Teacher Lesson Plans

TOPIC
Saddam Hussein, Iraq, and the United States

LEVEL
High School

OBJECTIVES
While reading Saddam Hussein’s biography and the history of Iraq, students will:

• define terms associated with Saddam Hussein’s regime and U.S. foreign policy
• evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy and U.N. resolutions and programs
• analyze influences of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin on Saddam Hussein’s politics, comparing and contrasting them to his own political maneuvers

TEACHING STRATEGIES

Guided Reading Activity
Download Guided Reading Activity Student Handout
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Before students read "Saddam Hussein, Iraq, and the United States,” list the following words on the board:

ousted
pan-Arab nationalism
coup d’etat
dissidents
containment
occupation
sanctions
disarming
grooming
unbridled

Tell students to look for the words as they read the biography. Have them use context to figure out the words' meanings and write the meanings on a sheet of paper. Then instruct them to look up the words in a dictionary and compare their meanings with the dictionary definitions.

Cooperative Learning Activity
Download Cooperative Learning Activity Student Handout with Chart
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

After students read "Saddam Hussein, Iraq, and the United States" organize the class into groups. Have each group prepare a chart like the one below.

Effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy and U.N. resolutions and programs in Iraq

Tell the members of each group to identify policies or programs, such as the Oil-for-Food program, that the United States and the United Nations used to bring about change for the country and people of Iraq.

Have them list these policies and programs in the first column. In the second column, have them list a place and date for each. Next, have them decide what expected outcome the United States and the United Nations hoped to achieve, listing these outcomes in the third column. Then instruct students to describe the results—or actual outcome—of each policy or program in the fourth column. Finally, in the fifth column, have students rank the effectiveness of each policy or program based on a comparison of the expected and actual outcomes.

Extending the Content Activity
Download Extending the Content Activity Student Handout
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

While serving in prison for his involvement with the Ba’ath party, Saddam Hussein studied the politics of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Have students visit the History Channel Web site and read the short biographies of these dictators. Next, ask students to compare and contrast Saddam Hussein to Hitler and Stalin using a Venn diagram. Once students have completed their diagrams, ask them to write a 500-word essay comparing and contrasting the political careers and maneuvers of Hussein, Stalin, and Hitler.

Adolf Hitler
Joseph Stalin

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