WORLD WAR II Interactive
Module
Chris Inman
To the left you will see the opening
home page to the module “World War
II Interactive Module”.
World War II
Interactive Module
* Module Content covers ACOS 11.7: Explain the entry by the
United States into World War II and major military campaigns in
the European and Pacific Theaters.
Audio Introduction
The title will appear at the top, a
photograph of the big 3 leaders (FDR,
Churchill, and Stalin) will appear in
the middle. There is a caption and a
question under the picture.
An audio introduction button which
introduces students to the module is
just above the image.
The various parts of the module are
listed as buttons under the image.
Students can go to any part by
clicking on either “Leaders”, “Home
Front”, “European Theater”, “Pacific
Theater”, or “Timeline”.
Big 3 at Yalta:
Who were the Big 3?
Leaders
Home front
Pacific Theater
European Theater
The Holocaust
AHSGE
The background will not be white, but
will instead be a color of some kind.
The AHSGE button takes students to a
page where they will create their own
encyclopedia entries for the AHSGE.
This is the first page of the
“Leaders” part of the module.
Leaders of
World War II
Click on a leader below to visit their page.
The Allied Powers
Text
Text
Text
Text
The Axis Powers
Again, the title is at the top, and
I have an audio introduction as
well. To visit a leader’s page,
students can click on the
leader’s picture or the leader’s
name. At the end of this part,
students will be able to identify
the leaders and the country they
led.
The leaders are FDR, Stalin,
Truman, and Churchill for the
Allies; Hitler, Mussolini, and
Hirohito for the Axis Powers.
The text under each leader’s
picture will be their name, title,
and dates served in that
position.
Text
Text
Home Page
Text
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Page
Text: Simply stating his name,
title, dates of leadership, and
some key facts in relation to
World War II.
FDR
image
FDR
image
Animation of
a dime
flipping back
and forth;
FDR is on
the dime.
FDR
image
Movie: FDR’s speech to
Congress after Pearl HarborText will be available here
explaining the speech
Political
Cartoon
Caption
Home Page
Political
Cartoon
Caption
Political
Cartoon
Caption
Leaders Page
Next Leader
This is FDR’s page.
Students will have already
studied FDR extensively
due to the Great
Depression and the New
Deal.
The page will have pictures
of FDR during WWII,
including pictures of him
as his health began to
decline. The war took a
terrible toll on his health.
Movie of FDR’s speech to
Congress after Pearl
Harbor.
Political Cartoons of FDR
during WWII, with
captions.
Navigation buttons at the
bottom of the page with
sound.
Joseph Stalin’s Page
Text: Simply stating his name,
title, dates of leadership, and
some key facts in relation to
World War II.
Text: Review of Lenin
and birth of Soviet
Union-students will have
already covered this
during WWI unit.
Animation of
Lenin
The purpose of the leader
pages is not to give
students an incredibly indepth portrait, but rather to
give students an idea of
who was leading the
various major powers in
the conflict.
Sound: An introduction to
the page; narration of
Lenin info and review of
Bolshevik Revolution;
sound with the button at
the bottom.
Photographs: Stalin and
Lenin, other Soviet images.
Narration of Lenin Text
Image: Political cartoon
with Stalin and Hitler.
Political
Cartoon
about Pact
Home Page
Text: Cartoon satirizes the
brief pact between Stalin
and Hitler
Leaders Page
Next Leader
Harry S. Truman’s page.
To current high school
students, the dropping of
the atomic bomb is fairly
controversial. To that
end, I think they should
be given the opportunity
to look at both sides and
express their opinion.
Harry S. Truman’s Page
Text: Simply stating his name,
title, dates of leadership, and
some key facts in relation to
World War II.
Movie: Atomic bomb
dropping on Nagasaki
and/or Hiroshima.
Text: Movie of
atomic bomb, etc.
Brief Narration
explaining support
for dropping the
bombs
Animation of
atomic bomb
Brief Narration
explaining other
side
What side do you agree with? Do you think Truman should have
dropped the bomb? Explain your opinion.
Home Page
Leaders Page
Next Leader
Sound: Narrations,
introduction, sounds at
the bottom.
Churchill’s page
focuses primarily on
pictures, text, and
sound clips.
Winston Churchill’s Page
Text: Simply stating his name,
title, dates of leadership, and
some key facts in relation to
World War II.
Animation:
UK flag
waving
Text: Sound clip of Churchill
proclaiming that Great Britain
will never give up, will never
surrender.
Text: Sound clip of Churchill
coining the “Iron Curtain after
WWII.
Link
Churchill quotes and sound clips
Home Page
Leaders Page
Next Leader
Sound: Churchill
speeches, introduction
to his page, sound at
the bottom.
Text: The text will
reinforce the narration.
The speeches will be
written in text, and
background
information provided.
Additional link
available to more
Churchill quotes and
sound clips.
Adolph Hitler’s Page
Text: Simply stating his name,
title, dates of leadership, and
some key facts in relation to
World War II.
Text: with narration, explaining the
true origins of the swastika. Image is
linked to several encyclopedia entries
at Answers.com.
Music: Nazi approved
“good” German music.
With text
Movie: narrating the
rise of Hitler and the
Nazi Party. With text.
Text: Movie of Hitler-brief story of Hitler and his
rise to power from seemingly out of nowhere.
This text will summarize the video as they view.
Leaders Page
Pictures: Of Hitler and
the Nazi Flag.
Sound: introduction,
narration.
Text: Click on the musical note to go to a page to listen to,
and read about, music that Hitler and the Nazi Party
approved for German listening.
Home Page
Adolph Hitler’s page.
The page focuses on
Hitler the person, and
touches upon the Nazi
Party. An entire
module devoted to the
Holocaust comes later.
Next Leader
Benito Mussolini’s Page
Text: Simply stating his name,
title, dates of leadership, and
some key facts in relation to
World War II.
Text: Video Clip of Mussolini
giving a speech
Text: Narration-What is Fascism?
Mussolini
Picture
Home Page
Mussolini
Picture
Leaders Page
Mussolini
Picture
Next Leader
Much of the
information on
Mussolini’s page
will focus on his
rapid rise to power
in Italy, and the new
philosophy he
helped to establish,
fascism.
Movie: A movie clip
of a Mussolini
Speech-introducing
Hitler. Text will
provide background
information.
Sound:
Introduction,
explanation of
fascism (with Text).
Additional Mussolini
pictures.
Emperor Hirohito’s page will
focus on Hirohito and a brief
history of Imperial Japan.
Emperor Hirohito Page
Text: Simply stating his name, title, dates of
leadership, and some key facts in relation to
World War II. The picture is also linked to
extensive encyclopedia information at
answers.com.
Japanese Imperial Seal of the
Chrysanthemum. Picture is linked to
JapanZone.com, which does a good job of
briefly explaining the history and role of the
emperor in Japanese history and culture.
Caption
Important for students to
know the unique culture and
link between the emperor
and the Japanese people
before and during WWII.
Picture: Of Hirohito, possibly
more than one. With
explanatory/summary text.
Images: The Imperial seal,
and various Japanese flags.
With explanatory/summary
text, sound, and a link to
JapanZone.com providing
brief history of imperial
positon.
Sound: Introduction, various
narration.
Caption
Caption
Caption
Brief movie clip explaining tensions between
Japan and the United States before WWII.
Home Page
Leaders Page
Next Leader
Movie: Clip, or clips
discussing the relationship
between the U.S. and Japan.
Explanatory/summary text
provided as well.
On the Home Front: The
United States at home
during World War II
U.S. Flag Animation
Video Clip: U.S. mobilizing to
War time economy; with
Summary Text
Propaganda
Poster section,
along with
captions and
summary text.
Text: Photograph is linked to the Manzanar Historical
site. Site has photographs and text discussing the
internment of Japanese-American citizens in the
United States during World War II.
Text: Photograph is linked to a great web
site covering the Second Great Migration
of African-Americans out of the South to
the industrial centers of the North during
WWII. Summary Text provided.
Narration telling students which key people, terms, and
events to know for the AHSGE.
Previous Page
Home Page
On the Home Front
focuses on the many
changes taking place in
the United States during
World War II.
These changes were
complex: women’s roles
changed, AfricanAmericans migrated yet
again for better economic
opportunities, JapaneseAmericans were treated
like traitors, and our
economy undertook
several changes, including
the end of the Great
Depression.
Multimedia Elements:
Video clip, propaganda
posters, animation, links to
photographs and
information, narration.
European Theater during
WWII. Again, this page is not
meant to be exhaustive.
European Theater: War in
Europe
Animation:
German ship,
Bismarck
Text: Movie Clip-beginning scene of
Saving Private Ryan; summary text
added.
World War II music: Picture links to authentic music
clips and lyric sheets of popular music during World
War II. Assignment: Choose a WWII topic and write
your own song or rap. Bonus: Record it (video or cd)
and bring it to class.
Text and Narration: Section focuses on key people and battles—
specifically geared toward AHSGE; text also has links to further
images and readings.
Previous Page
Maps: Some are interactive,
and all provide summary text.
The maps act as a timeline.
Music: Link to a website with
WWII American music and
lyrics. Students will write their
own song or rap, and record it.
Maps: Map links to a set of maps
along with dates and summary text; it
is essentially a timeline. Also narrated.
Alabama in World War II-Part of
state requirements. Picture is
linked to information about
Alabama during WWII.
Animation: Hitler’s supposedly
indestructible ship, Bismarck.
Movie Clip and
summary text: The
Tuskegee Airmen
Home Page
Text with narration, and links
to further images and more in
depth information.
History teachers must
incorporate Alabama History
in the curriculum, and
fortunately, Alabama has a
good bit of history connected
to World War II.
Pacific Theater: War
in the Pacific
Animation: Japanese
airplane dropping a
torpedo
Text: Summary of opening scene
of Pearl Harbor, which they are
viewing
Text: Summary of map of
the War in the Pacific and
Japan’s conquests.
Sound: Various narration of
different sections
Animation: USS
Arizona being
bombed
Text and Narration: Section focuses on key people
and battles—specifically geared toward AHSGE; text
also has links to further images and readings.
Movie Clip: Flags of Our
Fathers-Battle of Iwo
Jima from US
perspective
Movie Clip: Letters from
Iwo Jima, Battle of Iwo
Jima from Japanese
perspective
Assignment: Class Discussion of
War in the Pacific
Previous Page
This portion, like the others,
is meant to be a springboard
into classroom discussion
and further study of the
material. It is not meant to
cover every aspect—that is
impossible to do.
Home Page
Animations: Japanese Zero
plan dropping torpedo; USS
Arizona being bombed at
Pearl Harbor—both have
captions.
Movies: Clips from three
movies are available, all
unique. Summary text also
provided here.
Text and Narration section
focusing on specific terms for
the AHSGE—links to extra
content available as well.
This material is also easy for
quick review.
Summary assignment for
class discussion. Be ready
to participate!
The Holocaust Page.
The Holocaust
Movie Clip: Band of
Brothers miniseries by
HBO, with summary
text.
Movie Clip: Scene in Band of
Brothers where U.S. troops reach
their first death camp. With
summary text.
Image linked to “History of Holocaust: An Overview”,
provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum. Some narration provided by the teacher.
Picture
Image linked to transcripts of original speeches by Hitler
and Nazi Party members discussing the “Jewish Problem”
and the “Final Solution”.
Images and pictures of
the Holocaust, victims
and survivors.
Portions of transcripts
from speeches given
by Hitler and Nazi
Party officials
concerning Jews.
Quotes from Anne
Frank’s diary.
Image of Anne Frank linked to excerpts of her diary
provided by Anne Frank Center, USA, and her story. This
helps put a face on the holocaust.
Assignment: Making Connections classroom
discussion about the holocaust.
Previous Page
Home Page
Links to further
resources available
throughout.
Leads to classroom
discussion about
victims of persecution,
Jews, and other
groups.
AHSGE World War II
Encyclopedia
Only place encyclopedia entries into your group’s area of focus.
This page will contain
an encyclopedia which
the students will create
to help them study for
the AHSGE.
The students are free
to add pictures and
sound as well.
Group 1: Leaders of World War II
Term
Term
Students will be
divided into groups—
I will give them a
specific set of entries
to do, and they must
add a specified
number of further
entries. This will also
help them locate
reliable resources.
Group 2: The Home Front during WWII
Term
Term
Group 3: The European Theater
Term
Term
Group 4: The Pacific Theater
Term
Term
Group 5: The Holocaust
Term
Term
Home Page