Cold War RealignmentAll 5 grade bands · K-2 through APFree download
1972
Lesson plan.
Richard Nixon vs George McGovern — Nixon won re-election in a historic landslide, carrying 49 states and losing only Massachusetts and DC. Senator George McGovern ran an anti-war campaign but was damaged by his initially selecting and then dropping Thomas Eagleton (who had received electroshock therapy) as his running mate. The Watergate break-in had occurred in June 1972 but its significance was not yet widely understood. Nixon's opening to China and détente with the Soviet Union were popular. He resigned in August 1974 due to the Watergate scandal.
What is in each packet
Cover
Cycle metadata + band eyebrow
Lesson plan
Instructor — timing, materials, standards
Reading
Sized to grade band (K-2: ~250 words → AP: ~650)
Background
Curated cycles — 5-7 vocab terms + primary-source excerpt
Student worksheet
K-2: 3 questions → AP: 8, mixed format
Answer key
Instructor — rationale on every item
Discussion prompts
3 prompts tied to era
DBQ (AP only)
Long-essay + 5-point rubric + second source