1. America's Involvement in WWII
1.1. Students will be presented with information about the attack on Pearl Harbor which led to American involvement in WWII. Students will analyze the mobilization of war efforts by examining what life was like for Americans and how life changed as the wartime industry grew. Students will also debate the process of wartime recruitment and the treatment of African Americans and women during this process.
1.1.1. Throughout the lecture students will be asking and answering higher level thinking questions (during the gallery walk and during the lecture through the use of discussion and lecture notes). At the end of the lesson students will be summarizing what they have learned by answering a lecture specific question and will be required to tie in all areas covered in summary form to allow the teacher to determine the level of understanding and identify areas that may need to be retaught.
1.1.1.1. Throughout the lecture students will be asking and answering higher level thinking questions (during the gallery walk and during the lecture through the use of discussion and lecture notes). At the end of the lesson students will be summarizing what they have learned by answering a lecture specific question and will be required to tie in all areas covered in summary form to allow the teacher to determine the level of understanding and identify areas that may need to be retaught.
1.1.1.2. Throughout the lecture students will be asking and answering higher level thinking questions (during the gallery walk and during the lecture through the use of discussion and lecture notes). At the end of the lesson students will be summarizing what they have learned by answering a lecture specific question and will be required to tie in all areas covered in summary form to allow the teacher to determine the level of understanding and identify areas that may need to be retaught.
2. Japanese Internment and American Soldiers
2.1. Students will read stories and articles about the imprisonment and internment of Japanese people during WWII to apply their critical thinking skills. Students will read and analyze the experiences of both civilians and soldiers during a time of war to understand history and practice existing skills. Students will read about the resilience of soldiers and the Japanese who were interned and analyzing the evidence and claims made in the text. After completing close reading activities students will be able to pull out important evidence and answer text-dependent questions.. Students will use text-based ideas to a make connections with future lessons in this unit of study.
2.1.1. Assessments will be both formative and summative. Throughout the close reading activity students will be required to code their text using highlighters and pencils. They will have to be able to identify the different parts of the text and underline evidence that they will transfer into their evidence chart. At the end of the lesson students will be asked to do a short reading assignment in a jigsaw setting and be able to answer text-dependent questions based on the skills they learned during the close reading activity. The answers to the questions during the jigsaw and the evidence collected in the chart will help me to determine if students have fully grasped how to pull evidence from a text.
2.1.1.1. Teacher: Following the video analysis and comparison, the teacher will have students move into pods in order to begin the close-reading activity. The teacher will provide each group with two documents. One document will be about an American soldier and the other will be an account of Japanese internment. The teacher will explain to the students that the purpose and goals of this activity is to learn how to use a text and find evidence within a text to answer text-dependent questions. Students will then briefly look over the text, The teacher will read each document to the students as the students follow along, students will then read the same documents with each other and fill in the student chart for gathering evidence. The chart will also feature a vocabulary component. Following the completion of the close reading activity the students will discuss the evidence of resilience they recorded and their feeling about the documents.
2.1.1.2. Students: Students will be participating in a video comparison and analysis at the introduction of the lesson, students will then participate in a close reading activity, and students will use a student chart for gathering evidence throughout the reading. Students will also record the vocabulary onto a section of the student chart and find text with the vocabulary included. Students will participate in a class jigsaw where students are divided into small groups and will each receive a small section of a new document to read. Each person in the group will hold a position; recorder, presenter, and facilitator. Each group will have the same set of questions to answer based on textual evidence. I will bring students back to a whole class discussion and ask the presenter to tell me the answer to one of the questions. After each group is finished I will ask the class if there were similarities of significant differences in the answers to connect our lesson closure to our lesson introduction.
3. Japanese Relocation
3.1. Students will analyze historical documents related to the relocation of Japanese individuals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Through analysis, students will develop critical thinking skills, acquire empathy for the individuals directly and indirectly affected by the relocation efforts, and consider different points of view. Students will distinguish what is a credible source and make valuable connections to the past by questioning the decisions made by individuals during a time of turmoil and war.
3.1.1. The Summative assessment will take place at the end of the unit in the form of a cumulative exam. The formative assessment is done through informal questioning as I monitor the students during their primary source analysis. I will also review student group summaries and their Written Document Analysis Worksheets. By looking as student responses and summaries I can get a better understanding of what needs to be retaught or reviewed.
3.1.1.1. Teacher: At the beginning of the lesson the teacher will remind students of the previous lesson that focused on Japanese internment and the experiences of American’s in the military. The teacher will reiterate that there were many emotions after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Our current lesson will focus on the emotions and lasting implications of the Japanese internment and how those who participated in the internment justified their actions. The teacher will point out our Driving Historical Question and remind students that throughout history there have been many times where difficult decisions had to be made.
3.1.1.2. Student: Students will complete a DocsTeach activity about the bombing of Pearl Harbor to give them an opportunity to experience what precipitated the action taken against Japanese Americans. The activity will be done as a whole class and the teacher will introduce the Written Document Analysis Worksheet that they will be using to analyze the documents in groups of four. Students will work in heterogeneous groups of four to review excerpts of the two documents that explain the Japanese American experience of relocation and what provoked individuals to support a relocation effort. Students will use the Written Document Analysis Worksheet that was put together from through the National Archives. After the two documents are analyzed the groups will write one summary of what they have learned from the documents and if their initial understandings of Japanese American relocation has changed. Students will finally share their summary with the class and I will facilitate a discussion about the similarities and differences the groups had regarding the articles.
4. Victory in Japan
4.1. This goals of this lesson are to provide students a first-hand account of the Victory in Japan based on the Veterans who were a part of this historical event. Students will use an interactive experience to view photos, hear recordings, and view videos about five Veterans who served during in the military during this time period. Through the incorporation of technology, students can be transported back in time to witness history and develop their own understanding of the significance of this time period.
4.1.1. The Summative assessment will take place at the end of the unit in the form of a cumulative exam. The formative assessment is done through informal questioning as I monitor the students during their article review at the introduction to the lesson. I will also review student servicemen reports that will be completed by students after the interactive activity. Students will have to choose a serviceman, review the photos, personal narratives, and videos, and create a one page WWII remembrance page for the serviceman.
4.1.1.1. Teacher: At the beginning of the lesson the teacher will review prior lessons about what life was like for civilians during WWII and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The teacher will discuss that those who served in the military had to defend our country at a time when weaponry was still advancing and those serving in the military were enlisted at a time when warfare was very different from today. The teacher will begin the lesson by showing students a clip about military weaponry and have them do a quick write about the significance of the weaponry during the time period. The teacher will begin by giving students a brief history of the victory the United States had in Japan during WWII. The teacher will then give students an article to read in pods that allows them to use skills learned during our reading lesson to code the text while being informed about how the victory was accomplished.
4.1.1.2. Students: Every pod of students will have access to a computer. I will have students go onto the History.com website and access the Victory in Japan site and click on the information of five servicemen that were serving in the military during the victory in Japan, WWII. Students will be given 15 minutes to click through the information for each one of the servicemen and decide which serviceman their group would like to commemorate on a final remembrance page for the serviceman. The page will consist of photographs, a detailed account of the opinions of the serviceman, and the impact that WWII and the victory of Japan had on him. Students will then prepare for a presentation of the serviceman they chose that will be part of the lesson closure. After the students share their WWII Serviceman Remembrance Page, individual students will have to complete the Exit Ticket that will allow them to explain the significance of the interactive activity as well as justify the long-term impact of being enlisted during WWII. This lesson closure will also serve as a formative assessment to gauge what students have taken away from the activity and what may need to be gone over again.
5. Ethical Implications of WWII on American Society
5.1. Students will analyze a variety of ethical issues that occurred during the onset and duration of WWII. Students will use the persuasive speech format to justify their stance on the ethical decisions made and present them in class to gather fellow student input. Students will rate their fellow student’s speeches and either agree or refute their opinions.
5.1.1. The Summative assessment will take place at the end of the unit in the form of a cumulative exam. The formative assessment is done through the DOK questioning that will be asked during our discussion. Students will also be assessed on their speeches and their classmates rating sheet. Student’s speeches will inform me if I was clear when facilitating the discussion and if I need to reteach any content.
5.1.1.1. Teacher: After completing a vocabulary mini-lesson the teacher will show a short PowerPoint presentation about what persuasive speech is and a video that discusses the ethical issues during WWII. The teacher will then facilitate a discussion with the students about the different ethical issues that plagued WWII. The teacher will have DOK questions such as, if you were a young person during the onset of WWII, would you volunteer to enter combat for the sake of helping your nation, why? Do you think that the dropping of the atomic bombs was justified and would you be able to issue a command to drop atomic bombs if you were put in that situation? Do you think that the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans was justified? Why or Why not? Do you believe that the military should have been segregated and would you have spoken up against it? Lastly, should women have been allowed to take a more active role in military service?
5.1.1.2. Students: Students will be taking part in a multi-step activity that will occur as we transition from our discussion. Students will watch a short PowerPoint presentation that gives students step-by-step instructions about how to form a persuasive speech. Students will then watch a short video clip that demonstrates a persuasive speech. As a class students will then discuss multiple ethical decisions that students can choose from to begin writing their speech. Students will then get an opportunity to present to their classmates and their classmates will participate by rating their classmate’s speeches. This allows students to be actively involved in the speeches and provided the speaker with immediate feedback. We will discuss the speeches at our next class meeting (Pros and Cons).