Iraq War Lesson Plan
Greetings, Following is the lesson plan that I created to teach to my Miss Silverleaf’s class. I tried to make it as unbiased as possible, in order to promote a fair creation of opinion on the account of the students. If you are interested in the details, let me know.
Should we have started the Iraq War?
A lesson plan created by Christopher Bauer, MSU College of Education Senior
Context:
This lesson plan was designed by an MSU student in the TE program which will be used at a local high school. This is designed to fit into the “Current events” chapter of a Middle East geography unit. Indeed, this lesson is designed to establish a baseline of knowledge in the student before encouraging a debate on whether or not the United States should have invaded Iraq in 2003.
Rationale:
The reasoning behind the US-led invasion has been debated since before the actual invasion on March 20, 2003. For students in the classroom, who may become involuntarily involved in the conflict, understanding why this war is being fought and forming educated opinions regarding this war is of the utmost importance. Indeed, the skills required to form an educated opinion is not a naturally occurring skill, but rather a learned process, honed by practice. This can be considered the beginning of a larger unit to hone those skills.
Goals:
Develop educated opinions.
Develop understanding of the current world’s issues.
Develop persuasive writing skills.
Develop oral debating skills.
Develop critical reading skills.
Objectives:
Understand the issues regarding the beginning of the Iraq War.
Establish an educated opinion regarding the legitimacy of the Iraq War.
Develop skills of persuasion and debate regarding the Iraq War.
Analyze teacher-given essays to develop educated opinions.
Materials:
Worksheet outlining major events and asking students to define and make a time line (1 page)
Bastardized Wikipedia article regarding the Iraq War (7 pages, Wikipedia, 10-24-06)
Pro-Con article regarding U.S. entry into the Iraq War (www.usiraqprocon.org, 10-24-06)
Constructed response Worksheet (1 page)
Procedure:
1. For the day in question, ask students to develop a timeline of the events outlined in the worksheet, establishing a common set of knowledge.
2. On the day, make an “official” outline of the timeline, and discuss the different events on the timelines (10 minutes).
3. Pass out the two essays and ask the students to read the two essays, and outline the arguments of both sides (10 minutes).
4. Ask the students to write down their thoughts regarding the legitimacy of the Iraq War (5 minutes).
5. Ask a student to outline their thoughts. Ask if there was another point of view. If there isn’t supply the opposing argument.
6. Ask for reactions to these thoughts, and allow students to constructively argue amongst themselves, playing devil’s advocate when necessary (15-25 minutes).
7. Ask the students to write a paper for them, outlining their position and explaining why the students believe in their position (Until close of hour)
a. Also could discuss proper debating procedure
b. Could discuss proper writing procedures.
Assessments:
Ideally, there would be four assessment points. The first would be the timeline and identification, grading based on completeness and accuracy. The second would be participation during the discussion, based on observations and impressions of the teacher. The third assessment point would be the paper, based on solidity of the argument, proper form. The final assessment would take form of an essay question, relating to a similar, although hypothetical situation, asking for an extension and expansion of knowledge.
Standards and Benchmarks:
Depending on how the discussion heads, this lesson plan could fulfill the following high school benchmarks:
Historical Standard 3.3
Contemporary problems in the world.
Historical Standard 4.3
Analyze key decisions
Historical Standard 4.4
Evaluate pivotal decisions in the US, regarding core democratic values
Geographic Standard 1.1
Describe how major world issues and events affect various people
Geographic Standard 5.1
Explain how geography and major world processes influence major world events
Geographic Standard 5.2
Explain the causes and importance of global issues involving cultural stability and change
Civic Standard 5.1
Describe the influence of the American concept of democracy and individual rights
Civic Standard 5.2
Evaluate foreign policy positions in light of national interests and American values
Inquiry Standard 2.1
Report the results of their investigation including procedures followed and a rationale for their conclusions
Public Discourse Standard 1.1
Generate possible alternative resolutions to public issues and evaluate them
Public Discourse Standard 2.1
Engage each other in elaborated conversations that examine public policy issues
Public Discourse Standard 3.1
Compose elaborated essays expressing and justifying decisions on public policy issues
