The Red Scare Game

Name: Kevin Buss Date: February 19th 2012 Content Standards: - Historical Empathy: Students will be able to get an idea of how Americans felt about and responded to the threat of communism. - Unfinished Business: Students will recognize the parallels between stereotyping and labeling in the 1950s and today. - Tentative Nature: Students will comprehend the complexities of trying to distinguish between ideological affiliation and national loyalty. - Evaluating Evidence: Students will learn to think critically about the difference between assertions and evidence (i.e. Joseph McCarthy). Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: - Students will develop an understanding of why the Red Scare occurred. - Students will appreciate the depth and extent of the paranoia of the time. Materials/Resources/Technology: - Identity slips - Propaganda pictures from the time of the Red Scare - Candy rewards Teachers Goals: I want to engage the students in a learning activity disguised as a game, something fun rather than laborious. While it is important that students learn the facts and figures of the time period, I wanted to focus more on the climate of suspicion and paranoia it produced, which I thought might be best demonstrated by simulation. My intention is to have the students enjoy the game, but also think about its implications- I am well aware that some of the students who will be accused of being Reds will wonder what prompted such accusations, and perhaps even feel somewhat offended. By having them talk about this at the end of the game, I hope to both diffuse any tension caused by the game and make them understand that people experienced similar things on a much more serious level half a century ago.

Time

Start of Class: Teacher will begin class by discussing the background for the Red Scare, asking students questions to get them thinking about why and how it occurred. - Why were Americans afraid of communists? Did they fear what the ideology itself would do to American values, or did they fear what 7-10 minutes communists themselves might do (subversion)? - How do you identify someone as a communist? What traits can you look for (getting at the idea of the slippery slope and unfounded accusations)? Teacher will then explain that they will receive slips of paper for an activity/game. Each slip will be labeled either communist or capitalist. Students will be instructed to keep the contents of their slip a secret. Teacher will then explain the purpose of the game and how it is played. Lesson Instruction: Rules of the game - Students are to get into groups of ~5 with the objective of having no communists in their group. - Students may not reveal their slips to anybody until the end of the game. - Communists must try and remain undetected, and may lie to infiltrate capitalist groups. Capitalists and communists have the 20 minutes option of role-playing their identities, so long as nobody is offensive or mean to others. - When groups have been formed, teacher will begin a round of formal accusations where group members can accuse others of being communists, stating their reasons for making such accusations. - After accusations have been made, each student will reveal their identity. - Those groups who successfully formed without a communist will be rewarded with candy, as will those communists who remain un-accused by the end of the game. Assessments/Checks for Understanding: After everyone has been identified, teacher will ask questions to drive home the point of the activity and wrap up the lesson. - How did you determine who was a Red and who was not? Was it easy to figure out? 10 minutes - For those of you who were falsely accused, how did you feel? - For those of you who went undetected, what was your strategy for getting by unnoticed? - Were people like Joseph McCarthy right to instigate fears and make accusations of communism, or was it more harmful than beneficial? - Can you think of an example of this kind of profiling and accusing happening today (i.e. Middle-Eastern people and Muslims). Self-Assessment: If students can successfully demonstrate historical empathy and understanding of the social conditions of Cold War America, objective of lesson will have been completed.