Students will examine primary and secondary sources related to General Eisenhower’s decision to invade Normandy. After analyzing the sources, students will prepare a brief for General Eisenhower advising him on the best course of action. Students will develop an understanding of the many factors involved in making important decisions, including dealing with incomplete information. The outcome of decisions such as this one were not guaranteed. We know now what happened, but, at the time, Eisenhower did not.

In this lesson, students will analyze a series of 11 images related to the space programs in both the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. Students will create a story in pictures about the Space Race using 7 of the images along with a written paragraph of no more than 250 words explaining the importance of the images they chose within the context of the space race.

Students will read through supporting materials and watch a short video from the Eisenhower Memorial to help analyze Eisenhower’s speech. Students will then select a line from the speech and create a campaign poster featuring the line that explains Eisenhower’s foreign policy views.

Students will examine primary sources related to some of the Allied plans to deceive the German Army as to the time and location of the invasion of northern Europe. What techniques of deception were used? What role does deception play in military strategy? What can these deceptions tell us about how the German military viewed the Allies?

Students will develop their own social media campaign either promoting or criticizing Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” speech. They will do this by analyzing primary sources including the text of the speech, promotional posters, and government documents as well as researching the science behind nuclear power.

Working in groups, students will first examine the farewell speech excerpts, then rephrase and summarize the excerpts in their own words. Using the text they have written, students will compare and contrast the two speeches and write a brief opinion piece explaining what each president would think of the country today.

Students will gain an understanding of the NATO military alliance, why it was formed, and why individual countries agreed to sign the treaty to become members. Working in pairs or small groups, students will be assigned a country to represent. Students will first review the global political context by examining sources related to the Berlin Airlift. Students will then locate their country on a map and use the map to assess whether or not joining a military alliance would be a good idea. What does joining the NATO alliance mean? Does an alliance make war more or less likely?

By examining primary sources related to the Little Rock Crisis, students will learn about the relationship between state and federal Constitutional powers, as well as the relationship between the executive, state, and local levels of government. By “grading” the president and governor of Arkansas, and justifying their grades using primary sources, students will better understand the responsibilities of the state versus the federal government.

Students will examine primary sources from Dwight Eisenhower’s early life, focusing on his time as a cadet at West Point and his early military career. Using these sources students will think critically about the role of resilience, Eisenhower’s options, and how these options were shaped by the historical context. To investigate these questions, students will analyze primary sources and place them on a physical timeline using chronology and sequence to infer conclusions about Eisenhower’s life and commitment to public service.

During both World War I and II, many resources like food were scarce because America needed to focus on getting our soldiers the resources they needed to win the war. During those times, people were encouraged to grow “Victory Gardens” to lesson the strain on the commercial food supply, ensure that everyone had access to nourishment, and provide a morale boost by allowing Americans on the home front to aid the war effort (and loved ones who were soldiers fighting far from home).