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U.S. Policy in Afghanistan: Lesson Plan
DAY I—Exploring Contrasting Policy Options
Introducing the Issue
Use Afghanistan - KWL to chart what students know, want to know, and have learned.
Know: Have the class brainstorm what they already know about the situation in Afghanistan. As ideas are
being generated, students should fill in the left-hand column of their chart.
Want to Learn: Next, have students develop a list of 5 or 6 things they would like to learn to better
understand the U.S. policy in Afghanistan.
Learned: Have students view the video resources that accompany this lesson. With each video, have
students write down at least two things they learned about U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
Summarize: With their KWL charts completed, challenge students to succinctly summarize the situation in
Afghanistan in 40-50 words.
Preparing and Presenting the Options
Divide the class into four groups. Assign three of the groups a policy option (one for each group) from U.S.
Policy in Afghanistan. Assign the remaining group the role of President Obama and his advisors.
Option Presenters will review their assigned option and with their group members answer the questions at
the end of the option. They should then develop a short presentation to give to the class. The presentation
should make the best possible case for their option.
President and Advisors will review each of the options presented in the material and prepare clarifying
questions to ask each option group after the presentations. The intent of having students ask these
questions is to make sure that the options, as they are written, are fully understood prior to deliberation on
their merits, risks, and tradeoffs.
Foreign Representatives (optional): If your class is large, you may want to assign some students the role
of representatives of other nations. They can be asked to present their views on the options after the
presentations
DAY II—Shared Deliberation and Individual Judgment
Deliberating on the Options
Begin your deliberation by asking students to identify the things they like and the things that concern them
about each of the options presented. Encourage students to listen carefully to each other rather than to try to
"win" the argument. The outcome should involve a more sophisticated understanding on the part of all
participating. (You may find Guidelines for Deliberation and Deliberating "Pros" and "Cons" of Policy
Options useful.)
Articulating Their Own Views
After students have deliberated together on the merits and tradeoffs of the options presented in this lesson,
give all of the students an opportunity to come to terms with their own views on this issue.
Option 4
What should we do? Have them articulate their own views on the issue by framing their "Option 4" using the
questions provided as a template.
Let Your Voice Be Heard
Encourage students to express their views and continue the dialog.
Write letters to elected officials
Contact information for the White House can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/contact and their U.S.
Senators and Representatives at thomas.loc.gov.
Express their views in local papers
Students could write letters to the editor or articles for the school or community newspaper.
Engage others in this topic
Students could engage other classes in this topic, hold a forum in the school, or sponsor a discussion with
community members in a public setting. [Students who pursue such projects are encouraged to contact the
Choices Program at choices@brown.edu. Put "student projects" in the subject line.]
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A Teaching with the News lesson from the Choices Program — See
www.choices.edu/resources/twtn_afghanistan.php