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Vietnam: America Divided:  An 11th Grade Webquest

By: Vickie Bookout, Mildred Rodriguez, and Regina Venegas

http://library.springbranchisd.com/sbisd_library/Webquests/Vietnam%20webquest.htm

Introduction

The Vietnam War divided America. Each night as families watched the war on the nightly news, Americans began to diverge into two separate schools of thinking, Pro-War and Anti-War. This separation eventually pitted brother against brother, sister against sister, and friend against friend. Your textbook study of these issues has only uncovered the surface of the issues this era. As your teachers, we believe that it is important for you to understand what brought about this division of views and appreciate and comprehend the fundamental ideas and concerns of both the Pro-War and Anti-War contingencies. At the completion of this webquest, you will be able to express your personal feelings regarding the Pro-War and Anti-War movements.

Tasks

You will choose and complete two tasks from each movement, Anti-War and Pro-War. Where indicated, assignments should be typed in Times New Roman, 12 point. Margins should be 1” around.

Anti-War

Pro-War

·        Design a protest poster. Your artwork should depict three reasons why you are against the war in Vietnam.

·        Produce a welcome home poster. Your poster should portray 3 reasons you are in favor of the Vietnam War.

·        Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper portraying your Anti-War views. Your letter should include your three reasons for taking an Anti-War stance. You must document your reasons with facts. Your body of your letter should be at least ½ of a page single-spaced.

·        Write a letter to a solder in support of the Vietnam War. Your letter should state 3 factual reasons for your support. The body of the letter should be ½ page single-spaced.

·        Produce a poem with at least 20 lines that displays your feelings against the war in Vietnam.

·        Write a pro-war speech. Your speech should be a persuasive speech, which includes 3 factual reasons documenting why you are for the war in Vietnam.  Your speech should be 1 page double-spaced.

·        Create a protest speech. You must use persuasive language to convince others that your beliefs against the war are correct. You must back your personal beliefs with facts that can be verified. Your speech must be at least one page double-spaced.

·        Pretending to be a solder, write a letter home, giving at least three of your personal and factual reasons that you are in favor of the Vietnam War.  The letter should be ½ page single-spaced.

·        Compose lyrics to a folk song opposing the war in Vietnam. Your song should convey your feelings as well as factual grounds for those feelings. The song should have 4 verses and 1 refrain.

·        Write a poem, at least 20 lines long, which displays your pro-war sentiments.

Process

The class will be divided into groups of six. For week one, groups 1, 3, & 5 will be Pro-War and groups 2, 4, & 6 will be Anti-War. On Monday and Tuesday, you will have time to browse, read, and study websites provided below for your particular stance. During this time, please take notes, documenting the particular website source and develop a discussion question pertaining to your assigned position. Also, keep in mind which tasks you will choose. Computer time will be followed by 10 minutes of round table discussion with your group, during which time each group member will pose and seek answers to or advice on his or her question. After round table, students compose a journal entry about what they learned and discussed for the day as well as any ideas for task products. Journal entries will be dated and at least ½ page in length in your journal notebook. On Wednesday – Friday, students will create their task products. Following the webquest, you will have two class days to compose and type a one to two page double-spaced essay entitled, “My Personal Views on the Vietnam War.” This essay should document the conclusions you drew about the Vietnam War after our Webquest study.

Recommendations

·        Keep an open when exploring all of the websites on both sides of the war in Vietnam. You will discover that your own opinions will begin to emerge about each side. Remember to enjoy your exploration, but keep in mind that the bottom-line is the successful completion of your task products and final essay. 
 ·        Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Please keep this in mind during round table discussions. 
·        Finally, ask your fellow group members for assistance should you have a problem or question. If the difficulty cannot be resolved in this way, please seek assistance from me.

Resources

Anti-War

Pro-War

A Trip Through the 60s

Why was the U.S. in Vietnam?

The Anti-War Movement in the U.S.

The Vietnam War in Photographs

Kent State Protest Chronology

Poetry by Dusty, Army Nurse Corps

Alan Canfora, Survivor

Mines, A Soldier’s Story

San Jose State: A Campus in Crisis

Reflections from a Donut Dollie

A Veteran Speaks – Against the War

Pure Torture, by an American POW

Hanoi Jane

Coming Home

Anti-War Folk Songs

The Last Patrol

Evaluation

Your task products and final essay will be evaluated by the following rubric. You will receive five separate grades for your task products and final essay. Each grade will be out of 100 possible points.  Each journal entry will be worth 25 points. You will only receive credit for your journal entry if it is completed as outlined above.  Therefore, you will have a total of six individual grades from this webquest. These will count as daily grades. A final average of all six grades will be taken and entered as a major test grade.

Task Product Rubric

Objectives

Unsatisfactory

Satisfactory

Excellent

Used Correct Format

0-3

4-7

8-10

Applied Proper Writing Mechanics

0-3

4-7

8-10

Structured product according to guidelines

0-3

4-7

8-10

Demonstrated creativity and originality

0-3

4-7

8-10

Acquired needed knowledge base

0-3

4-7

8-10

Displayed knowledge

0-3

4-7

8-10

Organized properly to complete product

0-3

4-7

8-10

Managed time wisely

0-3

4-7

8-10

Communicated efforts to teacher

0-3

4-7

8-10

Had clear vision of final product

0-3

4-7

8-10

Conclusion

Many Americans are still divided about the issues surrounding the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Those who believe Vietnam was a mistake usually cannot recommend any better method or action the U.S. could have taken toward an improved outcome. Vietnam was the longest war in our history, as a nation, and it cost more than any other war except World War II. For those Americans who support the war, these issues are hard to overcome. Finally, many Americans today are not knowledgeable about why the U.S. went to war and/or the issues surrounding the Vietnam War. As your teacher, I hope that you have gained knowledge and insight on the causes and costs of the Vietnam War and the Pro-War and Anti-War movements that came about with the war. Furthermore, I hope you are able, after thoughtful reflection, to draw your own intelligent conclusions about the war in Vietnam as well as discuss these issues with your peers. In conclusion, a town hall meeting will be held to discuss the issues and questions you encountered during this webquest.