Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: Americas Entry Into WWII: Pearl Harbor

Name: Karl Freels

Content Area: United States History

Grade Level: 11

CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):

11.7
(1)Examine the origins of American involvement in the war, with an emphasis on the events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor,
(5) Discuss the constitutional issues and impact of events on the U.S. home front, including the internment of Japanese Americans.
Big Ideas:
1.
2.

The failure of post- World War I policies culminated in the emergence of World War II.
The United States policy if isolationism during the 1930s allowed for the rise and growth of totalitarian governments in Germany, Italy,
Japan, and the Soviet Union.
3. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor took American forces by surprise and involved the destruction of naval, land, and air forces.
4. Pearl Harbor initiated the United States entrance into World War II.
5. The attack on Pearl Harbor led to the internment of Japanese-American citizens and the deprivation of their civil rights.
Unit Goals and Objectives:
1.

Students will be able to identify the American rationale behind the decision to remain neutral in World War II prior to the attack on Pearl
Harbor.
2. Students will be able to recall that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor targeted American naval, land, and air forces.
3. Students will be able to demonstrate that Pearl Harbor directly led to the internment of Japanese-American citizens and depict their
inhumane living conditions.
Unit Summary:
To begin the unit, students will be formed into small groups and asked to discuss American foreign and domestic policy immediately following World
War I. Questions to discuss will be provided. After talking with their partner, the class will regroup and discuss the information together. Following
this, the class as a whole will brainstorm why they think the United States entered World War II.
After discussing the prelude to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the lectures on American neutrality during the 1930s and the attack on Pearl Harbor will
be provided. After the lectures, students will demonstrate their gained knowledge by creating a journal entry and flash cards. After this, the class
will go to the computer lab in order to visually rank significant events and dates that are related to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Finally, a pop quiz at
the end of that class will examine student knowledge of the material.
In order to assess the overall student comprehension of the unit, students will be expected to create a presentation that indicates the knowledge
they have gained about the United States entrance into World War II. Students will also be expected to read Farewell to Manzanar during the unit
and will be expected to write an essay that correlates the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the American governments decision to create
Japanese-American internment camps. Finally, students will be given a comprehensive exam at the end of the World War II unit plan that will
measure their knowledge of American participation during the war.
Assessment Plan:

Entry-Level:

Class Discussion: Class as a whole and

in partners will discuss America
immediately following World War I.

Brainstorm: What caused the United

States to enter World War II?

Formative

Journal: Students will create a journal

entry that has them pretending that
they were present during the attack on
Pearl Harbor. Using their newly gained
knowledge, students will write a letter
to a friend or family member that
relates their experiences during the
attack.

Flashcards: Students will create

flashcards that relate information on
key American neutrality and Pearl
Harbor terms.

Ranking: Students will visually put in

order significant events and dates
related to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This exercise also includes information
on the policy of American neutrality.

Quiz: A pop quiz that will examine

student knowledge following the Pearl
Harbor lecture.

Summative:

Presentation: Students create a

presentation (poster or brochure) that
indicates their knowledge of the United
States entrance into World War II.

Essay: After completing the book

Farewell to Manzanar, Students will be
expected to write a short essay that
links the attack on Pearl Harbor to the
decision by the American government
to create Japanese-American
internment camps.

Exam: At the end of the World War II

exam, students will take an exam that
will allow them to demonstrate their
knowledge of American participation
during the war.

Lesson 1
Student Learning
Objective: Students will
be able to identify the
American rationale behind
the decision to remain
neutral in World War II
prior to the attack on
Pearl Harbor.

Acceptable Evidence:
Assessment: Students
take a short quiz that
demonstrates their
knowledge of American
neutrality prior to the
attack on Pearl Harbor.

Instructional
Strategies:
Communication
Presentation

Lesson Activities:

Teacher will give a lecture presentation on American

involvement in World War II prior to the attack on Pearl
Harbor.

Students will meet in mixed pairs after the lecture to discuss

the American rationale behind remaining neutral.

Students will be given class time to make flash cards for key
terms.

Students will be given a short quiz at the beginning of the

next class in order to assess their knowledge of American
neutrality as well as the events that precipitated Pearl
Harbor.

Acceptable Evidence:
Assessment: Students
create a presentation
(poster or brochure) that

Instructional
Strategies:
Collection
Interaction

Lesson Activities:

Teacher will give lecture on events that occurred during and

immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. A short video
clip of footage from the attack will also be shown in class.

Lesson 2
Student Learning
Objective: Students will
be able to recall that the
Japanese attack on Pearl

Harbor directly led to the

United States entering
World War II on the Allied
side.

indicates their
knowledge of the United

States entrance into

World War II.

Students will be given class time to make flash cards for key
terms.
Students will go to the computer lab and in groups will
complete a simulation that shows the destruction of the
attack on Pearl Harbor.
Students will complete a webercise that is designed for this
course.
Students will be given a homework assignment that involves
them finding outside sources on Americas entry into World
War II.
Students will then create a poster or brochure in groups that
demonstrate their knowledge of the United States entrance
into World War II.

Lesson 3
Student Learning
Objective: Students will
be able to demonstrate
that Pearl Harbor directly
led to the internment of
Japanese-American
citizens.

Acceptable Evidence:
Assessment After
completing the book
Farewell to Manzanar,
students will be expected
to write a short essay that
links the attack on Pearl
Harbor to the decision by
the American government
to create JapaneseAmerican internment
camps.

Instructional
Strategies:
Collaboration
Organization

Lesson Activities:

Teacher will give lecture that discusses the internment of

Japanese-American citizens.

Students will read the book Farewell to Manzanar. They will

be placed in small groups that will meet for a few minutes
each class to discuss the previous nights reading
assignment.

Students will create a journal entry that has them pretending

that they were present during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

At the end of every 2-3 chapters, students will be given

quizzes that assess their level of engagement with the book.

After completing Farewell to Manzanar, students will be

expected to write a short essay that links the attack on Pearl
Harbor to the decision by the American government to
create Japanese-American internment camps.

Unit Resources:

For information related to the American policy of neutrality during the 1930s. Please visit this U.S. department of State website.
We will be watching part of the Hollywood movie Pearl Harbor during the class. This website will provide background information to students on the
film.
If you are interested in viewing a timeline of what occurred during the attack at Pearl Harbor, this Scholastic website is very informative and
contains a variety of primary source images.
This website contains the U.S. Navy museums official Pearl Harbor fact sheet. It contains a breakdown of the casualties that occurred as well as
containing the outcome of the various ships attacked that day.
If you are interested in hearing accounts from crewmembers present at the time of the attack, pearlharbor.org contains a variety of them.
For information related to President Roosevelts Day of Infamy speech, please look at this National Archives website. It contains an audio
recording of the speech in addition to a text version.
If you have been to or are interested in the Pearl Harbor war memorial, this webpage contains a variety of resources and information. It is the

official website for the memorial.

For gene3ral information related to the forced internment of Japanese-American citizens by the American government, go to the following website.
This is the link for the rubric used to grade the class presentation.
You Be the Historian: Springer Family Interactive.
Talking about My Constitution Interactive.
Who am I? A History Mystery Interactive.

Useful Websites:

The
The
The
The
The

Library of Congress is the official research library of the United States Congress. It contains a ton of primary source evidence.
National Archives and Records Administration website is a source for many documents related to American history.
Center for History and New Media website contains a list of historical sources and possible research topics.
National World War II museum website contains many useful primary source documents.
National History Education Clearinghouse has a variety of student based learning resources.