James Richards

Project Abstract

Good Morning Vietnam: A journalism project.

This project requires students to research the political, social environmental causes and effects of the Vietnam war. Groups of students create fictitious newspaper publications from various regions in the world and report on various aspects and individuals involved in the conflict. The project involves students taking on various roles in the newspaper publication, such as editor, reporter layout and design, and photographer. The final product consists of a 5 -6 page newspaper that would appear authentic to the time period.

What did you teach and how did you teach it?

The Vietnam conflict is introduced with the use of primary source documents, video, and actual newspaper articles from the United States, Vietnam, and other locations around the globe. Students use these publications to cross reference the information gathered from various academic sources including political figures' interviews and reports. Guest speakers are also utilized for reliable perspective content.

What concepts and skills did the students gain in this class through this project?

As a result of this project, students will have experienced a lesson in journalistic writing with consideration of perspective, i.e.political, regional, cultural and environmental. The refinement process is also vital in producing a well developed journalism piece. As for the final product, a newspaper journalist by profession is involved in the critique of all student newspapers.

How is the curriculum for this project academically rich and grade-level challenging?

As students investigate the political and human implications of the conflict, the questions that arise can directly impact the future considerations of the youthful generation. The content involves student investigation of the world politic and the impact of the decisions by political leaders, as well as the power of the student protests' of the 1960's and '70's.

To what extent was there integration across disciplines in your class through this project?

This project gave students an opportunity to research and report on the chemical properties of the defoliant known as Agent Orange. Even though the project was not aligned with the content subject matter in our chemistry pod, the Good Morning Vietnam project incorporated chemical analysis in humanities class.

I have shared the project with my teaching partner Paul Mendricks who is considering ways to incorporate the project across curriculum. We plan on having students present this project across curriculum during High Tech High Chula Vista's Festival Del Sol.

Which Habits of Heart and Mind (HoHM) and Design Principles were utilized in this project?

The habits of heart and mind that were utilized throughout this project were perspective, compassion, and cooperation.

Students research both communist leader Ho Chi Minh and President Ngo Dien Diem and their political philosophies in order to gain perspectives from both sides of the conflict. Protest from the United States and South Vietnamese Buddhist monks offer students an opportunity to consider various perspectives while preparing for their news reports. As students begin to gain an understanding of the extreme psychological, physical, and political implications of the Vietnam war, one cannot help but to exercise a higher compassion for victims of military conflict.

As for cooperation, this project requires that each student serve in an editors role for the written artifacts and the final newspaper and audio broadcast. This project consists of 5-6 group members (4 reporters 2 editors) cooperation and communication is a must.

How did you incorporate refinement through this project?

Each of the students is assigned an editors role at some point during the project. News reports are discussed and refined not fewer than 3 times before final draft. Rubrics are used at several stages throughout the research and writing stages.