Beacon Unit Plan Library

Announcing World War II

Richard Johnson
Beacon Learning Center (Bay District Schools)

Description

In this unit, students get an overview of World War II while practicing their listening skills. They focus on selected events and situations from World War II that correspond with those that occur in the novel, Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson. This unit can be used as a companion to a Beacon language arts unit, Jacob Have I Loved - A Novel Study and a science unit, Twin Traits, or can be used as a separate, stand-alone social studies unit. These events and situations revolve around how America reacted to the adversity of war. Student groups create radio broadcasts about these events and situations, which they present to the whole class. The class, as the audience for these broadcasts, uses their listening skills to gather pertinent information on these events or situations, which will allow them to succeed on the summative assessment for the unit. The summative assessment mirrors the short- and extended-response items on the FCAT. The extended response section asks students to answer the question: How did America react to the adversities of World War II?

Questions

How do societies deal with adversity?
Students look at this question in light of America's response to World War II. This should be a recurring question throughout an American history course.

Duration

The planned duration of this activity is 11 days.

Unit Matrix and Standards

Click here to view the curriculum matrix which illustrates the unit's instructional design and lists standards addressed in the unit.

Attached Files

Unit Plan Overview     File Extension:  pdf

Diagnostic Assessment     File Extension:  pdf

Summative Assessment     File Extension:  pdf

Unit Resource Guide     File Extension:  pdf

Posters for Announcing World War II Unit     File Extension:  pdf

Lesson Plans

Introducing World War II
Students practice listening skills while getting an overview of the events of WWII. Emphasis is placed on events mentioned in the novel, Jacob Have I Loved. Writing an FCAT style short response on one of the focal events assesses writing skills.

Broadcasting World War II
Students create and perform radio broadcasts relating to events and situations that affected American society in World War II. They test their listening skills during these broadcasts. They practice by responding to tasks like those found on the FCAT.