The Cold War Thaws: Soviet Revolts in Czechoslovakia and Hungary
Goals and Objectives
Goal: Students will understand that people living in different circumstances may have differing perspectives of the same event.
Objectives: Using primary source documents, students will answer questions about the differing perspectives of the Soviet, Czechoslovakian, and Hungarian leadership between 1956 and 1968 with 100% accuracy.
Students will correctly argue the perspectives of the Soviets, Hungarians, and Czechoslovakians in a classroom debate.
Objectives: Using primary source documents, students will answer questions about the differing perspectives of the Soviet, Czechoslovakian, and Hungarian leadership between 1956 and 1968 with 100% accuracy.
Students will correctly argue the perspectives of the Soviets, Hungarians, and Czechoslovakians in a classroom debate.
Content Standards
10.9.5 Describe the uprisings in Poland (1956), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968) and those countries’ resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s as people in Soviet satellites sought freedom from Soviet control.
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.
Common Core Reading Standards for Literacy in History Grades 9-10
6) Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
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.
Common Core Reading Standards for Literacy in History Grades 9-10
6) Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
Lesson Introduction
The lesson will start with a brief journal entry assignment in which students are asked to describe a time in which they had an argument with a friend or family member in which both sides felt they were right. The teacher will then ask the students as a class to discuss what was the cause of their disagreement and why each person felt the other person was in the wrong. The instructor will then ask students “can there be arguments in which both sides have valid perspectives?” The students will then discuss whether they think both sides in an argument can be right.
Vocabulary
Key Terms: Nikita Khrushchev, Destalinization, Leonid Brezhnev, the Brezhnev doctrine, Imre Nagy, Alexander Dubcek, Prague Spring
The key terms will be addressed as the teacher introduces the primary source documents that will be analyzed by the students in this lesson. The teacher will explain all the key terms in a short introduction which will show how the primary sources and the key terms fit into the Cold War narrative.
Academic Vocabulary Development: Academic vocabulary will be developed during the lesson by having the students read intellectually challenging primary sources. Students will be presented with vocabulary lists for each primary source which will define difficult words or concepts found within the passages. This will support the students’ development of cognitive academic language proficiency. Vocabulary will also be developed through the use of worksheets that go along with each primary source in which the students will be asked to answer questions about the primary sources. Some of the questions have to do with interpreting new academic vocabulary found in the primary documents such as “Why do the Hungarians call their parliament an electoral machine.” These types of questions make sure the students are correctly interpreting advanced vocabulary.
The key terms will be addressed as the teacher introduces the primary source documents that will be analyzed by the students in this lesson. The teacher will explain all the key terms in a short introduction which will show how the primary sources and the key terms fit into the Cold War narrative.
Academic Vocabulary Development: Academic vocabulary will be developed during the lesson by having the students read intellectually challenging primary sources. Students will be presented with vocabulary lists for each primary source which will define difficult words or concepts found within the passages. This will support the students’ development of cognitive academic language proficiency. Vocabulary will also be developed through the use of worksheets that go along with each primary source in which the students will be asked to answer questions about the primary sources. Some of the questions have to do with interpreting new academic vocabulary found in the primary documents such as “Why do the Hungarians call their parliament an electoral machine.” These types of questions make sure the students are correctly interpreting advanced vocabulary.
Content Delivery
The teacher will briefly summarize the conditions surrounding the rebellion in Hungary and the political reform proposed by Alexander Dubcek in Czechoslovakia and explain the key terms included in the lesson. The teacher will explain that in this lesson the students will analyze primary sources to examine the ideas of the Hungarians and the Czechoslovakians to understand why they wanted increased independence from the Soviet Union in the years following the death of Stalin. The students will also examine the justification of the Soviets in denying the Hungarians and Czechoslovakians their independence.
The students will be divided into two groups. One group will analyze documents pertaining to the Hungarian revolt and the other will analyze documents pertaining to the Czechoslovakian reform movement. Students will be given primary sources to read and a worksheet which will have several questions about the primary sources based on which group they are in. The students will also be given vocabulary guides to go with the primary sources which will define some difficult vocabulary used in the primary sources. Within the two groups (one studying Hungarian primary sources and one studying Czechoslovakian primary sources) students will further be grouped into small groups of four. These groups of four will work together to answer the questions posed on the worksheets.
The students will be divided into two groups. One group will analyze documents pertaining to the Hungarian revolt and the other will analyze documents pertaining to the Czechoslovakian reform movement. Students will be given primary sources to read and a worksheet which will have several questions about the primary sources based on which group they are in. The students will also be given vocabulary guides to go with the primary sources which will define some difficult vocabulary used in the primary sources. Within the two groups (one studying Hungarian primary sources and one studying Czechoslovakian primary sources) students will further be grouped into small groups of four. These groups of four will work together to answer the questions posed on the worksheets.
Student Engagement
The students will be assigned to either interpret primary sources from the Hungarian crisis or from the Czechoslovakian crisis. Students will then work in small groups of four to answer questions on a worksheet about each of the primary sources. After the students have analyzed the documents within their groups the two large groups will be further divided into four groups. The group studying the Czechoslovakian crisis will be divided into two groups, one representing the Czechoslovakians and one representing the Khrushchev regime. The second group will similarly be divided into two groups, one representing the Czechoslovakians and one representing the Brezhnev administration. The students will then participate in two debates. The first debate will be between the group that studies the Hungarian crisis. One side will promote the Czechoslovakian perspective and one will argue the Soviet perspective while the group that studied the Hungarian documents listens and takes notes on the debate. Then the Czechoslovakian group will debate with the Brezhnev group while the other group listens and take notes. The topic of the debate will be the sovereignty of Hungary and Czechoslovakia apart from the Soviet Union. Students on each side of the debate will argue either for or against the self-determination of Czechoslovakia and Hungary based on which group they are in using the ideas put forth in the primary sources related to their group. For example the Czechoslovakian group will argue the ideas put forth in the 2,000 Words Manifesto and the Brezhnev group will espouse the ideas of the Brezhnev doctrine as described by Sergie Kovalev in the International Obligations of Socialist Countries.
Demonstrated Learning
The teacher will check for understanding using informal formative assessments during the lesson. The teacher will use questioning strategies to check for comprehension while orally introducing the documents to make sure the students understand how the primary sources fit in to the historical narrative. The teacher will also informally check the student’s analyzation skills as they work in groups to analyze the primary sources by going around the room to make sure students are getting the correct answers to the primary source worksheets. The teacher will also listen to the classroom debates between students to see if students are making connections between the documents and the opposing ideologies of the Soviets and the countries in rebellion.
The lesson also makes use of a summative assessment in the form of a written exit slip prompt.
The lesson also makes use of a summative assessment in the form of a written exit slip prompt.
Lesson Closure
The lesson will close with the use of an exit slip. After the students have finished their debates on the veracity of the claims of the Hungarians, Czechoslovakians, and Soviets, they will fill out an exit slip with the following prompt, “Compare and contrast the claims of the Hungarians and the Czechoslovakians in their desire for increased independence from the Soviet Union. Compare the responses of the Soviet Union led by Khrushchev during the Hungarian crisis in 19 56 and by Brezhnev during the Czechoslovakian crisis in 1968. Did they give similar reasons for putting down the revolts?” Students will be able to take the content they learned through analysis of primary source documents and by listening to their peers debate to answer this prompt. This will provide a good review of the entire lesson and will adequately close the lesson.
Accommodations
Accommodations will be made for students with special needs based upon their I.E.P.
Struggling readers will be accommodated with the use of vocabulary guides for each primary source that they will be analyzing. The vocabulary guides will define difficult vocabulary and concepts found within the primary sources so that struggling readers will be more able to effectively analyze the documents. This will also help all other students in their interpretation of the primary source documents as it will provide them with additional tools to analyze the documents.
English Learners will be accommodated through the use of small groups when analyzing the primary sources. Students will be separated into groups of four to answer the questions on the primary source worksheets. Students will be grouped heterogeneously based on their English proficiency. Students with low English proficiency will be placed in groups with students of higher English proficiency so the more proficient students can help the English learners with difficult vocabulary. The class will also be placed into two groups for the class debate which will allow students with low English proficiency to allow other students to orally present their ideas if they are uncomfortable speaking in front of their peers using English.
Struggling readers will be accommodated with the use of vocabulary guides for each primary source that they will be analyzing. The vocabulary guides will define difficult vocabulary and concepts found within the primary sources so that struggling readers will be more able to effectively analyze the documents. This will also help all other students in their interpretation of the primary source documents as it will provide them with additional tools to analyze the documents.
English Learners will be accommodated through the use of small groups when analyzing the primary sources. Students will be separated into groups of four to answer the questions on the primary source worksheets. Students will be grouped heterogeneously based on their English proficiency. Students with low English proficiency will be placed in groups with students of higher English proficiency so the more proficient students can help the English learners with difficult vocabulary. The class will also be placed into two groups for the class debate which will allow students with low English proficiency to allow other students to orally present their ideas if they are uncomfortable speaking in front of their peers using English.