitalism and communism really are and will learn how those kinds of economies affected the quality of life in America and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Day Two:
The teacher will begin the class by asking for a couple of student volunteers to describe any interesting information that they learned about while doing research. This will give the students time to think about what they researched and to get their mind ready for the debate. This will also allow students to share information that they found with the entire class and will add to the entire class' knowledge base.
Vocabulary
Key Terms: Communism, Capitalism, Command Economy, Market Economy, Material Wealth, Historical Materialism, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Social Democracy, consumer goods, industrialization, proletariat, bourgeoisie, capital, labor.
As part of their assignment students will be required to look up the definition of each of these key terms. In their deliberation a portion of their grade will be determined by their ability to incorporate at least two of these terms into their discussion.
As part of their assignment students will be required to look up the definition of each of these key terms. In their deliberation a portion of their grade will be determined by their ability to incorporate at least two of these terms into their discussion.
Content Delivery
Content delivery will take place on the first day of the lesson in the form of independent research. The students will answer questions on a worksheet to guide their research. The students will research descriptions of the economies in the United States and the Soviet Union in order to compare how the economic systems affected the quality of life for ordinary individuals. Although the students will use a worksheet to guide their research, they will be encouraged to use their freedom to explore aspects of the Cold War not addressed by the worksheet.
Student Engagement
The student engagement portion of the lesson will take place on the second day of instruction. The teacher will begin this portion of the lesson by explaining that the students will now take the information they've learned about Communism and Capitalism during the Cold War and deliberate which system would be the best to implement today. The teacher will split the class into two groups and assign one group to argue for American Capitalism and the other to argue for Soviet Communism. Since the students understand that some of their peers assigned the role of the Communist perspective and thus have no choice but to argue the Communist point of view, the Communist students won't feel ostracized for endorsing an unpopular point of view. The teacher will then explain the rules and structure for the debate. The teacher will start the debate by asking, "Which type of government and economy are best for dealing with the issues of poverty?" One student will answer according to their assigned perspective and then another will build off their answer or contradict their answer with conflicting evidence. This pattern will continue until the deliberation dies out at which point the teacher will infuse new life by asking another guiding question such as, "Does Communism make people lazy?"
Structure:
The structure of the debate will be a "fishbowl" deliberation in which the room is organized into two concentric rings of desks. The students sitting at the inside ring will debate the issues while the students in the outside ring sit quietly and listen to the deliberation. If someone on the outside ring wants to respond to something said by the deliberators on the inside ring, they may tap a person on the inside ring on the back and switch spots with them so they can make a response. However, after they have finished responding they must return to the outside ring. After 10 minutes of deliberation all the students on the outside will switch with the students on the inside and the second group of students will deliberate.
After each group has deliberated for 10 minutes, the students will be allowed to drop their assigned perspectives and argue the position that they actually feel is right in a free-style type discussion. This will allow students to express opinions and bring up evidence that they may not have been able to when limited to either just the Communist or Capitalism perspective.
Rules:
The students must conform to the following rules during their deliberation.
1. Students may not mock, disparage, or in any way show a lack of respect for their colleagues opinions. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
2. Students must back up their opinions with facts from their research.
3. Students will respectfully address each other by name when responding to another student's claims.
4. Students will not interrupt or talk over each other.
5. Students will share time with their peers.
Structure:
The structure of the debate will be a "fishbowl" deliberation in which the room is organized into two concentric rings of desks. The students sitting at the inside ring will debate the issues while the students in the outside ring sit quietly and listen to the deliberation. If someone on the outside ring wants to respond to something said by the deliberators on the inside ring, they may tap a person on the inside ring on the back and switch spots with them so they can make a response. However, after they have finished responding they must return to the outside ring. After 10 minutes of deliberation all the students on the outside will switch with the students on the inside and the second group of students will deliberate.
After each group has deliberated for 10 minutes, the students will be allowed to drop their assigned perspectives and argue the position that they actually feel is right in a free-style type discussion. This will allow students to express opinions and bring up evidence that they may not have been able to when limited to either just the Communist or Capitalism perspective.
Rules:
The students must conform to the following rules during their deliberation.
1. Students may not mock, disparage, or in any way show a lack of respect for their colleagues opinions. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
2. Students must back up their opinions with facts from their research.
3. Students will respectfully address each other by name when responding to another student's claims.
4. Students will not interrupt or talk over each other.
5. Students will share time with their peers.
Demonstrated Learning
The student deliberation will serve as a summative assessment for the lesson. The students will be required to use at least two of the key terms they have defined in their debate. The student's participation will also be graded on their respectfulness and their conformity to the rules of the deliberation as well as their content knowledge, depth of evidence provided, and overall participation in the deliberation using a scoring guide.
Lesson Closure
The lesson will close with a thoughtful reflection on the current state of our nation's economy. The teacher will point out that we do indeed have capitalist free markets where a price system determines what products are made in consumer goods. However, we also interfere with the free market by heavily taxing the rich and redistributing that money to the poor in the form of food stamps, disability benefits, and other forms of welfare. In essence, the teacher will explain, we do allow the government to interfere with our economy but only in certain areas and only through the will of voters. Thus we live in a Social Democracy and in some ways we borrow traits from both Capitalist and Communist systems. So although the topic of Communism vs. Capitalism is a heated one, most Americans already agree that the best system combines characteristics of a free-market and a government controlled economy.
Accommodations
Students with Special Needs:
Students with special needs will be accommodated according to their I.E.P.
English Learners:
English learners will be accommodated using the same strategies as used with the struggling readers. However, they will also be accommodated during the deliberation portion of the lesson. English learners will be allowed to appoint another student to speak for them during class if they are uncomfortable speaking in front of their peers due to their oral deficiencies in English. Depending on an EL's relative strengths in oral or written communication, an EL student may elect to write 5 sentences using the key terms introduced earlier in the lesson rather than using the terms during the deliberation.
Struggling Readers:
Struggling readers will be accommodated during the research part of the lesson. They may have difficulty finding resources that are at their reading level when doing online research. The teacher will provide extra assistance to these students in finding appropriate material that is accessible to them. The teacher will guide them to less academically challenging material like at kids.net.au which has an fairly accessible and thorough encyclopedia entry on Communism at http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/co/Communism. The teacher will spend time with the student to help them through difficult words when doing internet research.
Students with special needs will be accommodated according to their I.E.P.
English Learners:
English learners will be accommodated using the same strategies as used with the struggling readers. However, they will also be accommodated during the deliberation portion of the lesson. English learners will be allowed to appoint another student to speak for them during class if they are uncomfortable speaking in front of their peers due to their oral deficiencies in English. Depending on an EL's relative strengths in oral or written communication, an EL student may elect to write 5 sentences using the key terms introduced earlier in the lesson rather than using the terms during the deliberation.
Struggling Readers:
Struggling readers will be accommodated during the research part of the lesson. They may have difficulty finding resources that are at their reading level when doing online research. The teacher will provide extra assistance to these students in finding appropriate material that is accessible to them. The teacher will guide them to less academically challenging material like at kids.net.au which has an fairly accessible and thorough encyclopedia entry on Communism at http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/co/Communism. The teacher will spend time with the student to help them through difficult words when doing internet research.