Lesson Title: A Country Divided: Kent State from Shelley Manning Length of Class: Two - 84 minute class periods Inquiry or Essential Question: How did the Kent State campus shootings demonstrate the continued divisions within the United States? Objectives:

1. Explain the public’s reaction to the Vietnam War during the Nixon presidency. 2. Evaluate the impact the Kent State shootings had on individual American citizens. 3. Students will be able to synthesize information to create an artistic interpretation of

a primary document.

Materials: • Kent State Shooting Interviews (can be found at

http://omp.ohiolink.edu/OMP/NewDetails?oid=3621707&scrapid=16045&format=yourscrap&sort=thedate&searchstatus=0&count=1&hits=1

• Teacher created question sheet • Kent State Images (can be found at

http://omp.ohiolink.edu/OMP/Previews?oid=2555558&count=1&results=12&fieldname=xml&sort=thedate&searchstatus=1&hits=1&searchmark=0&searchstring=&format=yourscrap&searchtype=kw&scrapid=16045

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Activities (What will you and your students do during the lesson to promote learning?)

The teacher will lead prior classroom lessons on the background information of the Vietnam War, Nixon Presidency and the protest movement of the time. Students will be divided into groups of three-four students. Students will be given a portion of an interview that was taken shortly after the Kent State Shooting. The teacher will instruct the students to read over the interview and answer the questions on the teacher created question sheet and then complete the artistic interpretation of the interview. Students will be given a class period and a half to read and analyze the document and create their interpretation. The teacher created question sheet can be graded as a group assignment. Students will then hang the illustrations around the class room and students will circulate around the classroom analyzing each illustration. The teacher will then lead a class room discussion on the events that unfolded at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. The teacher will then show students images of the incident and direct students to compare and contrast their own illustrations to actual photographs. The teacher may ask the following questions to initiate discussion:

• Describe the setting of the photographs. • For what purpose are these students gathered? • Who are the armed men in the photograph? For what purpose are they gathered?

• Describe what actions took place in these photographs. • What does this photograph tell us about the popularity of the Vietnam War in the

United States in 1970? • How did the campus protests and the anti-war movement intensify class conflict

in the United States? • What impact did the anti-war movement have on U.S. involvement in Vietnam? • How did the campus shootings demonstrate the continued divisions within the

United States?

As a closing activity students will be asked to answer the following question: Did the Kent State campus shootings demonstrate the continued divisions within the United States? They will answer these questions on exit cards that can be graded.

How will you assess what student learned during this lesson? Students will be assessed through the teacher created question sheet and/or the exit card. Teachers may opt to grade student’s illustrations as well. Connecticut Framework Performance Standards –

• Explain examples of conflict and cooperation in world affairs (e.g., Crusades, World Wars, United Nations, Common Market/European Union, World Bank).

• Evaluate the impact of major belief systems on societies and nations (e.g., religions, philosophies, political theories).

• Describe the multiple intersecting causes of events. • Use primary source documents to analyze multiple perspectives.

Name: ______________________ Date: ____________

Kent State Shooting Interviews Question Sheet

1. Identify the type of document, the documents author and when the document was written.

2. What is the most significant piece of information the document discusses? Why is this piece of information so significant?

3. List two things the document tells you about life in the United States at the time it

was written.

4. Write a question to the author that is left unanswered by the document:

5. Summarize the documents content in a 3 -5 sentence paragraph.

6. How did the Kent State campus shootings demonstrate the continued divisions within the United States?

7. Using a separate piece of paper, create an illustration of the document that depicts

what the author witnessed on May 4, 1970.

The Following pages are Kent State Shooting Interviews (these can be found at http://omp.ohiolink.edu/OMP/NewDetails?oid=3621707&scrapid=16045&format=yourscrap&sort=thedate&searchstatus=0&count=1&hits=1)