Alabama Social Studies SS24.US2.12

SS24.US2.12 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• SS24.US2.12a

  Investigate the major elements of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society program and explain how it represents an attempt to expand the American social safety net, incl...

01

What Students Need to Do

Students compare Kennedy’s proposals with Johnson’s domestic programs. They trace which ideas continued after Kennedy’s assassination and how Johnson expanded federal help for older adults, people with low incomes, and young children.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students can link Kennedy’s health insurance and civil rights proposals to laws passed under Johnson. They can explain how Johnson used support after the assassination to pass those laws, then added programs such as Medicaid and Head Start.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may think Kennedy created Medicare or that Johnson came up with every program on his own. They may confuse Medicare with Medicaid or think Head Start is health insurance.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: Kennedy proposed health insurance for older adults. What happened to that idea under Johnson, and who did Head Start serve?

1. 01

   Give pairs cards labeled Kennedy’s health insurance proposal, Kennedy’s civil rights bill, Johnson’s Medicare law, and Johnson’s Civil Rights Act; arrange them by date.

2. 02

   Ask students to write: Which Kennedy idea did Johnson carry forward, and which Great Society program went further? Use two dated examples.

3. 03

   Play a matching game: pair the War on Poverty, Medicare, Medicaid, and Head Start with each program’s goal or intended group.

4. 04

   Give students a mock low-income family with a 70-year-old grandparent and a preschooler; have them identify which programs might help each person.

• SS24.US2.13a

  Assess the effectiveness of John F. Kennedy’s foreign policy toward Cuba, including the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

• SS24.US2.15

  Describe how significant domestic events during the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter shaped United States economics, politics, and society.

• SS24.US2.14c

  Compare and contrast major Supreme Court decisions from the 1960s through the 1980s and explain how they reflect an ongoing national debate regarding the expans...