America Enters WWII: The European and Pacific Theaters
Goals & Objectives
Goals
11.7 Students analyze America's participation in World War II.
Common Core Literacy Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4
Driving Historical Question
Goals
- Students will be able to identify and interpret the major causes behind America entering World War II
- Students will differentiate between the battle strategies utilized in the European and Pacific Theaters
- Students will examine the European and Pacific Theaters, comparing and contrasting their battle strategies
- Students will identify and evaluate the reasons behind America’s entrance into WWII against the European Axis powers and Japan
11.7 Students analyze America's participation in World War II.
- 1. Examine the origins of American involvement in the war, with an emphasis on the events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- 2. Explain U.S. and Allied wartime strategy, including the major battles of Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge.
- 4. Analyze Roosevelt's foreign policy during World War II (e.g., Four Freedoms speech).
Common Core Literacy Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4
- Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Driving Historical Question
- What were the reasons behind America ending its long standing policy of isolationism and joining Europe in its fight against the Axis powers?
- What events lead to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the beginning of the Pacific Theater?
- How did the wartime battle strategies differ between the European and Pacific Theaters? What was the significance of the major battles of Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge?
Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge) ‖ Time: 10 minutes
Modified LINK Activity
- The LINK strategy allows the class to make connections to a topic prior to a reading and thus further engage with it. They are bringing in their outside knowledge and are therefore actively working with the subject rather than simply reading or hearing about it. So, at the beginning of the lesson I would ask the students what they already know about World War II, projecting the question onto the board.
Students would then have about two minutes to jot down thoughts or words that they associate with WWII on their guided notes. Once the time has run out, students would be asked to share one piece of information that they have written down. As they answer, I would write the statements up on the board (in black ink), having students elaborate on what they know or responding to another student’s statement. Students would later use this activity to complete their exit slip for the day, expanding on one thing they had written down at the beginning with knowledge they have learned today in the form of a short quick write.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development) ‖ Time: Included throughout Lecture
Vocabulary will be addressed throughout the lecture, bolded (both within the presentation and the accompanying guided notes) and explicitly taught. Students will be required to write down the definition provided on screen as well as create one in their own words. (Space and instruction will be provided on the guided notes.)
Vocabulary Terms:
Key Terms:
A potential modification for struggling students or English Language Learners would be to frontload the vocabulary terms in a brief PowerPoint presentation that introduces each word with its dictionary definition, a summarized definition, and a clear image. (The need for frontloading would be established by data collected from previous units regarding vocabulary acquirement.)
Vocabulary Terms:
- Appeasement
- Neutrality
- Isolationism
- Interventionist
- Fascism
- Anschluss
- Lebensraum
- Kamikaze
Key Terms:
- Lend-Lease Act
- Neutrality Acts
- Island Hopping Strategy
- Pearl Harbor
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Winston Churchill
- Joseph Stalin
- Adolf Hitler
- Benito Mussolini
A potential modification for struggling students or English Language Learners would be to frontload the vocabulary terms in a brief PowerPoint presentation that introduces each word with its dictionary definition, a summarized definition, and a clear image. (The need for frontloading would be established by data collected from previous units regarding vocabulary acquirement.)
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) ‖ Time: 2 days
Prezi Presentation
- The body of the lesson will consist of a lecture with a Prezi presentation, detailing the start of WWII and America's early participation and leading up to the United States’ official declarations of war on Germany and Japan. It will also briefly delve into the military approaches used in the two theaters. The lesson presentation will be split over two days with the first part outlining the buildup to America entering the war and the second part dealing with military strategies and battles. (The splitting of the lecture is meant to provide time for students of all levels to better absorb the knowledge without being overloaded. It also allows for additional time to be spent on the lesson activities within the guided notes, enabling more discussion and feedback.) Infused throughout the lecture will be critical thinking questions and activities which will allow students to engage with one another and actively participate in the learning process.
Part I:
Part II:
Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) ‖ Time: Throughout the lecture
Guided Notes
- Students will complete a set of guided notes during the lecture. Multiple activities and methods of note taking are included within. Probing questions will be present throughout, asking students to think critically about information they are learning. (Many of these questions will be done within small groups, which will have been create previous to class in order to support students of all learning abilities and levels.) For one question, students will create a "poster," writing their answers on pieces of butcher paper, which will be posted within the classroom. Students would work in groups of three or four (tables would already be arranged in the appropriate formation prior to the start of the lesson and students of varying levels would be assigned to each group as they entered class) with one student acting as a scribe. This student would write the groups discussion on a large sheet of butcher paper. After five minutes, one student would act as the presenter, explaining the impact American participation had on the European theater. Once each group had presented, they would tape their answers to the back wall so that they would be visible for later use. (This particular activity would be done on the second day and would take about 15 minutes, 9 minutes for group work and 6 minutes for presenting.)
See below for Guided Notes.
Lesson Closure ‖ Time: 10 minutes
Exit Slip
- After the first part of the lecture (which ends day one), I would ask students to look at the list of words and ideas they had written down at the beginning of class as part of the modified LINK activity. Students would then complete a quick write expanding on one of those ideas with information they had learned from the lecture.
- After the conclusion of part two of the lecture, students would begin work on a short response to the question: Did the United States realistically have any option other than full participation in World War II? What could have potentially happened had the US maintained its isolationist policies of the early 1930s? Though students would have time in class to begin the assignment, it would be taken home to complete, allowing students who may struggle with writing or assembling their thoughts quickly the time they need to compose a thorough answer. It will ultimately be done independently; however, students would be able to use resources like the “posters” created earlier and their group mates for the first few minutes after the question and expectations regarding how it is to be answered had been explained.
Assessments (Formative & Summative)
Formative:
- Students complete the Guided Notes (which contains a number of activities)
- Quick write exit slip expanding on lesson introduction activity (day one)
- Short response answering the question: Did the United States realistically have any option other than full participation in World War II? What could have potentially happened had the US maintained its isolationist policies of the early 1930s? (day two)
- Quiz on the elements of WWII and its battles (done several days later)
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs
English Language Learners, striving readers, and students with special needs will be supported during the course of the lesson through the structuring of the activities. They will be grouped with students who are academically advanced within the class, those more fluent in English, and those who work well with others on a general level, who can assist and facilitate their participation in group discussion. (Group discussions provide a place for verbal demonstration of knowledge.) In addition, the visuals within the PowerPoint will provide a connection between theoretical practices/abstract concepts and actions. The utilization of pictures within the PowerPoint will provide individual students who benefit from visual aids an opportunity to see a connection between a role and an action. This offers the ability to reiterate key academic vocabulary that individuals within the class may be unfamiliar with such as neutrality and isolationism. (Vocabulary can be frontloaded if found necessary.)
The quick write at the end provides them a means in which to express themselves in a relatively anxiety free setting. (In addition, it is graded based upon participation rather than in terms of literary abilities. But additional comments can be given to help foster development.) The journal entry, which will be taken home, provides students with the time needed to create and compose a response, reducing stress and anxiety. The lesson is also split between two days to avoid overloading students and causing them to produce an affective filter or losing motivation. The lesson can also be modified on an individual basis, the guided notes being changed to meet specific student needs.
The quick write at the end provides them a means in which to express themselves in a relatively anxiety free setting. (In addition, it is graded based upon participation rather than in terms of literary abilities. But additional comments can be given to help foster development.) The journal entry, which will be taken home, provides students with the time needed to create and compose a response, reducing stress and anxiety. The lesson is also split between two days to avoid overloading students and causing them to produce an affective filter or losing motivation. The lesson can also be modified on an individual basis, the guided notes being changed to meet specific student needs.
Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)
Pictures courtesy of Vintages Everyday, National Geographic, and History.com
Major Problems in American Foreign Relations, Volume II: Since 1914--Dennis Merrill & Thomas G. Paterson
Major Problems in American Foreign Relations, Volume II: Since 1914--Dennis Merrill & Thomas G. Paterson
- contains primary source document about Japan's envisioned "New Order"
- Transcript and additional audio available at American Rhetoric
Guided Notes:
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