Unit 4
America in WW2
Overarching Inquiry Question:
How was it possible for nations to become involved in another world war just 20 years after the end of World War I?
Unit Overview:
In this unit, students are introduced to an in-depth study into the ideologies and policies that led to World War II, the events that led the U.S. from a position of neutrality to becoming involved in the war, and the strategies used in the European and Pacific theaters. Emphasis is placed on government-sponsored policies that led to the Holocaust and discrimination towards different marginalized groups in the United States. Students will be actively engaged in hands-on learning through analysis of pictures, inquiry-based learning, opinion writings, political cartoon analysis, real world application games, and diary writing.
Unit Theme:
Isolation to Involvement
Standards & Skills
Standard 3: Demonstrate an understanding of the economic, political, and social effects of World War II, the Holocaust, and their aftermath (i.e., 1930–1950) on the United States and South Carolina.
Instructional Guidance:
Comparison: Generate comparisons based on common or differing characteristics or contexts. Compare: Compare the ideologies and policies that led to World War II.
Causation: Analyze multiple causes and effects, to include distinguishing long-term and short-term examples. Cause and Effect: Analyze the cause and effect of government-sponsored policies within the United States and Europe and related to the status of different groups to include the Holocaust.
Periodization: Study the past in blocks of time in order to understand how they are linked. Periodization: Summarize the United States government’s transition away from neutrality policies from World War I that led to its eventual involvement in World War II.
Contextualize: Place events in the proper context, allowing students to understand the historical period. Context: Contextualize the technological and geographic influence on military strategies in the Pacific and European theaters of war during World War II.
Summarize: Structuring historical periods to group information and to establish key events as turning points and beginning/ending points.
Evidence: Identify, source, and utilize different forms of evidence, including primary and secondary sources, used in an inquiry-based study of history. Evidence: Analyze multiple perspectives on the economic, political, and social effects of World War II and its aftermath using primary and secondary sources.
I Can Statements:
- I can compare the ideologies and policies that led to World War II.
- I can summarize the United States government’s transition away from neutrality policies following World War I that led to its eventual involvement in World War II.
- I can contextualize the technological and geographic influence on military strategies in the Pacific and European theaters of war of World War II.
- I can analyze the cause and effect of government-sponsored policies within the United States and Europe related to the status of different groups, to include the Holocaust.
- I can analyze multiple perspectives on the economic, political, and social effects of World War II and its aftermath using primary and secondary sources.
Teacher Materials
Student Materials
- Treaty of Versailles (digital)
- Reading a Chronology (PDF)
- Students will take a virtual tour of the National WW2 Museum. Teachers will need to register in advance using the link here.
Additional Resources:
- Students will take a virtual tour of the National WW2 Museum. Teachers will need to register in advance using the link here.
Picture Books:
- The Sneetches by Doctor Seuss
- Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Doctor Seuss
- Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People, and War
- Navajo Code Talkers by Blake Hoena
- The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida
Chapter Books:
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
- Attack on Pearl Harbor: The True Story of the Day America Entered World War II by Shelley Tanaka
- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry