As a culminating part of a unit on the study of Vietnam, 8th grade Emerson Middle School language arts teacher Abby Sloan, invited the US Marines to conduct “boot camp”, on May 13, 2010. This unit on Vietnam is taught every time Ms. Sloan teachers 8th grade.
As part of this unit, Ms. Sloan integrates the historical aspect of this war with language arts. About 10 years ago, Ms. Sloan knew that in order to study a war, she would have to do something special for her students. She had visited the Marine Recruiting office in Chicago located across from Lane Tech High School. There, she met Sgt. Aguirre and he gladly came out to speak with all the 8th grade in 2002. He brought along some females as well. Since then, she has contacted the Mt. Prospect office.
The first part of this study is to enlist/get drafted. All of her students watch a recruiting boot camp video. After it’s completion, students have to write a friendly letter home reflecting on three experiences they had while in Parris Island, South Carolina. Their last paragraph had to include some historical facts about the war including the students’ own personal feelings. The turbulent study of the 60’s was also briefly explained in class.
Then, it’s off to war. The second letter home was written after her students viewed the movie “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam.” In this movie, students viewed segments of the actual footage of this war. While take notes during this segment of the unit, her students no only gathered facts and statistics about this war, but also understood many of the emotional turmoil these marines had to go through. The requirements for this letter again had to include three episodes of what it was like to actually “fight” a war.
In the midst of this study, the P.E. department at Emerson gladly gave up often times two gym periods to accommodate this unit. After brief introductions, the marines had the students exercising as if they were in boot camp, responding very quickly to exercise commands that were given. Though many students complained about the aches and pains of the physical demands made of then, they really enjoyed meeting and responding to them. After class, often times these marines gave the students some souvenirs of the US Marines.
In addition, Ms. Sloan also invited some Vietnam Veterans to speak to the 8th grade. One vet, Bob Probst, who was on the ground patrol in Vietnam. spoke about the torrential rain and heat many of his marines and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In fact, Ms. Sloan sent samples of the students writing to Bob and he was so impressed that he said, “ Your students wrote what some of the vets were feeling but couldn’t at the time.”
Furthermore, Bud Jones, a US Marine pilot, also came to speak. He had a different perspective as his 26-month enlistment encompassed flying planes and helicopter missions. From him, students learned about what it was like from the air.
Integration of a unit through language arts, social studies, and PE is something that these 8th grades will always remember and students have a more thorough understanding of the subject matter. Many students have returned and they often speak about this experience.
-This article was prepared by Ms Abby Sloan, Emerson Middle School teacher and PREA member.
