Lesson Ideas

Inquiry Tasks

• Read Like a Historian: Korea, from the Stanford Education Group, asks students to consider secondary sources, such as textbooks, with regards to their value in understanding causal relationships. Do such sources reflect a bias? Can they be assumed to provide accurate accounts of history? Why or why not? Encourage students to compare different textbook accounts regarding who was responsible for starting the Korean conflict. Use the presentation, Korean War, provided by the Oklahoma Council for Social Studies to provide deeper understandings about the causes of the war and how both primary and secondary sources can be biased.

• Korean War Legacy Mind Map, from the Korean War History Project, asks students to use timelines and maps to develop mind maps of major events related to the Korean conflict. Ask students to use their mind maps to explain the reasons for U.S. involvement in the war and evaluate how Allied military forces responded to the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. Conclude by conducting a class discussion, assessing the impact of democratization in South Korea.  

• Digital History provides students an opportunity to evaluate the president's role as commander-in-chief, using the lesson, Truman versus MacArthur. Ask students to analyze brief correspondence between the two leaders and their perspectives toward military policies in Korea. Encourage students to answer such key questions as "How far should the United States go in accomplishing its mission in Korea?" and "How can military and diplomatic aims sometimes be at odds?"

• Why Was the Korean War Forgotten is a lesson from the C3 Teachers, which challenges students to engage in an extended inquiry task to determine why the conflict is one that is somewhat overlooked in historical studies and the public's mind. Encourage students to work collaboratively to examine the provided sets of primary and secondary sources, engage in structured tasks to process new information, and draw conclusions regarding the essential question. Ask students to propose a textbook revision reflecting soldiers’ perceptions of the war and reasons why it should not be "forgotten."

• Korean War Legacy in Letters, from the Korean War History Project, offers students an opportunity to engage in a guided inquiry of soldier's letter from Korea. Ask students to consider how the experiences of veterans shape the opinion of the Cold War, in particular the Korean War? Provide time for students to work independently or collaboratively to research the online interview and correspondence of Korean War veterans, evaluating multiple perspectives and experiences. Encourage students to compose a letter that showcases not only their knowledge of historical facts and context but also the personal experiences of a veteran.

Primary Sources 

Secondary Sources 

• Commitment to Korea, President Harry Truman, speech, as reported by the New York Times, 1950.

• Truman Orders Military Aid to Korea, front page, New York Times (excerpt provided by O.C.S.S.

• President Truman Proclaims a State of Emergency, New York Times, 1950 (excerpt provided by O.C.S.S.)

• Korea Fuse, political cartoon by Daniel Robert Fitzpatrick, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1950, State Historical Society of Missouri. 

• Truman Names MacArthur to Head U.N. Force in Korea, article, New York Times, 1950. 

• Letter to Mother of Fallen Soldier, Korea, from Douglas MacArthur, 1950. 

• Letter from Mr. Banning of New Canaan, Connecticut to President Truman. 

• Search for a Key, political cartoon, by Daniel Robert Fitzpatrick, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1952.  

• Another Hole in the Dike, political cartoon by Fred Seibel, Richmond Times Dispatch, 1953. 

• Korean War 1950-1953, from the Wilson Center Digital Library, provides a timeline linked with a wide collection of document from the war, obtained from Russian archives and including reports on Chinese and Soviet aid to North Korea; for student research or teacher reference

• Korean War Legacy Foundation, Interview Archive with veterans, for student research.

• Korean War Military resources, National Archives and Records Administration, military resources of the Korean War, for student and teacher reference.

• Korean War map, provided by PBS.

• The Korean War, narrative from Digital History, for student reference.