Creating a Newscast on the Cold War

Engage

Remember as you study the Cold War, countries that are allies sometimes become enemies.

Explore

Search the Internet for information on the Cold War and what the term actually means. This training video will help you get started in your search.

Discovering the Internet, http://nortellearnit.org/technology/Discovering_the_Internet/

The following web sites will be helpful.

Teacher Created Website

http://www.valdosta.edu/~smtovar/topic.html

Cold War Museum

http://www.coldwar.org/

CNN Cold War Program Site

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/

http://americanhistory.si.edu/subs/history/timeline/index.html

http://www.teacheroz.com/coldwar.htm

1. You will be in a group of 3 to 4 students and research events during a specific year of the Cold War.  Then using your research, you will create a news program based on the events of that year.

• 2. View a year-by-year (1945-1991/1992) PowerPoint Timeline of the Cold War, provided on the Nortel LearniT web site that hosts this lesson plan. Use this PowerPoint to help you pinpoint your group's year of interest. Only one group per year will be allowed. The teacher will ask that one group choose the first year of the Cold War and another group choose the last year of the Cold War. Try to choose a year that relates to some of your interests.
• 3. Now that you have chosen a year, it is time to begin your research. You may research online or through books and primary sources. If possible, interview people who were alive during the year that you chose.
• Ask you teacher for help in setting up interviews. Use NortelLearniT resources about CareerBytes to help you with your interviews.
• a. http://nortellearnit.org/resources/career_bytes/default_page#900d3316)0565)4206)aaa5_c1007c05a4ca

Explain

Although you may not be finished with your research, share with your class some of the information you have learned about the Cold War.  Based upon the information you learn, decide as a group whether you need more time for additional research.

• 1. Once you have completed your research, begin to plan your news program. Use these resources to help you create your news program:

1. Imaging, http://nortellearnit.org/teachnoloyg/Imaging/
2. Video Production, http://www.nortellearnit.org/technology/Video_Productions/

Elaborate

2. Storyboard your group's ideas. Use the digital video cameras to record your presentation.

• a. View a video tutorial on creating a video storyboard: http://nortellearnit.org/LearniT/technology/Video_Productions/shotlistsandstoryboards

3. Using images and video clips found on the Internet, create a professional looking news program. An editing program such as Windows Movie Maker 2 can be used and downloaded for free at

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/videos/likeapro.mspx

Tip:  When you decide what images (pictures), sounds or text that you want to use in your production, be sure to check for a copyright notice.  Some Web sites want you to use their materials for educational projects while others don't.  A good practice for you should be to look for an email on the Web page you want to use materials from and use it to send a request for permission to use it in your class production.

It is also important that you identify materials that you use completely in your production.  This is called "making a citation" of someone else's work. The format that is typically used is as follows:

Last Name, First Name of Author (if known).  "Title of work/article/page."  Title of Complete Document (if applicable).  Date last modified.  URL (date visited).

4. Make sure you have all the necessary equipment needed for your production. Use the checklist below to help you gather the equipment. Also, review Nortel LearniT web site to help in your production.

• http://www.nortellearnit.org/resources/Handouts/#video%20productions

5. When everyone has presented their newscast, write an essay describing which event(s), in your opinion, were the most significant of the Cold War. How do you think the event you describe contributed to the outcome of the Cold War?

Tips:  The links may be useful in helping you organize yours essay.

• http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/
• http://home.att.net/~frohawk/his.html
• http://www.onveon.com/articles/how-to-write-an-essay.htm

As a model, use the Nortel LearniT Video Production storyboard template. Here also is the Nortel LearniT Video Production Equipment Checklist

Evaluate

The news broadcast length can vary depending. The amount of events reported on for the news report can vary depending upon the year chosen. Work will be evaluated using the attached project rubric.

Cold War Newscast Project Rubric

After the group presentations, write a self-evaluation reflective journal. Include what you have learned, what you contributed to the group, what you could improve, which groups did the best, what else you would still like to learn about the Cold War.

Extend

Consider some of these ideas for extensions.

1. Show a copy of your newscast to your family and friend.  Describe their responses to the newscast. Were there different reactions by age group?  Did your grand parent's reaction differ than your siblings?

2. Write an editorial review of the newscast.  Critique the good and bad parts.

3. Establish a pen pal in a country that was once involved in the Cold War.  The web site http://masterrussian.com/blpenpal.php can be used to find a pen pal. 

Related Resources

Teacher Created Website

http://www.valdosta.edu/~smtovar/topic.html

Cold War Museum

http://www.coldwar.org/

CNN Cold War Program Site

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/

Bernhard, Nancy E. U.S. Television News and Cold War Propaganda, 1947-1960. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Cha, Victor D. Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Dilloway, James. From Cold War to Chaos?: Reviving Humane development or Remaking Market Man. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999.

Evangelista, Matthew. Unarmed Forces: The Transnational Movement to End the Cold War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999.

Fisher, Benjamin F., ed. At Cold War's End: US Intelligence on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1989-1991. Reston, VA: Central Intelligence Agency, 1999. (Available Online)

Gaddis, John Lewis, ed. Cold War Statesmen Confront the Bomb: Nuclear Diplomacy Since 1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Gaddis, John Lewis. We now know : rethinking Cold War history. Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1997.

Jenkins, Philip. The Cold War at Home: The Red Scare in Pennsylvania, 1945-1960. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.

Karabell, Zachary. Architects of Intervention: The United States, the Third World, and the Cold War, 1946-1962. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999.

Kramer, Hilton. The Twilight of the Intellectuals: Culture and Politics in the Era of the Cold War. Chicago: I.R. Dee, 1999.

Lucas, Scott. Freedom's War: The American Crusade Against the Soviet Union. New York: New York University Press, 1999.

Macqueen, Norrie. The United Nations Since 1945: Peacekeeping and the Cold War. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 1999.

Management Of The U.S. Navy Research And Development Centers During The Cold War... A Survey Guide To Reports... U.S. Department Of Defense, 1998.

McClarnand, Elaine, and Goodson, Steve, eds. The Impact of the Cold War on American Popular Culture. Carrollton, GA: State University of West Georgia, 1999.

Mitrovich, Gregory, Undermining the Kremlin: America's Strategy to Subvert the Soviet Bloc, 1947-1956. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 2000.

Nolan, Janne E. An Elusive Consensus: Nuclear Weapons and American Security after the Cold War. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1999.

Roberts, Geoffrey K. The Soviet Union in World Politics: Coexistence, Revolution, and Cold War, 1945-1991. New York: Routledge, 1999.

Rojecki, Andrew. Silencing the Opposition: Antinuclear Movements and the Media in the Cold War. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999.

Seaborg, Glenn Theodore. A Chemist in the White House : From the Manhattan Project to the End of the Cold War. Washington, DC : American Chemical Society, 1998.

Sibley, Katherine A. S. The Cold War. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1998.