Teaching About the Korean War Essential understandings: 1 st war with U.N. mandate A civil war that Impacted the world A stalemate & still unresolved Teaching the (diminished) Korean War In deciding what to leave out (not enough time to cover all of the Cold War), this event gets 1/5 the time students learn about the Vietnam War and even less time students have to learn about McCarthyism Having the conflict end in a truce (still remains unresolved, although the Cold War is over) - some educators may find it difficult to determine the lessons for students to learn from the event The Cold War Heats Up = The Korean War -High school textbooks refer to the Korean War as the first major U.N. combat action in the Cold War - The U.S. focus was on stopping the expansion of communism [not that the Korean War is a civil war] - The shifting of which side controlled parts of the Korean Peninsula, along with General MacArthur being fired, are usually referenced in U.S. history textbooks Teaching the Korean War Decide that it is important to students to learn about towards essential understandings Promote inquiry-based learning activities (so students remember critical aspects of the Korean War) Push to use informational texts to support the C3 [College, Career, & Civic Responsibility] Framework for the social studies Legacy of the Korean War & the Korean peninsula today American veterans from the Korean War fulfilled their mission in forcing North Korean military out of South Korea First U.S. war that had integrated military fighting units Left Cold War problem (of two Koreas) to remain today, with a economically isolated and politically unstable North Korea Teaching the Korean War through photographs Using visual thinking strategies Write down what you see. Why do you say that ? What questions do you have? Interpreting photographs of the Korean War 1.Students answer read the photos using VTS 2.Next, in groups students create questions on the [4-6] photos 3.Students use the Question Formulation Technique to create thoughtful supporting questions, in order to reflect on their learning 4.Finally, students can use their priority questions to set objective for research activity on the Korean War Analyzing primary source documents Using strategies/skills to assist students in reading historical documents [e.g., sourcing a document, placing into context, collaborating facts, and close reading] These strategies have been outlined and provided in teaching lessons at the Stanford History Education Groups site Reading Like A Historian Student activity using primary sources on Communist leaders communication during the Korean War 1.Develop guiding questions - for students to analyze primary source documents (focusing on skills to read historical documents). 2.Have students answer the compelling /essential question. 3.Weighing multiple perspectives, have students write an argumentative essay on impact of communist leaders of China, U.S.S.R., & North Korea during the Korean War.