1. Introduce information about the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Divide students into pairs or small groups and ensure that each group has computer access. Direct students to the JFK Library: Bay of Pigs website. Ask students to read the information on the page and take notes by filling out the Five Ws Chart.

2. Role play a scene from Killing Kennedy.

Have two students read the Bay of Pigs Scene excerpted from the Killing Kennedy script. Assign one student to play the role of John F. Kennedy and another to play the role of Jackie Kennedy. Before the two volunteers read the selection, instruct students to write down adjectives that would describe President Kennedy’s behavior in the scene as they listen. 

Have the two student volunteers read the dialogue aloud for the class. After reading, bring the class together for a whole class discussion. Ask:

• What adjectives would you use to describe President Kennedy’s behavior in this scene? Why?
• Based on the scene, how did President Kennedy view the Bay of Pigs invasion?
• Make a prediction: If President Kennedy felt this way after the Bay of Pigs invasion, how do you think Fidel Castro must have felt about the Bay of Pigs invasion?

3. Discuss the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Write the following four questions on poster paper or the whiteboard for students to see.

• What was the objective of the Bay of Pigs invasion?
• Why did the American leaders want to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro?
• What actually happened?
• Based on the American objectives, was the Bay of Pigs invasion a success or a failure? Why?

Ask students to use what they learned from reading the Bay of Pigs Invasion handout to respond independently to the questions written on the poster paper or whiteboard. Give students approximately 10 minutes to complete their responses in their notebooks.

Have students form pairs to discuss their responses to the questions. Then, bring the class together and ask each pair to summarize one main point from their discussion. Clear up any misconceptions before moving on.

4. Use primary sources to analyze the impact of the Bay of Pigs invasion on Castro.

Tell students they will use a reading strategy called SOAPSTone to analyze a primary source document about Fidel Castro and the Bay of Pigs invasion. Distribute the SOAPSTone worksheet and the Castro and the Bay of Pigs Invasion worksheet. Lead students in completing together the speaker, occasion, and audience sections of the SOAPSTone worksheet. Tell students they will add to these sections while they read Castro’s speech. Ask students to read Castro’s speech and, as they read, to complete the subject, purpose, and tone sections of the SOAPSTone worksheet.

After students have had enough time to read Castro’s speech and complete the sections of the SOAPSTone worksheet, lead students in a discussion about the speech. Ask:

• What is Castro’s critique of the United States? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
• Why does Castro consider the United States to be hypocritical? Support your answer with evidence from the text. 
• Which leaders does Castro compare to JFK? Why?
• Why does Castro believe Cuba is not a threat to the United States?
• Is Castro justified in calling the Americans “imperialists”?  Are his claims valid? Why or why not? Support your answer with evidence from the text. 

5. Write a letter as Fidel Castro to Nikita Khrushchev.

Tell students the following: The Bay of Pigs invasion had a major impact on the way Castro viewed the United States. Castro, believing that American leaders would soon attempt another attack against him, sought out support from the other global power of the day, the Soviet Union. Now, you will put yourself in Castro’s shoes and imitate his letter to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Explain to students that they will write a letter from Castro’s first-person perspective, appealing to the Soviet Union. Distribute the Write a Letter to Khrushchev worksheet, read aloud the directions, and distribute and review the Write a Letter to Khrushchev Rubric so students understand the expectations of this exercise. Have students read and review the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Fidel Castro Speech handouts before writing their letters. Ask students to use SOAPSTone as a pre-writing strategy and to refer to their earlier SOAPSTone work if they need guidance.

After students hand in their letters, lead them in a discussion about their experiences in this activity. Answer questions students may still have about the Bay of Pigs invasion, Fidel Castro’s reactions to the invasion, and the relationship between Castro and the Soviet Union/Khrushchev.

1. Read an excerpt from the Killing Kennedy script.

Assign students to play the different roles in the Cuban Missile Crisis Scene selection from the Killing Kennedy script. Have students act out the scene. Before reading, ask the remaining students to listen to identify what problem President Kennedy faces in this scene. After, ask:  What problem did President Kennedy face in this clip? Explain to students that this problem has come to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It occurred in 1962. For thirteen days, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war. Ask: Why did missiles in Cuba pose a threat to the United States?

2. Review Kennedy’s policy options in the face of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Explain to students that they will be acting as Kennedy’s advisers during this thirteen-day period. They will need to research and analyze the documents that Kennedy’s real advisers had available to them, and then present their findings to the president (you).

Tell students that President Kennedy had several options in responding to the threat posed by the placement of missiles on Cuban soil. Ask students what options they think Kennedy had. List student responses on poster paper or on a whiteboard. Use the discussion to prompt students to include all of the options listed below. You may wish to project the list for students to read. 

1. Do nothing: American vulnerability to Soviet missiles was not new. Newly placed missiles in Cuba made little strategic difference in the military balance of power.
2. Diplomacy: Use diplomatic pressure to get the Soviet Union to remove the missiles.
3. Warning: Send a message to Castro to warn him of the grave danger he, and Cuba, were facing.
4. Blockade: Use the U.S. Navy to block any missiles from arriving in Cuba.
5. Air strike: Use the U.S. Air Force to attack all known missile sites.
6. Invasion: Launch a full force invasion of Cuba and overthrow of Castro. 

3. Students research Kennedy’s policy options using primary resources and role-playing as EXCOMM.  

Explain to students that after the failure of Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy encouraged dissent among his advisers. If an idea was bad, Kennedy wanted his advisers to tell him; he did not want “yes men” to help him make decisions. Explain to students that during the Bay of Pigs invasion, members of Kennedy’s staff who disagreed with the action refused to voice their negative opinions, not wanting to criticize the larger group. After this failure, Kennedy altered his leadership style, wanting to explore all options before making a decision.

Tell students they will now be role-playing as national security advisers to President Kennedy, a group known during the Cuban Missile Crisis as EXCOMM. Each student group will be assigned one policy option brainstormed earlier and will be responsible for:

• List of pros and cons for the group’s policy choice
• Visual aid—on poster paper—to present pros and cons to the class

Divide the class into groups and assign one policy option per group for further exploration. Distribute the Confidential Files to each group. Tell students they will use these Confidential Files to support their policy choices. Distribute a T-Chart to each group and instruct them to use it to make a pros/cons chart. Distribute poster paper and markers to each group to develop a visual aid that will identify their policy option as well as the pros/cons of that option.

4. Acting as EXCOMM, students present their policy arguments and the class comes to consensus on one response.

After groups finish drafting their pros and cons with visual aids on poster paper, have each group present their policy and its accompanying pros and cons. After each group presents, students may ask questions about the group’s policy and thinking. Have the whole class summarize the presentation by determining the most significant pro and con for the policy. Ask students to support all statements with evidence taken from the Confidential Files.

After all groups have presented, have students discuss all the options that were presented.

5. Compare the EXCOMM class consensus to Kennedy’s actual response to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Play the Red Threat video clip to the class. After watching, ask:

• What policy choice did Kennedy make in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis?
• Compared to the pros and cons lists developed earlier, do you believe Kennedy made the best possible decision? Why or why not?

6. Examine the outcomes of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Explain to students the following outcomes of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Project these points in a PowerPoint presentation or write them on a piece of poster paper.

• After the blockade, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev sent a letter to Kennedy. Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles from Cuba if the United States promised not to invade Cuba and to eventually remove missiles from Turkey.
• Kennedy agreed. The United States secretly removed missiles from Turkey. Khrushchev openly removed missiles from Cuba, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.

 Close the activity with a discussion of the questions below. Ask:

• To what extent was Kennedy a successful leader in this crisis?
• Why was Kennedy more successful in the Cuban Missile Crisis than he was during the Bay of Pigs invasion? In what ways?