Lesson Plan: We're Finally on our Own: May 4, 1970
Author: John Bowers
Grade(s): 9, 10
Suggested Time: 40 minutes
Materials
- 10 copies of Kent State photos
- 40 copies of What Is It & What Does It Do handout.
- The Americans. Danzer, Klor de Alva, Wilson, Woloch. Mc Dougal Littell. Evenston, IL, 1999.
Core Instruction
The students will have read Chapter 22, Section 3, A Nation Divided (pp. 735-740) and completed the Section 3 Assessment. Classes will be divided into group of 4 or 5 and be instructed to study the eight photos from the Kent State collection. The groups will have 5 to 10 minutes to discuss the photos and decide what they represent. After their discussions, they will be given the What is it and What Does it Mean worksheet and, as a group, they will answer the questions in sentence form.
Assessment
Extended Response Questions:
1) List and explain how social protest or political action helped achieve government action in the 1970s.
- Grape growers signed contracts with UFWOC after boycotts were successful.
- La Raza Unida wins political seats in several states after politically organizing Latinos.
- AIM's demonstrations at Alcatraz Island and Wounded Knee, South Dakota, eventually led to the passage of the Indian Education Act and the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.
- NOW influences Congress to include gender protection in the Higher Education Act
- The Supreme Court supports women's right to choose in Roe v. Wade
- Student protests eventually get support of politicians which leads to the U.S. pulling out of Vietnam.
Short Answer Questions:
1) Two Ohio institutions of higher learning were involved in student unrest in the spring of 1970. What were the two catalysts that caused that unrest to erupt?
- At Kent State, it was the invasion of Combodia by U.S. troops.
- The unrest at The Ohio State University was sparked by the deaths of four students as a result of the demonstrations at Kent State.
Standards
- Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities 9-10, Benchmark A: Analyze ways people achieve governmental change, including political action, social protest and revolution.
- Indicator: Grade 10, GLI 2. Explain how civil disobedience differs from other forms of dissent and evaluate its application and consequences including: c. Student protests during the Vietnam War
