Vietnam:
Constant Conflict
8th Grade History HMMS
Hubbard White
Objectives
 Students will recognize the different spheres of influence
after WWII.
 Important to have knowledge of the time period to understand why
governments and countries acted and reacted in the ways that they
did.
 Students will gain an understanding the struggle of the
Vietnamese people in their constant battle for
independence and freedom from foreign influence.
 Connecticut state department states “Students will analyze the
historical roots and the current complexity of relations among nations in
an increasingly interdependent world.”
Objectives (cont.)
 Students will be able to analyze the strategy that was
deployed by the American government for winning the war.
Using this analysis they can then determine the reason or
reasons why such a strategy led to the increase in the
number of Vietcong.
 With these facts in mind Students will be able to formulate their own
opinions of how and why the war was fought
 Students will be able to recognize the major players and
events in the Vietnam War and the effect they had on the
War’s outcome
 The students will then be able to assess how each event or
player effected the others and the over all outcome of the war
Daily Planner: Day 1
-
A basic recap of knowledge that should have been absorbed from
-
previous classes as to the situation fallowing the Geneva Convention in the
world
Students then write what they know about the Vietnam war and about the time
period in general
Students trade these paragraphs for cards laying face down
-
- On the reverse side is the name of either an important event or person in
the Vietnam War
-
Once the students are arranged into their groups there assignment for
the week is distributed (See Hand Out)
Vietnam Group Project
Mr. White
8th grade History
Topics: JFK and Robert McNamara (Green), Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese people (Blue),
General Westmorland commander of the US forces in Vietnam(Black), the battle of Diem Biem
Phu (Red), the Tet Offensive (Orange), activists and anti-war protesters (Yellow)
Objectives:
1) Create a brief news report that will be given in front of the class on Thursday and Friday. Every
member of your group will be required to present at least one aspect of the topic. (Remember
the Who, What, Where, When, and Whys)
2) Analyze the significances of the topic in terms of the war and the world if applicable.
3) Construct an informative poster with major points of topic as relevant to the war.
4) Link your topics with all of the other topics on the time line. The color next to your topic is your
color marker on the time line. Mark down the dates and a brief explanation of the major events
that relate to the topic.
-After the presentation any student can ask any of the presenters a question about the overall topic,
not just their field of research
-Students will be evaluated on there overall effort in the group by the instructor. The class will grade
the presentations on how clear the information is presented and how it is related to the overall
picture of the War.
Day 1: Topics are assigned (class)
Day 2: Collaboration on research from night before
Day 3: poster construction and script writing (computer lab)
Day 4: Presentations and Questions
Each Student will be responsible for knowing ALL of the information that the group
discusses.
Daily Planner: Day 2
Part One:
 Lecture and discussion about
assigned reading from the night
before:

Readings include excepts
from George Herring’s
America’ Longest War and
Jonathan Neale’s A People’s
History of the Vietnam War

The discussion will center
on how the Students
impressions have changed
from the day before
 topics for the lecture are:

The rise of communism in
Vietnam

The life of the average
Vietnamese citizen

Fighting the French

The Beginnings of US
involvement
Part Two:
 The students will return to their
topic groups to share what
there research uncovered

During this time the
Instructor will go from
group to group and
suggest that each
member of the team be
responsible for a key
issue or section
• However the
instructor must
emphasis that each
member will be held
responsible for all of
the information that
the group
Ho Chi Minh
 Leader of the North
Vietnamese Communist
Party
 Here seen speaking to
a crowd in Paris just
after the “Breakdown
of negotiations”
Daily Planner: Day 3

First section is a Short recap of
major points from yesterdays
class



Second Section: Guest Speaker

Spec. 5 Marine Corpsman
Bruce A. Markot
Serves as a introduction into
today's subject

Fighting a Jungle War against
an Invisible Enemy


US Bombings of Country Side
Vietcong’s Gorilla War
• Elaborate System of
Tunnels used by Vietcong
• Civilians fighting along
with Vietcong




Served in Vietnam with ICorps a Marine Division on
the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)
WIA wile on patrol and sent to
Guam
2nd Tour was with Shore Patrol
in the South
Short talk on life in the military
while in Vietnam
Q & A period for students
about their topic or any
questions about first hand
experience in warfare.
Air War, 1962
Daily Planner: Day 4
First Section:

Conclusion of the War



Tet Offensive
Robert McNamara Resigns
US withdrawal from Vietnam
Second Section: Students Presentations
- Each presentation will be 10 minuets long
- ever member of the group must speak on their topic
- Question and Answer period after each
Daily Planner: Day 5
 Student
Presentations (cont.)
Students will once again be asked to write a paragraph
about what their impressions of Vietnam are now after
the Unit.
Once all paragraphs are complete a deck of 20* cards
- Ace through Ten of all suits
*equal to the number of students in the class
The cards are shuffled and each student chooses a card
- each suit represents a different Team for the TGT
(Teams-Games-Tournaments)
The Game is….
JFK and
McNamara
Ho Chi
Minh
General
The Tet
Diem
Offensive Biem Phu
Westmorland
Protestors
100
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Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh And North Vietnam
Agreed in 1954 To Stay Above the
_______ for four years until the
country could unite an have a free
elections. These Elections never
happened and the Vietnam War soon
followed.
What is the 17th Parallel
Evaluations

Students will be able to evaluate their own work by
comparing the first paragraph that they wrote to the one
that was written on the last day
 The instructor will evaluate students effort in their group
project and class participation as a daily grade
 Each Student as well as the instructor will evaluate the
student presentations on there clarity, information, and
the Time Line
 The winning team in Jeopardy! will receive extra credit
points towards their unit grade
 All of the different grades will be put together to create a
overall unite grade