1. Unit Portfolio Presentation Katie Papakostas
The Cold War
Unit Portfolio Presentation
Katie Papakostas

2. Unit Summary
The Cold War spanned over 45 years and embedded it into the minds and culture of the United States and the world. Students will choose a major Cold War event, research it and create a podcast to report on it. Students will research and analyze the timeline of the chosen event, create breaking news segments, create interview questions and infer the various responses of government officials and the public.

3. Curriculum-Framing Questions
Essential Question
How are people’s views and ideas influenced?
Unit Questions
How can we create a podcast that will reflect the events, perspectives and influence during the Cold War?
Content Questions
What are the differences between communism and capitalism?
How can we describe the 1st, 2nd and 3rd world during the Cold War?
How can we outline the events of a major Cold War event?
How did the governments view major Cold War events?
How did the citizens view major Cold War events?
How does the media influence the ideas of the citizens?
How can we use podcast to present our podcast in a professional manner?

4. Vision for the Unit During this unit, I would like to…
Use a new multi-media presentation to information.
Create steps in the learning process to allow for students to really understand the information.
I would like for the students to…
Learn through research-based learning.
Understand how each view-point skews opinions on an event.
Be able to understand the cause and effects of events and relate it clearly.

5. 21st Century Skills
Students will gain the following 21st Century Skills and higher-order thinking skills.
Demonstrating originality and inventiveness in work
Understanding the interconnections among systems.
Accessing information efficiently and effectively, evaluating information critically and competently and using information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand.
Going beyond basic mastery of skills and/or curriculum to explore and expand one’s own learning and opportunities to gain expertise.

6. Gauging Student Needs Assessments
Using CFQs to learn
What prior knowledge students have of the Cold War.
What information students have learned about major Cold War events.
Assessing 21st Century Skills
How students are able to make connections between events and lead to an outcome.

7. Gauging Students Needs Assessments

8. Gauging Students Needs Assessments

9. Gauging Student Needs Assessments
How can I use these assessments?
I can assess how much students know about the Cold War and determine where I need to focus more time in class.
I can determine what students misunderstand and what I will need to recover.
How can students use these assessments?
Students can determine how much they need to learn in order to master the subject.
Students can determine where their weaknesses lie in understanding.

10. Requests for Responses
I need help determining some activities to bring lower level students up to higher order thinking.
I need help with activities to motivate low performing students.