Seuss retelling of the cold war in his butter battle book and his themes of war, international disputes, and ideological differences this was part of a new york law. Jul 15, 2016 the butter battle book questions lesson plan template and teaching resources. After reading the short book, analyze the story with our text. In the butter battle book, the factions form over a trivial issue and escalate to the point of nearly destroying each other. Sure, it was published during the reagan era while cold war tensions were still high, but the young yook faces the same questions that we do today in a world where nuclear weapons are a reality yes, the berlin wall is long gone, and the united states and the russia no longer threaten each other with mutual annihilation, but a quick look at.
Its high time that you knew of the terribly horrible thing that zooks do. Give students a handout with these words and phrases listed. The butter battle book lesson plans varsity tutors. The butterbattle book condemned the cold war arms race, and at one point was removed from childrens sections of libraries for political reasons. I am happy with the flow of the lesson and the fact that it followed the actual lesson plan almost exactly. It portrays this event as a parody by using two different armies fighting over the way to butter your bread. Seuss and the cold war butter battle book lesson plan template and teaching resources. The characters are relateable and the drawings are typical dr. The cold war and the butter battle book by alison cleary on prezi. Sure, it was published during the reagan era while cold war tensions were still high, but the young yook faces the same questions that we do today in a world where nuclear weapons are a reality. Think of examples of factions religious, political, local, sportsrelated, etc.
It was published by random house on january 12, 1984. Perhaps if more adults read this book back in the day it wouldnt have taken until the 90s for the cold war to end. Parallels of the butter battle book and the cold war by. Finally, after continued escalation in the actions of both sides grandpa and. Butter battle assignment rubric grade of 2 your ending shows a creative ending to the book you show how the ending would be in dr. You can read the butter battle book out loud to your class or there. Seuss, grandpa is portrayed as the united states military while van itch is. The butter battle book deals with some scary stuff. It is an anti war story about the arms race, mad, and nuclear weapons. This book was published in 1984, and it was written as an allegory to the cold war. The cold war and the butter battle book by alison cleary. Cold war butter battle book essay by jennirae67 tpt. The butter battle book, like the cold war, was an arms race. Students will watch the cartoon, the butter battle book, based on the book by dr.
Mar 18, 2015 butter battle book lesson plan used for diversity but also would be great for cold war unit stay safe and healthy. Reallife examples of walls built between enemies a plot summary of the. If you purchase it, you will be able to include the full version of it in lessons and share it with your students. Seuss and the cold war butter battle book lesson plan at share my lesson. While you watch the butter battleon the flow chart below, write down the major steps taken by each side to escalate theconflict in the story. The clip below is a small part of the discussion of the parallels. The butter battle books story parallels to the cold war. The butter battle book reactions to lesson and video part 2. Essay directions, outline chart, and rubric are all included, as well as the lesson plan for the teacher and an answer key. The soviet union launched its first nuclear weapon in 1949, an event that started an arms race between the united states and the soviet union. The butter battle book this lesson plan focuses on conflict in the plot.
What could have been done to diffuse the situation. The butter battle book and the cold war english project. In my unit plan this lesson will be taught in language arts on the same day that we go over the nuclear arms race in social studies. His stories are childrens classics that are fun to read and also tackle some real life issues. The butter battle book was a new york times notable book of the year. Get more details when you use the lesson titled the butter battle book. Learners work together at figuring out the definition for what cold war means. The butter battle book teaching children philosophy. Seusss the butter battle book as an accessible introduction to satire. Seuss the butter battle book to guide your instruction on conflict, disagreements, and resolution.
Seuss the butter battle book and the cold war essay. Students read the butter battle book to examine more complicated themes of nuclear. Thursday, april 4 the arms race and the butter battle book butter battle book worksheet friday, april 5 cold war in america pt. The butter battle book and the cold war english project by. The butter battle book is an allegory for the nuclear arms race and the state of mutually assured destruction mad that occurred during the cold war.
There are so many more free, quality lessons on the site, so head on. Seuss butter battle book to introduce the topic and includes a link to explore the impacts of a nuclear attack. The students need background information, either from the textbooks, minilectures, powerpoint presentations and the. Seventh grade lesson the butter battle book betterlesson. Seuss is an important figure in the lives of children everywhere. The butter battle book discussion guide scholastic. Make a daily cold war 1947 1991 activity lesson plan book daily cold war 1947 1991 activity lesson plan book. This story thus lends itself to a discussion with children about the concept of war itself, the moral issues related to war and the outcomes of retaliatory acts. The objective of this resource is to draw parallels between the story and the cold war. The butter battle book questions teaching resources.
The butter battle also teaches the important lesson of respecting differences and how not respecting differences of ideas or cultures can lead to dismal outcomes, such as war. The butter battle book discusses the arms race between the united states vs. Mar 14, 2011 the unit plan i created was on the cold war. It is an antiwar story about the arms race, mad, and nuclear weapons. Therefore, the students will learn about respecting culture and different. Va standards of learning resource while the atomic bomb did save american lives, it was also the catalyst that sparked a deep rivalry between two world superpowers, the united states and the soviet union. What aspects of the butter battle book mirror events or objects of the cold war. Based on what you have viewed and read about the butter battle and the cold war.
It could be a book, a movie or something someone told you. The butter battle book classic seuss kindle edition by dr. Mar 14, 2011 the clip below is a small part of the discussion of the parallels between the cold war and the butter battle book, which is a part of the lesson that i think went very well. Cold war, against silly conflict that escalates into a dangerous situation 5. Having said this, butter battle would not be a good way to start a unit. After introducing the key points of the cold war arms race, iron curtain, communism, etc. The butter battle book the butter battle book is a picture book written by dr. Dec 07, 2017 the butter battle book manages to distill the ridiculousness of the cold war and mutually assured destruction into terms a child could understand.
Seuss, grandpa is portrayed as the united states military while van itch is the soviet union military. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. The butter battle book classic seuss kindle edition by. Students work together at figuring out the definition for what cold war means. The butter battle book can now be found in every library in the country. The book ends with powerful weapons ready to attack the adversary, and without much harm done to either side. The united states was the first nation to develop nuclear bombs, and the only nation to have ever used them in war. The butter battle book reactions to lesson and video. The lesson plan uses the book the butter battle by dr.
Students use the classic childrens book, the butter battle by dr. Seuss and the cold war butter battle book share my. The butter battle book and the cold war essay sample. I first read this book, from a book fair, while waiting on a parent to arrive at her scheduled conference with me. The butter battle book portrays a state of war and nearwar escalations.
From this unit plan i choose to teach a lesson on dr. The butter battle book after listening to the story, students discuss conflicts in their own lives and draw people finding ways to resolve conflict in socially positive ways. The butter battle book the lesson part 1 teaching today. Seuss, grandpa is portrayed as the united states military while van itch is the soviet. The butter battle book is about two groups of people, the yooks and the zooks, who fight over an extremely trivial matter, which side of the bread the groups eat their butter on. Seusss classic cautionary tale, introduces readers to the important lesson of respecting differences. The two groups manufacture extremely similar weapons and are on opposite sides of a wall dividing the two. Lesson plan the butter battle book discussion guide ask students to discuss the conflict in dr. But whats great about allegories is that theyre flexible and fuzzy. No big shots where actually fired between the us and the soviet union.
Parallels of the butter battle book and the cold war by nick. The butter battle book is a great seussian look at the follies of mankind as we attempt to have the biggest, best, fastest, mostest weapons. While students prepare, draw a chart on the board or on chart paper. This is the page when both van itch and grandpa yook had the bitsy big boy boomeroo neclear bomb. Students will use the organizer to make comparisons of the events and characters in the story to the cold war. Seuss back in 1984, the butter battle book still has a lot to teach about intolerance and how titfortat violence can quickly get out of hand. The cold war arms race in the butter battle book shmoop. Seuss and the cold war butter battle book share my lesson. Butter batter book southwest center for educational excellence. The butter battle book tells the story of a land where two hostile cultures, the yooks and the zooks, live on opposite sides of a long curving wall, fairly similar to the berlin wall. Butter battle book presentation linkedin slideshare. Seusss classic the butter battle book and talk about ways to peacefully resolve reallife disputes. In this social science lesson, students listen to the butter battle book by dr. The butter battle book is a pretty clear allegory for the cold war arms race.
This lesson plan has students discuss the fears of the cold war and how it impacted the home front and pop culture. Explaining the very serious differences between the zooks and the yooks, a zook grandpa tells his grandchild the unspeakable truth. However, the physical illustrated book would suffice. The timeless and topical rhyming text is an ideal way to teach. The butter battle book questions lesson plan template and teaching resources. Have students brainstorm constructive ways to solve the conflict, and write their responses on chart paper. Seuss and recognize how this story relates to the cold war between the. Seuss this will open a new tab with the resource page in our marketplace.
Shmoop guide to the cold war arms race in the butter battle book. The yooks and zooks share a love of buttered bread, but animosity brews between the two groups because they prefer to enjoy the tasty treat differently. They will then compare and discuss similarities between the story and the cold war, in an essay. While reading the butter battle book, take note of the number of times the conflict escalates. After reading, have a discussion about what precipitated the conflict between the zooks and the yooks. To complement this resource, i recommend using the youtube version of the butter battle book as a companion. In the butter battle book, the backroom boys were always making new clever contraptions. The butter battle book is a rhyming story written by dr. The butter battle book and the cold war the cold war was cold primarily because of the threat of nuclear weapons. The butter battle book and the cold war the butter battle book, like the cold war, was an arms race. You can read the butter battle book out loud to your class or there is also a youtube video of the cartoon to watch as a class. Though both of them had this very powerful weapon, we do not know whether or not grandpa yook or van itch applied this to their defense for their country. America and the ussr fought over fear of the other and capitalism against communism which is a senseless thing to declare war over.
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