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Lesson AbstractOver the course of this 3 day lesson students will define soft power, apply the concept to current events, and learn about how leaders in the United States government attempted to use soft power in the late 18th century. The main focus of the lesson will be on the Americans' use of soft power as part of their relationship with France during this time of great political change. The lesson will culminate with students writing the script for an interview of one of the primary source document authors (seen in the portraits above) and creating a video of the interview to be published on the class website, YouTube, or some other outlet.
This lesson would follow the lengthy detailed study of the American Revolution, the United States Constitution, and the French Revolution. Students should have background knowledge on these events and the Enlightenment ideas that motivated them. This lesson could be used for 9th through 12th graders. |
Key QuestionsWhat is soft power?
How do world leaders use soft power today? How did the leaders of the fledgling American government use soft power withing their relationship with France in the late 18th century? Learning ObjectivesStudents will be able to define soft power using key terms from Joseph Nye's book like attract, persuade, and preference.
Students will be able to recognize the use of soft power in current event situations they see on the news everyday. They will be able to distinguish between uses of soft power that are effective and uses that fail. Students will be able to recognize the use of soft power when reading primary source documents. They will be able to distinguish between uses of soft power that are effective and uses that fail. |
Learning ActivitiesRecommendations and modifications for teachers who are implementing this lesson.
Standards AlignmentA list of the Massachusetts History Curriculum Frameworks, the Standards in Historical Thinking, and the Common Core Reading Standards for History that align with this lesson.
Annotated BibliographyInformation on the primary and secondary sources used in this lesson.
Media CitationsInformation on the images and videos used in this lesson.
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This lesson was created by Kerry Gallagher as part of her participation in the History Connected program and The U.S. and World: Expressions of Power, Past & Present summer institute offered by Primary Source.
Blog: http://kerryhawk02.blogspot.com/
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/kerryhawk02
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KerryHawk02
Email: [email protected]
Blog: http://kerryhawk02.blogspot.com/
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/kerryhawk02
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KerryHawk02
Email: [email protected]