1948 Lesson Plan
Teacher Name: Janell Sowers
Grade Level: 11
Course: US History 1945-Present
Describe the classroom or homework activity to be performed (individual assignment,
cooperative learning, cross curricular, technology based, using artifacts and/or primary
sources, etc.) After a short PowerPoint introducing the Berlin Blockade, the students will
participate in a cooperative learning activity emphasizing the study of primary sources to increase
understanding of the decision President Truman made to continue the Berlin Airlift and what the
airlift required to be successful.
Rationale (why are you doing this?) Students will have recently learned of the idea of
containment theory and this activity will help them see a real example of that theory in action.
Also, students will learn to critically study primary sources and to encourage their own intellectual
curiosity about a topic.
Required Time Frame One 90 Minute Block period with follow-up the next period – maybe an
additional 30 minutes.
From where in this conference did you get the idea for this activity or assignment
(speaker, document, photograph, activity, audio recording, other)? Roger Miller’s
presentation and his examination of photographs for additional understanding of the Airlift.
Lesson objectives – the student will:
 be able to explain the Berlin Blockade
 be able to explain the American response, the airlift
 connect both events to larger issues of the Cold War and the policy of containment
District, state, or national performance and knowledge standards/goals/skills met (be
specific when referecing):
 SS.CM.SA.01 Define, research, and explain an event, issue, problem, or
phenomenon and its significance to society. (Oregon Standard)
 SS.CM.SA.02 Gather, analyze, use, and document information from various sources,
distinguishing facts, opinions, inferences, biases, stereotypes, and persuasive appeals.
(Oregon Standard)
 SS.CM.HS.05.19 Understand the division of Europe after WWII leading to the Cold
War. (Oregon Standard)
 NSS-USH.5-12.9 Understands how the Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam
influenced domestic and international politics. (National Standard)
Secondary Materials (book, article, video, documentary, etc) needed – cite title and other
information:
 Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot by Margot Theis Raven.
Primary Sources (document, photograph, artifact, diary, or letter, audio or visual
recording, etc.) needed – cite detailed information:
 Modeling Document – Map of Berlin Airlift from www.far-easternheroes.org.uk/Norman/html/love_of_adventure.htm
 Collection #1 – Set of Jake Schuffert cartoons (available at
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/cartoons/cartoon_central.htm or
http://www.konnections.com/airlift/jakintro.htm)
o I chose five – one with the replacements, one with the Candy Bomber,
one with the medals, one with the air traffic controller, and the one with
the chimney sweep.
 Collection #2 – Truman Documents (all available at www.trumanlibrary.org)
o President Truman’s schedule for July 22, 1948
o Statement by President Truman releasing General Clay – May 3, 1949
o President Truman’s journal entry – July 19, 1948
 Collection #3 – 6 Photographs from Berlin Airlift (collected from www.trumanlibrary.org
and www.germanhistorydocs-ghi-dc.org)
Technology Required: PowerPoint and Projector (I also use a SmartBoard so I can write on the
screen – but not required.)
Fully describe the activity or assignment in detail. What will both you and the students do?
Students will view PowerPoint on the Berlin Blockade. The impact of this event on the people of Berlin as
well as the ramifications for President Truman should be emphasized. On Slide 5, students will
brainstorm as a class possible actions that the United States should take at this time. No answer should
be rejected. Might be necessary to help students so that at least the 3 following actions are on the board
– leave, supply Berlin, and attack. Discuss the pros/cons of those three actions as well as any others that
the students seem to support heavily. With the last slide, present the idea of an airlift as America’s
choice.
Pass out the Primary Sources Chart and using the map as the first document, discuss with the students
what can be learned from it. What do they see? Also, what can they infer? What sorts of educational
guesses can they make?
Explain that students will now be examining other types of primary sources about the airlift to learn as
much as they possibly can about this event.
Students move into small groups (3 is always ideal) and examine the Collections. Probably best to time
this so each group gets approximately 15 minutes with a set of documents before rotating. Move through
the groups so each collection is being properly studied and understood. Better for students to fully study
a couple of documents in a collection than to briefly look at all of them.
Students then individually respond to the two questions after the chart.
Engage students in a class discussion about what they learned and what they still want to know.
Assign homework – see assessment below.
Next class, students will discuss their homework. Also, they will listen to the story of Mercedes and the
Chocolate Pilot to see another side of this story.
Assessment: Students will choose 2 questions from their list that they still want to know. They will do
the research to find those answers for homework. The answers should be typed and include their source
for their information. NO WIKIPEDIA!! These responses will be discussed at the beginning of the next
class. Students will turn in both their answers and their Primary Source Charts for grading. Grading will
be based on completion and effort in examining the resources.