Description

What our Korean War lesson plan includes

Lesson Objectives and Overview: Korean War explores the causes and effects of this conflict. Students will understand the history of the war and identify the differences between North and South Korea after the Korean War. This lesson is for students in 5th grade and 6th grade.

Classroom Procedure

Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the yellow box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand.

Options for Lesson

The “Options for Lesson” section of the classroom procedure page outlines some additional activities and variations that you can use when presenting this lesson to your students. Many cities have museums dedicated to military veterans and their service to our country. Arrange a trip to visit one or have a veteran come speak to your class.

Teacher Notes

The teacher notes page provides an extra paragraph of information to help guide the lesson and remind you what to focus on. The blank lines on this page are available for you to write out thoughts and ideas you have as you prepare the lesson.

KOREAN WAR LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES

The Korean War lesson includes four content pages. If you were a student in North Korea, this is the map you would learn in geography class. What’s missing? If you said South Korea, you are correct! North Korea does not officially recognize South Korea as a legitimate state. It views itself as the sole legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula. The country of South Korea, also known as the Republic of Korea (ROK), did not exist until after World War II and was not formally established as a country until 1948.

You may be asking how North and South Korea became separate countries. The answer doesn’t start with the Korean War, but the Korean War plays a significant role in a divided Korea. The story begins in the late 1800s in Japan. During the late 1800s, nations worldwide sought to expand their territories through colonialism and imperialism. Japan and China were in a race to dominate the Asian continent. In 1894, Japan invaded Korea under the pretense of securing its borders from China. The invasion sparked the First Sino-Japanese War. Japan prevailed, and Korea became an independent nation—kind of! Japan immediately began meddling in the government of Korea.

By 1910, Japan had integrated Korea as part of Japan. Korea became a colony of Japan, which is called colonialism. To help you understand what colonialism is, recall that America was once a British Colony until the Revolutionary War ended. Japan continued to expand its influence using its military, which is called imperialism. By 1931, Japan controlled all of Korea, parts of China, Taiwan, and Manchuria.

Korea Is Divided

Fast forward to the end of World War II. The Allies included the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China. Once Japan surrendered, Korea was divided into two political and economic camps. The North fell under the influence of communist China and the Soviet Union. The South chose American and British democratic capitalism. The communist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the North was led by Kim Il Sung, and the more democratic capitalist Republic of Korea (ROK) in the South was led by Syngman Rhee. Both political sides claimed they were the only legitimate government in Korea. Backed by their allies, tensions remained high throughout the remaining years of the 1940s, following World War II. On June 25, 1950, forces from the North launched an invasion into the South, nearly overrunning the entire country in a matter of a few short weeks.

Led by the United States and democratic allies that wanted to stop the spread of communism in Asia and the rest of the world, the United Nations sent troops into Korea to battle the forces from the North. The military offensive was a success, pushing the North back to just the other side of the 38th Parallel. The quick response by United Nations troops and the mounting losses in North Korean troops sent shock waves into China. China rearmed the North and sent thousands of Chinese troops to repel what they believed was a coming invasion into China.

The US Joins South Korea

On July 1, 1950, to counteract the Chinese forces, American troops joined with the South Koreans at the Battle of Osan. President Truman was convinced the threat of communism in Asia was too significant a risk not to try to contain its expansion. Shortly after the Korean War, Truman wrote about the experience in his memoirs published in 1956. He said, “If South Korea fell, the communists would attack other nations, resulting in World War III.” The battle raged for several months, with neither side able to maintain the gains made after each battle. The casualties were extraordinarily high, especially among the innocent civilian population.

Reports in 1951 from North and South Korea were that the battle was not shifting to any one side’s favor. They endured a long, costly stalemate where neither side was able to advance too far beyond the 38th Parallel. By the summer of 1951, peace talks began. The talks were much like the conflict itself: a stalemate. For the next two years, the talks continued. The obstacles to peace were about prisoner repatriation and where the border should be drawn or demarcated. The battle raged on the front lines with more lives lost and ever-increasing civilian casualties.

Political Debate

Meanwhile, the political debate in the United States underwent a significant shift. One of the few five-star generals and an American military hero, General Douglas MacArthur, proposed to Truman that it was an opportune time to invade China. MacArthur was a highly respected and decorated officer who had served in both World War I and World War II. President Truman had appointed him to command the forces in Korea. General MacArthur proposed to the president that they could end the war by annihilating China. He believed that the North could not continue fighting without support from their neighbor. His plan was to bomb Chinese factories and military bases inside China. Then they could send troops in to secure the territory.

If necessary, he wanted Truman to authorize using the nuclear bomb on China. MacArthur had also proposed using a cobalt bomb near the 38th Parallel to clear out the North Koreans and Chinese soldiers. In modern terms, MacArthur proposed using a dirty bomb to create a large area of radioactive contamination, making an area uninhabitable.

Truman and his advisors feared that invading China would draw the Soviets into the war, potentially leading to World War III. MacArthur publicly feuded with the president and criticized Truman’s handling of the war. Truman admired General MacArthur and was appreciative of his service to the United States. However, he was not shy about reminding MacArthur that he was president and the general worked for him. The public dispute came to a head in 1951 when Truman was proposing a ceasefire at the 38th Parallel. Truman’s desire was to end the bloodshed as quickly as possible. He saw the ceasefire as the surest means to do so.

MacArthur Rebels

MacArthur vehemently and publicly disagreed with President Truman. The general decided to take decisive action even though he knew the president was not in favor of doing so. He ordered his troops to invade North Korea and push the North Korean troops up past the 38th Parallel, intentionally ignoring Truman, the Commander in Chief and the president of the United States. President Truman, incensed by MacArthur’s actions, relieved him of his command and fired him on April 11, 1951. Americans were shocked and divided over how Truman treated the war hero MacArthur. Truman believed his decision was correct. MacArthur had overstepped his authority, undermined the president’s efforts at peace, and defied direct orders from his superior. Truman believed diplomacy was the path to peace. MacArthur believed escalation into China would lead to victory and stop the spread of communism.

MacArthur returned to the United States to a hero’s welcome and a parade in New York City. President Truman spent the remainder of his time in office defending his decision to fire the popular general. Historians continue to debate whether Truman or MacArthur had the better solution. What is undeniable is that the United States Constitution places the command of the military in the hands of elected civilians. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution designates the president as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces; the military command is under the president’s authority.

The End of the Korean War

What finally ended the Korean War? On July 27, 1953, after years of fighting, military and civilian loss of life, and bloodshed, an armistice was reached. An armistice is not a peace treaty. It is a temporary agreement to stop fighting, similar to a ceasefire. A peace treaty is a formal, legal agreement that ends fighting. Both sides agreed to establish the 38th Parallel as a demilitarized zone (DMZ), a designated area between warring parties where no military bases or activities are permitted. The DMZ in Korea is about 160 miles long (258 kilometers) and roughly 2.5 miles wide (4 kilometers). To this day, North Korean troops man one side of the DMZ facing South Korean and American soldiers on the other.

Is the Korean War still going on? Great question! No official peace treaty has ever been signed. North Korea has nuclear weapons, periodically shoots armed rockets into the Sea of Japan, and continually threatens South Korea. China heavily subsidizes the North Korean economy and military. The United States has a military base with over 28,000 soldiers stationed to protect the border of South Korea. North and South Korea remain technically in a state of conflict, separated by a heavily militarized border. The DMZ has been compared to the Berlin Wall, which physically separated communist East Germany from democratic West Germany during the Cold War. Though occasional skirmishes occur between the North and South Korean troops stationed at the border, all-out war has been avoided so far. Koreans on both sides of the DMZ look to a day when they can be reunited as one country.

KOREAN WAR LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS

The Korean War lesson plan includes three worksheets: an activity worksheet, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. Each one will reinforce students’ comprehension of lesson material in different ways and help them demonstrate when they learned. Use the guidelines on the classroom procedure page to determine when to distribute each worksheet to the class.

DMZ AND THE BERLIN WALL ACTIVITY WORKSHEET

With a partner, students will research the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Germany during the Cold War. They will compare what they find with the DMZ of North and South Korea and write it in the table. There are four group discussion questions at the bottom of the worksheet. You can have students divide into small groups or have a class discussion.

KOREAN WAR REVIEW PRACTICE WORKSHEET

The practice worksheet requires students to answer a series of 10 questions. These questions all relate to the content pages, so students will need to refer to them often for the answers. In addition, each question provides which reading tool the question corresponds to, such as text feature, vocabulary, or comprehension.

KOREA MAP HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

For the homework assignment, students will follow the guide on the page to color and label a map of Korea and its surrounding areas.

Worksheet Answer Keys

There are answer keys for the worksheets at the end of the lesson plan document. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.