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Defining US: The American Experience
FCPS Teaching American History Grant
LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE
Subject: United States/Virginia History
Grade: 11th grade
Prepared by: Dena Soled and Katie Roberts
School: Hayfield Secondary School
Title or Topic: The foreign and domestic policies of Lyndon B. Johnson
Instructional Time: 1 class block (90 minutes)
PART I.-CONTEXT
1. Essential Learning:
As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:
Evaluate the successes and failures of LBJ’s domestic and foreign policies
Formulate historical questions and defend findings based on inquiry and interpretation
Evaluate the authenticity, authority, and credibility of sources
Identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary sources
2. Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL):
VUS.12b The student will demonstrate knowledge of United States foreign policy since World
War II by explaining the American role of wars in Korea and Vietnam
VUS.12c The student will demonstrate knowledge of United States foreign policy since World
War II by explaining the role of America’s military and veterans in defending freedom during
the Cold War
VUS.13b The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s
and 1960s by describing the importance of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), the 1963 March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965
3. Fairfax County Program of Studies (POS):
12.1.G The student analyzes the impact of international affairs on the foreign policy of the
United States after World War II. Students reach this benchmark when they are able to explain
the causes for responses to and the results of, the United States’ involvement in Vietnam
(Lyndon Johnson, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, escalation)
12.2.G The student analyzes the political impact of the Cold War on domestic affairs. Students
reach this benchmark when they are able to assess the Vietnam policies of the Kennedy,
Johnson, and Nixon administrations and the shifts of public opinion about the war (hawks v.
doves, protest, discrimination against veterans)
13.1.D The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and
1960s by describing and evaluating the efforts and accomplishments of individuals and groups,
within the public and private sectors, to affect change in Civil Rights. Students reach this
benchmark when they are able to explain federal civil rights and voting rights developments in
terms of political representation, participation, and affirmative action (Lyndon B. Johnson, Civil
Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965).
4. National History Standard (Historical Thinking Standard)
Era 9 Postwar United States:
Standard 1: The economic boom and social transformation of postwar United States.
Standard 2: How the Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic
and international politics.
Standard 3: Domestic policies after World War II
Standard 4: The struggle for racial and gender equality and the extension of civil liberties.
5.
Learning Strategy(s) Objectives:
4. Historical Research Capabilities: use resources, cooperate, make inferences, take notes,
tell what you know, use selective attention, summarize.
5. Historical Issue Analysis and Decision Making: make predictions, use selective
attention, summarize, group/classify, take notes, make inferences, use resources,
use/create graphic organizer.
6. Connection to TAH grant:
Content: “Post-1945 U.S. History”
Pedagogy: “Locating/Evaluating Online Materials and Primary Sources”
PART II.
1. Assessment:


Brainstorming Categorizing Chart (domestic political and economic and foreign affairs)
Class discussion based on document analysis using either Yes…But Questioning
Techniques or AP PARTS
2. Instructional Strategies:
1. Brainstorm with the students any preexisting knowledge they may have about LBJ’s
presidency based on the previous night’s assigned reading. The reading should cover
LBJ’s role as a master politician to push forward unpopular legislation, his hope for the
continuation of the New Deal philosophy through the Great Society, and the diversion of
increasingly more money into the Vietnam War. On the attached chart, have them list at
least 15-20 facts under the following categories: domestic political and economic issues
and foreign affairs. Students should be prepared to explain their facts (10 minutes).
2. On the board or on an overhead, compile a summation of student’s prior knowledge
focusing on successes and failures (5 minutes).
3. Have students individually compare/contrast four primary sources to evaluate LBJ’s
domestic and foreign policies by using either the Yes…But Questioning Technique (45
minutes).
4. In groups of three students, have each student present their findings on newsprint and
draw conclusions about LBJ. The focus of this discussion should be: “Were LBJ’s
actions appropriate for its time? What were his successes and what were his failures?”
Each group member will be responsible for generating information and will be assigned a
specific task: facilitator, recorder, or presenter (30 minutes).
3. Materials/Resources to be used:





Textbook: The Americans
Handout: The Foreign and Domestic Policies of Lyndon B. Johnson chart
Handout: Developing Critical Thinking Skills – Yes, But Questioning Techniques
(For GT/AP Students: AP Parts)
Primary Sources:
The War on Poverty:
Prisoner of War - the War on Poverty
Kirwan has been an artist since the 1970s, whose work includes a variety of artistic themes
and styles. In addition to fantasy themed paintings, he has a large collection of political
works. Many of these relate directly to LBJ’s tenure as President. This particular piece
comments on the transfer of government funds from the War on Poverty to the Vietnam
War and the subsequent loss of integrity for the War on Poverty.
“Prisoner of War.” Kirwan Studios. 1 May 2005 <www.kirwanesque.com/
politics/oklahoma/ok7.htm>.
March of the News:
This Library of Congress document can be found in two exhibit sites, the Elections exhibit
as well as in the African American Odyssey exhibit.
“March of the News.” Election Voters. Library of Congress. 1 May 2005
<http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/election/voters3.html>.
U.S. Military Causalities in Southeast Asia:
- U.S. MILITARY CASUALTIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA - DEATHS BY CALENDAR YEAR - Year of death may either be actual or based on a presumptive finding of death - (originally declared missing and later declared dead). - AS OF MARCH 31, 1997 Since 1997 67 names have been added to the memorial
that are not show in the stats below.
YEAR
USA
USN
USAF
USMC
USCG
TOTAL
1957
1
0
0
0
0
1
1958
0
0
0
0
0
0
1959
2
0
0
0
0
2
1960
0
4
1
0
0
5
1961
7
1
8
0
0
16
1962
27
3
18
5
0
53
1963
73
4
31
10
0
118
1964
147
15
39
5
0
206
1965
1,079
114
162
508
0
1,863
1966
3,755
279
246
1,862
2
6,144
1967
6,467
583
317
3,786
0
11,153
1968
10,596
598
345
5,048
2
16,589
1969
8,186
426
305
2,694
3
11,614
1970
4,972
219
201
691
0
6,083
1971
2,131
55
90
81
0
2,357
1972
373
77
172
18
0
640
1973
34
52
75
7
0
168
1974
49
23
80
26
0
178
1975
23
22
83
32
0
160
1976
29
6
29
13
0
77
1977
29
24
39
4
0
96
1978
158
42
219
28
0
447
1979
38
3
101
6
0
148
1980 – 1995
25
5
22
14
0
66
38,196
2,555
2,583
14,837
7
58,178
TOTAL DEATHS
Casualty Type and Branch
Pay Grade and Branch
Pay Grade and Race
Wall Page
State and Branch
Status and Branch
To The
The Wall USA is a non-profit endeavor maintained by veterans of the 4th Battalion 9th Infantry
Regiment. All numbers are based on figures from the Department of Defense as of March 1997.
http://thewall-usa.com/stats/
In 1968 Senator Robert Kennedy described the failures of escalation:
Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) was attorney general in the cabinet of his older brother,
President John F. Kennedy. In 1964, Robert Kennedy was elected senator from New York
and became a leading critic of the Vietnam War and a spokesman for liberal Democrats.
On March 16, 1968, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for
president and two days later delivered this stinging attack on American policy in Vietnam.
Two weeks later, President Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not run again.
The reversals of the last several months have led our military to ask for 206,000 more
troops. This weekend, it was announced that some of them-- a 'moderate' increase, it was
said-- would soon be sent. But isn't this exactly what we have always done in the past? If
we examine the history of this conflict, we find the dismal story repeated time after time.
Every time-- at every crisis-- we have denied that anything was wrong; sent more troops;
and issued more confident communiqués. Every time, we have been assured that this one
last step would bring victory. And every time, the predictions and promises have failed
and been forgotten, and the demand has been made again for just one more step up the
ladder.
But all the escalations, all the last steps, have brought us no closer to success than we
were before. Rather, as the scale of the fighting has increased, South Vietnamese society
has become less and less capable of organizing or defending itself, and we have more and
more assumed the whole burden of the war.
And once again, the President tells us, as we have been told for twenty years, that 'we are
going to win;' 'victory' is coming. But what are the true facts? What is our present
situation?
From Diane Ravitch ed., The American Reader: Words That Moved A Nation (New York:
Harper Collins Publishers, 1990), pp. 343-345.
http://eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/crossroads/sec4/Unit_11/Unit_XIQ4R6.html
4. Annotated Bibliography:
Kirwan Studios: This arduous site is dedicated to Kirwan, an artist who has been creating work
since the 1970s. His work is political, surreal, and humanistic. He has a large collection of
political commentary art works.
www.kirwanesque.com/ politics/oklahoma/ok7.htm
Voters: Managed by the Library of Congress, this site gives both a history of voting, as well as,
a history of the challenges of Women, African Americans, and Native Americans voters through
today. It has a small, but worthwhile collection of photographs of significant moments in voting
history.
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/election/voters3.html
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: This official site for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is
dedicated to those who served and died in the Vietnam War. It offers statistics about casualties,
names on the wall, and a reference link for information about the war.
http://thewall-usa.com/stats/
The Educator’s Reference Desk: This site is useful because it has links to lessons based on a
wide variety of topics. It is searchable by classroom subject or keyword. This site included a
lesson plan with an excerpt from Robert Kennedy’s speech. The annotation and excerpt is from
Diane Ravitch’s The American Reader: Words That Moved A Nation.
http://eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/crossroads/sec4/Unit_11/Unit_XIQ4R6.html
5. Differentiation:

For both regular students and students with special needs, the primary source analysis can
be done initially in groups.
For GT/AP Students they can use AP Parts instead of the Yes, But Questioning Techniques for
more in-depth analysis. They may also try analyzing LBJ’s decisions from two different
perspectives. The first point of view would be when the decision was made and the second
would be from today's perspective.
6. Attachments:
The Foreign and Domestic Policies of Lyndon B. Johnson
Domestic Events
Political
Economic
List 15-20 key
List 15-20 key
events with
events with
explanation and
explanation and
years
years
● Underline the
main concept or
key event and
use bullets to
provide
cause/effect
analysis
answering the
question of
whether or not
he was a
successful or
unsuccessful
president
● Underline the
main concept or
key event and use
bullets to provide
cause/ effect
analysis
answering the
question of
whether or not he
was a successful
or unsuccessful
president
Foreign Affairs
List 15-20 key events with
explanation and years
● Underline the main concept or key
event and use bullets to provide
cause/ effect analysis answering the
question of whether or not he was a
successful or unsuccessful president
DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING AND READING SKILLS
I.
YES…BUT QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES (from the College Board “Building
Success” Program)
 Designed to focus student attention on both sides of an issue
List five reasons supporting LBJ’s actions under the YES column and five
opposing reasons under the BUT column.
YES
BUT
1. _____________________________
1. ___________________________
2. _____________________________
2. ___________________________
3. ______________________________
3. ___________________________
4. ______________________________
4. ___________________________
5. ______________________________
5. ___________________________
II.
AP PARTS (from the College Board “Vertical Teams Guide”)
Author: Who created the source? What do you know about the author? What is the
author’s point of view?
Place and Time: Where and when was the source produced? How might this affect
the meaning of the source?
Prior Knowledge: Beyond information about the author and the context of its
creation, what do you know that would help you further understand the primary
source? For example, do you recognize any symbols and recall what they represent?
Audience: For whom was the source created and how might this affect the reliability
of the source?
Reason: Why was this source produced and how might this affect the reliability of
the source?
The Main Idea: What point is the source trying to convey?
Significance: Why is this source important? Ask yourself, “So what?” in relation to
the question asked.