INTRODUCTION

In 1945, when World War II ended, American forces returned to a proud, supportive country. Thirty years later, when the conflict in Vietnam came to a close, the Americans who took part came back to a divided nation, including angry citizens who disagreed with government policies and questioned the decisions of their leaders. How can we help students compare the pressures on the country at these two very different periods in history? How can we help them make sense of these two important periods in our history?

PROJECT OVERVIEW

In this project, half the class studies life in the United States during the Second World War, while the other half examines life in America during the Vietnam conflict. To find out about those times, students do research on their own, learn interviewing techniques, and then interview friends and family who spent those war years at home. Once teams have completed their research, students share discoveries in panel presentations, participate in a moderated class discussion, and write essays comparing and contrasting these two important eras in American history.

Phase 1: Investigating the past

Discuss with the whole class what they know about World War II and the Vietnam War. How were these two wars different? What was life like in the United States during each period?

After the discussion, divide the class into two groups: one will study the effects of World War II on American life (circa 1940-1945); the other will study the effects of the Vietnam War on American life (circa 1965-1975).

Students in each group pair up to research their respective periods. They review ready-made TimeLiner timelines, find information in World Book Encyclopedia and American History Online, and search the Internet with EdView, saving resource files and recording notes in AppleWorks. Their primary goal in this phase is to gain enough understanding of the times to conduct effective personal interviews.

Phase 2: Conducting interviews

Ask groups of two pairs each to explore the Interview project in the News Center of The Writing Trek, in which students learn and practice the skills they'll need to conduct effective personal interviews. After completing the interview project, partners work together to find an interview subject (a friend, parent, or grandparent, for instance) who is willing to share his or her memories and experiences of life in America during the war years being studied.

Partners conduct their interviews, using the questions suggested in the Interview Questionnaire. One person acts as the interviewer; the other acts as the recorder, taking notes (by hand or by using a tape recorder or digital camcorder). After the interviews, students summarize the interviewee's responses by filling in the appropriate column of the Interview Questionnaire. (The other half of the questionnaire will be filled in during the panel presentations in Phase 3.)

Phase 3: Presenting interview results

Set up the classroom for panel presentations. For the first set of presentations, the World War II group sits together at the front of the room, and each pair in turn gives a brief synopsis of their findings, telling about the person they interviewed and what they learned, and then answering questions from the audience. During the presentations, students in the audience take notes that they can use to fill in the World War II columns of their questionnaire forms.

When the World War II group has presented its findings, the groups trade places: pairs in the Vietnam War group give their presentations and students in the World War II group take notes for filling in the Vietnam War columns of their questionnaire forms.

Phase 4: Comparing the war years

After both panel presentations have been made, lead the class in a discussion comparing and contrasting life in America during the years of World War II and the Vietnam conflict. Ask students what they notice about the general feeling of each era and the public's views of the wars. Encourage them to speculate about the reasons for the differences. Students use their completed questionnaire forms to guide them in this discussion.

To conclude the project, ask students to write (in AppleWorks) short essays in which they draw upon their research, interview experiences, the panel presentations, and the final discussion to compare the social climate in the United States during the two war eras and give reasons for the differences they see.