1. Begin the lesson by asking students if they know anyone who served in Vietnam. Do they know any women who served there? Give students some background on the war in Vietnam, from their social studies texts, or from other books and/or websites. Or, give them some time to research and discuss the war on their own. It is only necessary that they know the basic outline of the war, why we were there, and what the eventual outcome was.
2. Tell students that they are going to create a Chronicle of Women in Vietnam, because the story of their service is not widely known. Discuss with students the form that Chronicle will take. It could be a PowerPoint presentation; it could be a journal; it could be a scrapbook. Also discuss what kinds of things might go into this Chronicle: pictures, letters, stories, essays, poetry, popular music, protest music, etc.
3. Using the websites listed below, as well as any other websites students may find and print materials, divide the class into the following groups and get them started on the project by giving them time to explore the websites and other materials.
- Layout Editors (design of the Chronicle)
- Assignment Editors (assigns research tasks)
- Picture Editors (finds pictures on the Web or in books, assigns photographers as needed)
- Editorial Board (checks all segments of the Chronicle)
- Art Board (designs art work for Chronicle pages or slides)
- Oral History Board (helps discover people to interview, assigns interviews, assigns photographers, oversees the writing up of interviews)
4. This project may take several weeks or a month to complete. It does not have to be worked on every day, but teachers and students may find that it “creeps in” to other lessons. That would be good!
5. When the Chronicle is complete, have a Dedication Day in which students’ work is displayed to the school.