Students read both nonfiction and historical fiction about the Vietnam War and the shootings at Kent State in 1970. They contrast different perspectives to consider the question: Who decides what’s true?

LITERATURE

The United States and Vietnam: A Complicated History by Kyle Johnson

Kent State by Deborah Wiles

Students build background knowledge with the nonfiction text The United States and Vietnam: A Complicated History. They then read the historical fiction novel in verse, Kent State. This complex novel incorporates multiple perspectives on the events that occurred at Kent State on May 4, 1970, prompting students to grapple with the question of whose story constitutes the truth.

FLUENCY TOPICS

John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, the National Guard, ROTC, the Black Panthers, Vietnam War protests and protestors, music of the 1960s, the 1960s counterculture, the Jackson State shootings, the legacy of the Vietnam War

FOCUS

Literary analysis

• Analyzing the perspectives of complex characters
• Analyzing author’s choices about the structure of a text
• Analyzing the representation of a subject in different mediums

Reading comprehension

• Questioning as a component of Reciprocal Teaching
• Question-answer relationships (QAR): contrasts between “right there,” “think and search,” “author and me,” and “on my own” questions

Decoding

• Using syllable division patterns, such as V|CV and VC|V, and word parts (prefix, base, and suffix) to chunk and decode multi-syllable words

Debate

• Should the U.S. have gotten involved with the war in Vietnam?
• Who was to blame for the events at Kent State on May 4, 1970?