Top | Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Teacher Information | Credits
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Top | Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Teacher Information | Credits
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for 6th Grade
Peter Lane
Grangeville Elementary School
lanep@jsd241.org
You're really kidding! Americans didn't do that to other Americans, the Japanese Americans, did we? Sadly, yes, we did. In this unit the students will learn about the cause and effects of interning 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II and, incidentally, about the Japanese culture in North America.
The big question is: "Was it really necessary to totally isolate U.S. citizens, the Japanese Americans, in camps during WWII ?"
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The student will have given an informed answer to the big question and have created a journal of five days of what life would have been like in an internment camp. The student will also have seen and discussed a movie about the internment and participated in a simulation game about discrimination.
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STEPS
Pre-Unit Activity:
During story time, read orally The Journal of Ben Uchida by Barry Denenberg. It is 151 pages and should take about six days to complete.
Stress to children to try to picture themselves in Ben's place.
Background Information: Information on Manzanar
Discussion Ideas in Reference to Manzanar
Day 1
Do a K-W-L activity about WWII and the Japanese internment. Put the results on the classroom walls.
Read selected segments from Farewell to Manzanar by Houston.
Background Information: Pictures of Camps and People
Day 2
Watch the 28 minutes movie, Days of Waiting, with no interruptions. Watch it again and stop to discuss at important episodes.
Background Information: Kooskia Internment Camp
Internment of Japanese Americans From San Francisco
Day 3
Perform the sociological experiment, Blue Eyes vs. Brown Eyes, for half a day. This is a legislative model of teaching. Basically, the brown eyes are receivers of discrimination; they sit in the back of the room, can't go to the regular recess areas, have to use a different restroom and water fountain, and are generally treated in a less than fair manner. The class then discusses how it felt to be treated with prejudice.
Background Information: National Archives
Days 4 and 5
Utilizing the problem solving model, have the students ponder the difficult question, "Was the internment of the Japanese during WWII necessary?"
Working in groups of three, have the students collaborate on 2 or 3 of the facilitating questions. Here are some of them:
1. When and why did the Japanese come to the West Coast of the U.S.?
2. What are Issei and Nisei?
3. What is Executive Order 9066? Why was it given?
4. What are General John L. DeWitt's and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's roles in the Japanese internment?
5. How many Japanese lived on the West coast?
6. What type of hearings or trials did the Japanese get before being sent to the relocation camps?
7. How many relocation camps were there, and where were they located?
8. What were the living and eating arrangements in the camps? What type of gear were they given?
9. What did children and adults do on weekdays and on the weekends? Were there schools and jobs?
10. What percentage of the internees served in WWII?
11. Why didn't the internees just leave?
12. How many Japanese--before and after internment--were convicted of being spies?
I will provide books, news articles, encyclopedias, websites (see Credits and References), and videos for study and examination in this activity. At the end of day 4, each team will explain their answers to the facilitating question. Then the class will, as teams, answer the big question and present their analyses to the rest of the teams.
Background Information: Information on All Internment Camps
Japanese American National Museum
Day 6
Working with one partner, each team will write entries in a mock journal of five days as if they were being interned at Minidoka, Idaho, or one of the other nine centers. The time can be set at the start of internment, in the middle, or at the war's end. They must include at least five facts in each journal entry and some personal reactions to their situation.
Background Information: Minidoka Internment National Monument
Web Lessons and Great Pictures
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Evaluation of the informed responses will be by teacher checklist of individual participation in the problem solving model activity. Use the checklist that follows.
1. Did the student work equitably and harmoniously with his partners?
2. Did he/she exhibit seriousness of purpose in the activity?
3. Did he/she utilize the on-line and analog materials?
4. Did the student contribute to a thoughtful and complete answer?
The journal will be assessed for the two person team by this rubric.
| Beginning
1 |
Developing
2 |
Accomplished
3 |
Exemplary
4 |
Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Knowledge of Japanese Culture
|
Demonstrates minimal knowledge. (1-2 facts) |
Demonstrates a fair amount of information. (3-5 correct facts) |
Demonstrates a great deal of understanding. (6-10 correct facts) |
Demonstrates extensive insight into Japanese culture. (11+ correct facts) |
|
|
Knowledge of the Physical Layout of the Camps
|
Demonstrates minimal knowledge. (1-2 facts) |
Demonstrates a fair amount of information. (3-5 correct facts) |
Demonstrates a great deal of understanding. (6-10 correct facts) |
Demonstrates extensive insight into Japanese culture. (11+ correct facts) |
|
|
Knowledge of the Psychological/ Perceptual Condition of the Internees
|
Demonstrates minimal knowledge. (1-2 facts) |
Demonstrates a fair amount of information. (3-5 correct facts) |
Demonstrates a great deal of understanding. (6-10 correct facts) |
Demonstrates extensive insight into Japanese culture. (11+ correct facts) |
|
|
Knowledge of Correct Language Usage, Punctuation, and Capitalization
|
Demonstrates below average competency. (12 or more errors) |
Demonstrates an average competency. (8-11 errors) |
Demonstrates an above average level of competency. (4-7 errors) |
Demonstrates a high level of competency. (1-3 errors) |
|
|
Neatness |
Ink smudges, scribble-outs, illegible penmanship, crumpled and stained pages. |
Fairly presentable product. (4-5 infractions) |
Quite presentable- effort was clearly taken to be fastidious. (2-3 infractions) |
An almost perfect or perfect journal- crisp and clean. (0-1 mistakes) |
|
The student will have learned visually and emotionally about camp life from the movie, Days of Waiting and the book, The Journal of Ben Uchida. He/she will have experienced prejudice in the social experiment. The pupil will have come to terms with the big question about what America did to its own citizens. Finally, the journal will personalize the day-to-day internment experience.
The students might think about this question: Could this internment process of an ethnic group of citizens ever happen again?
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Grade Level: 6th grade
Subject: Social Studies
Length of project: 6 days
Teaching models used: K-W-L, Legislative Model, Problem Solving Model.
Extensions to additional grades and subjects: grades 5,7, or 8; language arts.
Prior knowledge/critical skills needed: Inferential and analytical reading skills; interpersonal skills.
Learning Outcomes/Curriculum Standards:
Geography Standard:
469.02 Understand physical characteristics of different places and regions.
U.S. History Standards:
473.01 Acquire critical thinking and analytical skills.
482.01 Understand that all citizens of the U.S. have responsibilities and rights.
Reading Standards:
725.01 Read a variety of traditional and electronic materials for information and understanding.
725.02 Read and respond to a variety of literature to compare and contrast the many dimensions of the human experience.
Writing Standards:
726.01 Use and understand the writing process.
726.02 Write and edit for correctness and clarity.
726.03 Write to inform and explain.
726.06 Write to critically analyze and evaluate.
Other Information:
Japanese Children's Thoughts on Internment
There are close to 70,000 websites that discuss the Japanese Internment!! Go to MSN.com and run a search titled, Japanese Internment.
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Jenks, R. & D. Flowers from Mariko
Mochizuki, K. Heroes
Tunnell, M & Chilcoat, G., The Children of Topaz
Okazaki, S. Days of Waiting. San Francisco, CA.: NAATA Distribution
Sperandeo, M., Forsaken Fields, PBS video
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Based on a template from The WebQuest Page
