Before students can reason about the missile crisis, they need the raw material: the vocabulary, the strategic facts, and the geography. These three activities are fast and front-loaded — the goal is acquisition, not yet analysis.
Introduce and let students sort the unit vocabulary. Sort twice: first by "words about weapons & strategy" vs. "words about diplomacy & power," then by student-invented categories (feedback on their reasoning).
| Term | Working definition |
|---|---|
| Cold War | the decades-long rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, fought through threats, proxies, and arms rather than direct combat |
| containment | the U.S. policy of stopping the spread of communism rather than rolling it back |
| deterrence | preventing an enemy's attack by convincing them the cost of attacking would be too high |
| brinkmanship | pushing a dangerous confrontation to the edge of war to force the other side to back down |
| blockade / "quarantine" | a naval ring around Cuba to stop Soviet ships; Kennedy called it a quarantine because a blockade is legally an act of war |
| ICBM | an intercontinental ballistic missile — a rocket that can carry a nuclear warhead across continents |
| ExComm | the Executive Committee of the National Security Council — Kennedy's small crisis advisory group |
| MAD (mutually assured destruction) | the idea that if either superpower launched a nuclear attack, both would be destroyed — so neither dares to start |
| sphere of influence | a region where one nation holds dominant political or military power over others |
| stakeholder | anyone who is affected by a decision or has something at stake in it |
📚 Background: Office of the Historian · The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962 ↗ — a concise, sourced overview that puts the vocabulary in context.
Split the class into four expert groups, each studying one topic below, then re-mix into home groups where every topic is represented. Each expert teaches their group. (Jigsaw is one of the highest-leverage surface moves precisely because students must teach.)
Sources for each expert group (free, reputable; confirm access through your district — links open in a new tab):
By 1962 the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were locked in an arms race and a contest for influence. In 1961 a U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs failed, pushing Fidel Castro closer to Moscow and making a Soviet defense of Cuba plausible.
📄 Office of the Historian · Cuban Missile Crisis ↗
📄 JFK Library · The Bay of Pigs ↗
On October 14, 1962, a U-2 spy plane photographed Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba. Analysts confirmed the missiles could strike much of the United States, and Kennedy convened ExComm in secret.
📄 JFK Library · The Cuban Missile Crisis ↗
📄 National Security Archive · Key Moments ↗
For thirteen days — October 16 to 28 — President Kennedy, Soviet Premier Khrushchev, and Cuban leader Castro maneuvered. Kennedy chose a naval "quarantine" over an airstrike; the world watched as Soviet ships approached the line.
📄 JFK Library · Cuban Missile Crisis ↗
📄 Office of the Historian · Cuban Missile Crisis ↗
The crisis ended on October 28 when Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles. Publicly, the U.S. pledged not to invade Cuba; secretly, it also agreed to remove its own Jupiter missiles from Turkey and Italy months later.
📄 National Security Archive · Key Moments ↗
📄 Office of the Historian · Cuban Missile Crisis ↗
Check for understanding: each home group writes two sentences answering "Give one reason the missiles alarmed the U.S., and one reason a peaceful resolution was so hard to reach."
Using a world map, students locate Cuba — about 90 miles from Florida — and draw the range rings of the Soviet missiles based there: the medium-range missiles (~1,000 mi) reaching Washington, D.C., and the intermediate-range missiles (~2,000 mi) reaching most of the continental United States. Then mark the U.S. Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Italy, sitting the same short distance from Soviet cities.
Quick write: "A missile in ______ could reach ______ in minutes, which matters for ______ (deterrence / security) because ______."
🗺️ Maps & sources: JFK Library · Cuban Missile Crisis (maps & photos) ↗ · National Archives · DocsTeach: the Cold War ↗
Aligned to (not reproduced from) 19 TAC Ch.113 §113.41; effect sizes from Visible Learning MetaX.