WWII: Significant Events and Effects of World War II
10th grade
U.S. History
Scotti Ostwald
This two week teaching unit will focus on significant events of WWII including
the factors leading up to war, Pearl Harbor, Japanese internments camps, the Holocaust,
the Blitz, women’s roles during war time and more. Students will learn how to analyze
and interpret important historical events as well as compare and contrast the past to the
present. The goals of this unit plan will include evaluating the impact of the war on
different cultures and social groups, examining the use of propaganda and its effects on
societies, addressing the issue of human rights, investigating the past interactions of
countries and how they relate to foreign relations today and examining the lasting effects
of the war. Peripheral issues that will be addressed include racism, gender roles and
personal accounts of war. The methodologies that will be incorporated include group
work, class discussion, body-kinesthetic movement, role-play, the use of visual aides,
student reflection and other student-centered activities. Bloom’s taxonomy and
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences will also be incorporated into the unit. The
Great Depression will precede this unit and it will be followed by a unit on the Cold War.
This Unit will also address the standards set forth by the National Council for Social
Studies (NCSS) and the National Center for History (NCH) in schools.
The NCSS created a set of ten thematic standards in order to provide leadership,
service and support for all social studies educators. These strands were created by a
board of directors made up of university professors and secondary and elementary
educators, and outlines what secondary students should know in the social studies field.
Each standard will be addressed in one or more lessons and are defined below. These
standards were created in an effort guide teachers in their instruction of a relevant course
of study and to remain consistent with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which
ensures students receive a well-rounded curriculum in the social sciences.
The National Standards for History were developed by the National Center for
History in the Schools under the guidance of the National Council for History Standards.
These standards were developed with funding from the National Endowment for the
Humanities and the US Department of Education. These standards are divided into ten
different eras that are relevant for grades 5-12. Each era is broken down into a set of
standards. Each standard includes specific historical concepts, issues and events that
should be covered in the school curriculum.
This unit will focus on Era 8, The Great Depression and World War II and
Standard 3, the causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at home and
abroad and its reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs. Following are the definitions of
each NCSS strand and NCHS standard. I’ve included an explanation of how each lesson
covers a specific strand or standard.
NCSS Thematic Strands
I.
Culture: an anthropological examination that demonstrates an ever-changing
system of values, traditions and beliefs that helps define a group of individuals

II.
Lessons five, seven and nine will address this strand. Lesson five
addresses the way in which Jewish culture was and still is affected by the
Holocaust. Lesson seven addresses the way in which Japanese-American
culture was affected by the internment camps they were forced to locate to
during WWII. Finally, lesson ten deals with the short- and long-term
effects of the many roles that women took on during the war.
Time, Continuity and Change: the course of historical events which
ultimately leads to an identity and helps form the present.

Lessons one, two and four will address this strand. Lessons one and two
focus on the events which led up to the outbreak of WWII and the
significant events that took place during the course of war. Lesson three
focuses on Pearl Harbor and addresses how the country was affected by
the attack.
III.
Peoples, Places and Environments: the geographical interactions among
humans, locations and habitat and how they affect each other.
 A number of lessons will meet this strand including one, two, four and
seven. Lessons one and two focus on the interactions of the countries
involved in WWII before, during and after the war. Lesson four addresses
why Pearl Harbor was a key geographic location for the Japanese. Finally,
Lesson seven focuses on the forced relocation of American citizens
because of their Japanese ethnicity.
IV.
Individual Development and Identity: the psychological understanding of
individuals that explores how one learns, perceives and grows within different
contexts.

V.
Individuals, Groups and Institutions: the sociological study of how
individuals organize themselves into civic institutions around needs, beliefs
and/or interests

VI.
Lesson ten will be linked to this strand. This lesson focuses on the
experience of the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Students
will read excerpts of personal accounts of the attack from the book
Hiroshima and will be able to compare and contrast how different
individuals react in different ways. Lesson five will address this strand as
well by focusing on the way in which Jews were treated during the
Holocaust and its lasting effects.
Lesson five will fit in with this strand. Students will research the role of
women during WWII. Women took on a number of jobs normally held by
men out of necessity during wartime.
Power, Authority and Governance: the study of how a government protects
or inhibits the rights of civic institutions while maintaining a just or unjust
society

Lesson three will focus on propaganda and the role that it played
throughout WWII. Students will examine how the governments used
propaganda to enforce their agenda to their citizens. Lessons one, five and
seven will all deal with the governmental oppression of a specific group of
people based on race.
VII.
Production Distribution and Consumption: the economic study of how
individuals and groups determine why and what commodities are produced
and how they are distributed and consumed.

VIII.
Science Technology and Society: the benefits and disadvantages of science
and technological advances and their effects on society

IX.
Lessons six, eight and ten all deal with the advancement of weapons that
were used during WWII. Students will learn about these different
advances of warfare and will contemplate their effects on society.
Global Connections: understanding global issues connecting patterns and
relationships within and among world cultures including war and peace,
human rights, world trade, global decisions, interactions and consequences.

X.
Lesson nine will fit in nicely with this strand as it deals with the way in
which goods were produced during wartime. Women played a much
bigger role during WWII than they had before, and students will present a
number of ways in which the distribution and consumption of goods were
affected by the war.
Every lesson in my unit plan addresses this strand as human rights, war
and peace, global decisions and interactions and consequences all played a
major role in WWII. Specifically, lessons one and two will focus on the
causes and consequences of the war. Lessons five and seven focus on
issues concerning human rights by having students research the Holocaust
and Japanese internment camps.
Civic Ideals and Practice: analysis of a variety of public policies and issues
from the perspective of formal and informal political actors, including
citizenship, public policy, forms of government, rights and responsibilities and
public concern for an issue.

Lessons three, five, six and seven will address this strand. Lesson three
focuses on the propaganda that was used during the war to illicit certain
public reactions. Lesson six will focus on the blitz and how the US was
affected by the propaganda surrounding the event. Lesson seven focuses
on Japanese internment camps and addresses the issue of citizenship and
the rights that Japanese-Americans were denied during the war.
Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Standard 3: The causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at
home and abroad, and its reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs.
Standard 3A
The student understands the international background of World War II.

Lesson one focuses on this specific standard. Before addressing the actual
events of WWII, it will be important for students to understand the
background of the war. Students will create a timeline of world events
that led up to war and will identify those countries that fought on the
Allied side and those who fought on the Axis.
Standard 3B
The student understands World War II and how the Allies prevailed.

Lessons two, four, eight and ten all deal with significant battles or attacks
of WWII. These include Pearl Harbor, D-Day and the nuclear attack on
Japan. Students will further examine why these events were significant
and what their short- and long-term effects were on both the individuals
who were involved and the country as a whole.
Standard 3C
The student understands the effects of World War II at home.

Lessons three, four, six, seven and nine will fulfill this standard. Issues
addressed in these lessons include the use of propaganda by the U.S.
government (including the effects of the Blitz on the U.S.), the effects of
Pearl Harbor, Japanese internment camps in the U.S. and how women
were directly affected as a result of the war.
WWII
Week One, Lesson 1-5
1. The causes of WWII: Students will research the various causes
of WWII create a timeline of the events that led up to war.
Understanding the events that caused the war is essential in
understanding the events of WWII itself.
2. The major events of WWII: Students will be introduced to the
significant events that occurred during WWII. Students will
create maps of different countries in order to become
familiarized with the reasons behind which countries fought on
the Allied side and which fought on the Axis side.
3. Propaganda used during wartime: Students will analyze
propaganda posters used during the war and will be asked to
contemplate the use of propaganda in today’s world.
4. Pearl Harbor: This lesson will focus on the short- and longterm effects of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Students will research
different aspects of Pearl Harbor and compare and contrast the
attack with 9/11.
5. Holocaust: Students will use visual artifacts to role-play the
events that occurred during the Holocaust. They will be asked to
make connections from past to present by comparing and
contrasting the Holocaust and the situation in Darfur.
Week Two, Lesson 6-10
6. Blitz: Students will recreate a bomb shelter and view images
and sounds that accompany the Blitz. They will examine
propaganda that was aimed at the US in order to illicit the help of
the country.
7. Japanese Internment Camps: Students will put themselves into
the role of Japanese-Americans who are about to be relocated.
They will read letters written by Japanese-American students at
the time and write their own.
8. D-Day: Students will watch a film which re-creates the events of
D-Day. They will listen to personal accounts of the events and
write their own reflections.
9. Women in Wartime: Students will conduct internet research to
investigate the various roles that women took on during WWII.
They will then use this information to create a skit to present to
the class.
10. Hiroshima: Students will role-play the characters from the book
Hiroshima. They will have been compiling a list of questions for
today’s “hot seat” activity and will interview their classmates in
their role-playing character.