This unit lasted approximately seven days and was taught jointly in English and U.S. Government classes. It can be taught in a single class, but it would take ten to fourteen days to complete. We had several objectives in this unit:
Today I've given students a brief article from the New York Times dated November 5, 1979.
I explain to students that often when historical events are taking place what's reported on can present the events in a different light than once the situation is over and people begin to reflect. "We might think the events that happened where violent and scary and that the Iranian government was responsible, or condoned taking over the U.S. embassy, which is how the story is presented to us in the Wired article and in the movie.
"Let's look at this article that was published in the New York Times just one day after the embassy was overtaken. Pay close attention to the language of this news article, which only knows about the hostage crisis as it happens and prints only what the U.S. government has declassified, versus the Wired article which has access to the story's beginning, middle, and end and has access to documents that were classified at the time."
I hand out a copy of the article as well as the questions. Students answer the questions individually after they've read the article.