Ms. Mac's U.S. History
  • Welcome To Ms. Mac's Class
    • Class Syllabus
    • Class Calendar
  • World History
    • Industrial Revolution
    • French Revolution
    • Haitian Revolution
    • World War I
    • Russian Revolution to Soviet Union
    • Chinese Revolution
    • World War II in Europe
  • U.S. History
    • Pre-Columbian America and The Columbian Exchange >
      • Pre-Contact America: Clovis Points
      • Pre-Contact America: Buffalo Hunts and Whaling
      • Pre-Contact America: Cahokia-The Corn People
      • Christopher Columbus
    • Colonial Era >
      • Juan Cabrillo and the San Salvador
      • Jamestown
      • Pilgrims, Puritans and Colonial Wars
      • Atlantic Slave Trade and Anti-Slavery Literature
      • Early American Military History
    • Founding Era >
      • American Revolution >
        • Declaration of Independence
        • The Continental Soldier
        • Rappin' the Revolution
        • Founding Fathers on Broadway!
      • Constitution >
        • Constitutional Convention
        • Bill of Rights
        • School Court Cases
        • COTUS Booklet
    • Slavery >
      • Virginia Slave Laws
      • Frederick Douglass
      • Atlantic Slave Trade and Antislavery Art and Poetry
    • Western Expansion >
      • Lewis and Clark >
        • Native Americans
        • Members of Corps of Discovery
        • Jefferson's Vision
        • Mind of Lewis and Clark
        • Corps of Discovery
        • Ethnography
        • Scientific Discoveries
        • Adventures
    • American Civil War >
      • Introducing, Mr. Lincoln >
        • Lincoln's Daily Life in Washington
        • Lincoln Essential Questions
        • Understanding Lincoln
        • Gettysburg Address and Henry V
        • Lincoln-Douglas Debates
      • Civil War Simulation >
        • Massachusetts 54th
        • Berdan Sharpshooters
        • Irish Brigades
        • Zouaves
        • Calvary
        • Artillery
    • Reconstruction and Greater Reconstruction
    • Gilded Age
    • World War I in America
    • Great Depression
    • WWII in the Pacific
    • Cold War
    • Vietnam War
  • Special Projects
    • Bayard Wilkeson Project
    • Ford's Theatre Oratory Project
    • National History Day
    • Hamilton! Lesson Using the Broadway Show >
      • Rappin in the Classroom
      • Founding Fathers on Broadway!
      • Hamilton Traveling Exhibit Activities
      • Hamilton Sign Up!
    • 9/11 History versus Memory
    • The South in American History
    • Books of Study >
      • McCullough's 1776
      • Ambrose's Undaunted Courage
    • Digital History
    • Distance Learning for ALL >
      • U.S. History-Spring 2020 >
        • April 13th-17th
        • April 20th-24th
        • April 27th-May 1st
        • May 4th-May 8th
        • May 11th- May 15th
        • May 18th-May 22nd
      • World Cultures-Spring 2020 >
        • April 13th-17th
        • April 20th-24th >
          • Marshall Plan
        • April 27th-May 1st >
          • The Kitchen Debate
        • May 4-8
        • May 11-15
        • May 18-May 22
    • Facing Crisis Head On
  • Contact

WWII in the Pacific

"A day that will live in infamy" President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Manhattan Project Electronic Field Trip with the WWII Museum

The Rising Sun

Picture
the_rising_sun.pdf
File Size: 749 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

People and Number in Asian-Pacific Theaters
File Size: 8222 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Homework: Students read a section of chapter one, "The Rising Sun" of Donald J. Miller's D-Days in the Pacific. 
Small Group Activity: In groups of five, students gather from their impressions of the reading of the following questions:
  • What surprised you? (Something you thought but was wrong.)
  • What questions do you have? (Something you did not understand.)
  • What new words did you learn? (Miller is an excellent writer.)
Storytime: After watching Rise and Fall of Japanese Zeros, Ms. Mac will read the recollection of Captain Mitsuo Fuchida of the Akagi on attacking Pearl Harbor.
Direct Instruction: Then students will watch (and follow along) ​FDR Infamy Speech and do a quick write immediately after listening to the speech. After sharing out, students will read the Japanese Declaration of War. 
Pearl Harbor Essay & FDR Infamy Speech
File Size: 9741 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Japan Declares War Dec. 8, 1941
File Size: 166 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Pearl Harbor-Reaction at Home and Abroad 

Preview: Students will read the newspaper article by Robert Hagy's The Worst News I Have Encountered in Twenty Years from an "America First" Rally in Pittsburgh on December 7, 1941. 
Direct Instruction: Ms. Mac will introduce Winston Churchill's seven volume set on World War II including the "Moral of the Work" and the "Theme of the Volume" from his Grand Alliance.  Then Ms. Mac will read Churchill's reaction and reflections. 
Small Group Activity: Students will analyze four documents identifying textual evidence from the following questions:
  • In the two Declarations of War, where do you see resolution, defiance, and magnanimity. 
  • How are the two POVs (America First and Churchill) and reactions (FDR and Japanese's Declarations of War related?
Individual Assignment: Students will write a four-paragraph essay answering the following essential question:
"Was war between the United States and Japan inevitable?"
Picture
america_first_rally_pittsburgh_dec_7_1941.pdf
File Size: 266 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

churchill_on_pearl_harbor.pdf
File Size: 207 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

ASSESSMENT-ESSENTIAL QUESTION WRITING 

Using the Roosevelt's Address to Congress (December 8, 1941), Japan's Declaration of War (December 8, 1941), Winston Churchill's chapter "Pearl Harbor" from his WWII book, The Grand Alliance, and the newspaper article "America First Rally" in Pittsburgh (December 7, 1941) answer the following essential question in three paragraphs.

Was war between the United States and Japan inevitable? 
midway.pdf
File Size: 548 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

WWII Posters and Propaganda

Preview: In pairs, the students will "See, Think, Wonder" one of the twenty WWII recruiting posters. Each pair will share out. 
Small Group Activities: In groups of four, students will read and answer questions from William Bird's and Harry Rubenstein's (abridged from History Now 14: GLI) "Every Citizen a Soldier: WWII Posters on the American Home Front." 

wwii_propaganda_posters.pdf
File Size: 5992 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

wwii_reading_poster_worksheet.pdf
File Size: 123 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

wwii_poster_worksheet.pdf
File Size: 38 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture

ASSESSMENT-ESSENTIAL QUESTION WRITING

The United States produced more than 200,000 different posters in an effort to build support on the home front during World War II. Of the posters you have studied, select three that you believe were the most effective in meeting their objective(s) and make an argument for your choices. It is important that you use evidence taken directly from the posters. Clearly cite your evidence in your one paragraph.

The Doolittle Raid

Picture
Preview: The class will discuss these three quotes: 
  • “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”– Thomas Jefferson
  • “Good luck is when opportunity meets preparation, while bad luck is when lack of preparation meets reality.”– Eliyahu Goldratt
  • “Diligence is the mother of good luck.”– Benjamin Franklin​
Direct Instruction: After student will write down Jimmy Doolittle's quote, "I should never be so lucky again." students will create a t-chart labeled "Lucky" and "Not Lucky" for notes to be taken watching, 
One Hour Over Toyko
Individual Assignment: Students will "quick write" a paragraph using their t-chart notes on the three luckiest things that happened on Doolittle's Raid and three of the unluckiest things that happened on Doolittle's raid.  

Battle of Midway-History versus Memory

Picture
Picture
DAY ONE:
Preview: Ms. Mac will introduces the book, Mark Harris's "Five Came Back" the five directing legends: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens. The students will then watch the opening of the Netflix's "Five Came Back," episode 1, "The Mission Begins." 
Direct Instruction:  Students will listen to Mark Harris's chapter nine, "All I Know Is That I'm Not Courageous." The students will take notes while they listen to the chapter.
DAY TWO: 
Direct Instruction: Students will first establish history, the specific of the battle itself through the scholarship of Craig Symonds and the Battle of Midway. After a short discussion, students will view John Ford's documentary, The Battle of Midway.  made for the public and Torpedo Squadron 8 made for the fallen to establish memory.
Individual Assignment: Students will write a paragraph answering "How does John Ford's film illustrate the difference between history and memory?" (Students can use both John Ford films.)

Race and War in the Pacific

Preview: Students number the paragraphs on the ​essay, "Race and War in the Pacific" and Ms. Mac assigns pairs to summarize an assigned paragraph.
Small Group Activity: After each pair shares out their paragraph, in five groups, students will "observe and analyze" each of the six propaganda posters, three from an American point of view and three from a Japanese point of view. 
Large Group Share Out: Each group will present their observations and analysis of each poster. 
notetaking_for_race_and_war_in_pacific.pdf
File Size: 3601 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

race_and_war_posters
File Size: 3663 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture

Strategy in the Pacific

Picture
Admiral Nimitz (seated) discussing strategies in the South Pacific theater with top officers.
pacific_strategy_.pdf
File Size: 700 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

strategic_decision_making_in_the_pacific_scenarios
File Size: 42 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Preview: Student will view the following short films from the WWII museum:
Introduction to the War in the Pacific by Historian Richard Frank
Strategy Overview - Pacific Theater
Mapping the Pacific Strategy
Individual Reading: Students will read "Pacific Strategy" for class discussion.
Small Group Activity: Divided into five groups, each group will get a different scenario and answer the following questions:
  • What is the scenario's primary issue or problem?
  • What would you do in this scenario?
  • Why would you take this action?
  • What arguments did your group members make, and how easy/difficult was it for everyone to come to an agreement?
  • How did your group reach an agreement about the best course of action to take?
​Large Group Discussion: Each group will share out and then look at the "outcome." 

"Uncommon Valor"

Due to the cancellation of school due to the Coronavirus, Ms. Mac sent home "Uncommon Valor" of Donald Miller's D-Days in the Pacific (chapter 8) about Iwo Jima. Students should read and annotate their copy of the chapter.  Enjoy!

​Survey on the chapter, "Uncommon Valor"
uncommon_valor.pdf
File Size: 2690 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

iwo_jima_fact_sheet.pdf
File Size: 187 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly