World War II
Activity 1 | Activity 2 | Activity 3
1919 -- World War I was over! People believed that this would never happen again. But during the 1920s and 30s, a charismatic leader, Adolf Hitler, rose to power. Once again, Europe was engaged in war. Some in the United States believed that this was a European War and we should not be involved. This changed dramatically when, in 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Once again we were plunged into war. As Japan stated, the "sleeping giant" was awakened. Find out more about the war by doing the exercises below.
Life Interrupted: The Japanese-American Experience in WW II in Arkansas
http://www.lifeinterrupted.org
Children of World War II http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2children/home.shtml
Grolier Online -- World War II http://gi.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_i.html
World War II War Memorial http://www.wwiimemorial.com
Prelude to War (tells about the Allied and Axis powers involved in the war)
http://www.euronet.nl/users/wilfried/ww2/foreword.htm#top
The Impact of War http://www.euronet.nl/users/wilfried/ww2/epilogue.htm#top
A World of War: History of WW II 1939-1945 http://www.euronet.nl/users/wilfried/ww2/main.htm#top
Military History http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/WWII.html
Navaho Code Talker http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm
Activity 1
| Objective |
Students will compare and contrast World War I and World War II. |
| Procedure |
- Divide the students into groups
- Have the students divide a sheet of paper in half. Label one half World War I and the other half World War II.
- Under each heading, have the students fill in information about the following areas (use the Web sites listed above):
- Dates each war began and ended
- Who our allies were
- Who we were fighting
- When we entered the war
- Mortality rate for each war
- Reasons why we entered the war
- Consequences of the war
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| Evaluation |
Click here for rubric to evaluate comparisons.
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Activity 2
| Objective |
Students will identify people who played a key role in the World War II. |
| Procedure |
- Students will work in pairs.
- The pair will pick one person who played a significant role in World War II and do research on this person.
- Students will make a poster citing key facts about this person. Facts can be found using the Web sites below or available print materials. At least five facts should be cited. The top of the poster will be labeled WHO AM I? The name of the person will be identified on the back of the poster.
- Posters will be numbered and displayed around the classroom.
- Students will number their papers and go around the room and try to identify the person described in each poster.
- A prize could be awarded to the pair that correctly names the most people on the posters. (The teacher could give a list of people who are named on the posters and the students could match the names with the posters.)
Key People
Adolf Hitler http://remember.org/Facts.root.hitler.html
Winston Churchill http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~vfores/churchill.html
Franklin D. Roosevelt http://members.aol.com/FDRmem
George C. Marshall http://www.marshallfoundation.org
Benito Mussolini http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWmussolini.htm
George S. Patton http://www.bobtuley.com/georgepatton.htm
Neville Chamberlain http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0811259.html
Douglas MacArthur http://faculty.washington.edu/kendo/macarthur.html
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| Evaluation |
The poster should be titled WHO AM I? and cite five facts about the person; the name of that person should be listed on the back as well as the students' names. The teacher can evaluate based on the content of the poster and the students' ability to follow directions. |
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Activity 3
| Objective |
Students will write two paragraphs about a World War II poster -- one giving objective commentary and the other describing their feelings about the poster. |
| Procedure |
- Select one of the posters from Poster Art From World War II at http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_persuasion_home.html.
- You are to write two paragraphs about that picture. The first paragraph should give an objective observation of that picture. The second paragraph should be a subjective observation.
An objective observation gives the facts of the picture. Readers should be able to see the picture in their minds by reading your evaluation.
A subjective observation describes your personal feels about the subject matter in the picture. You might make statements like "This picture makes me think that" or "I feel ..when I look at this picture because"
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| Evaluation |
Click here to get a rubric for evaluation. |
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