Enduring Understanding

 

The student will understand:

For each of the 5 decades, students will know and be able to identify the impact of the major:

A. Contributions of Individuals and Groups

  • Inhabitants (cultures, subcultures, groups)
  • Political Leaders
  • Military Leaders
  • Cultural and Commercial Leaders (entrepreneurs, corporate executives, artists, entertainers, writers)
  • Innovators and Reformers (inventors, philosophers, religious leaders, social change agents, improvers of technology)

 

B. Documents, Artifacts and Historical Places

  • Documents, Writings and Oral Traditions (government documents, letters and diaries, fiction and non-fiction works, newspapers and other media, folklore)

 

C. Influences of Continuity and Change

  • Commerce and Industry (jobs, trade, environmental change, labor systems, entertainment)
  • Innovations (ideas, technology, methods and processes)
  • Politics (political party systems, administration of government, rules, regulations and laws, political and judicial interpretation)
  • Social Organization (social structure, identification of social groups, families, groups and communities, education, school population, suffrage, civil rights)
  • Women’s Movement (changing roles of women, social and political movements, breaking barriers, role models)

 

D. Conflict and Cooperation Among Groups

  • Domestic Instability (political unrest, disasters, tragedy)
  • Ethnic and Racial Relations
  • Military Conflicts

 

 

Essential Questions

 

  • How have leaders during this period (political, socially, and economically) attempted to better the lives of American Citizens?
  • How has conflict led to social change in America during this period?
  • What impact has war had on America society, politics, and economics?
  • How has foreign and domestic concerns influenced the policies of the United States?
  • What were the major challenges and accomplishments of the decades during this period?

 

Content Topics

 

Unit 1

1960’s

 

Unit 2

1970’s

 

Unit 3

1980’s

 

Unit 4

1990’s

 

Unit 5

2000’s

 

 

Key Skills

 

  • Policy and Historical Analysis
  • Critical Thinking
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Reading & Interpreting Primary Sources
  • Persuasive, informative, and narrative essay writing
  • Understanding historical and cultural impact of today’s society

       

       

Assessments

 

  • Essays
  • Reports
  • Reading Tasks
  • Writing Prompts
  • Blogs
  • Wikis
  • Position Papers
  • Posters
  • Tests
  • Quizes
  • Simulations

 

 

Standards Alignment:


Pennsylvania Standards:

Contributions of Individuals and Groups · Documents

Artifacts and Historical Places

Influences of Continuity and Change

Conflict and Cooperation Among Groups

 

National Standards:

History in Schools for Era 9 and Era 10: Era 9 - Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)

Standard 1: The economic boom and social transformation of postwar United States

Standard 2: How the Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics

Standard 3: Domestic policies after World War II

Standard 4: The struggle for racial and gender equality and the extension of civil liberties

Era 10 - Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)

Standard 1: Recent developments in foreign and domestic politics

Standard 2: Economic, social, and cultural developments in contemporary United States