Cold War RealignmentAll 5 grade bands · K-2 through APFree download
1976
Lesson plan.
Jimmy Carter vs Gerald Ford — Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, a post-Watergate outsider who had never held national office, narrowly defeated incumbent Gerald Ford. Ford was damaged by his controversial pardon of Nixon and Reagan's strong primary challenge had exposed his vulnerability. Carter ran as a Washington outsider of integrity and won Southern states that had been going Republican. The debates saw Ford claim that Poland was not under Soviet domination — a gaffe that hurt him badly. Carter won the Electoral College 297-240.
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