Course/Grade Level: U.S. History / 11th Grade

Lesson Title: Comparing Japanese Internment Camps with German Concentration Camps in Jigsaw groups. A WWII Japanese Internment exercise utilizing primary sources and working in Jigsaw groups.

Teacher: Mr. Noland

1. Set Induction: We will be using a variety of primary sources and working in Jigsaw groups to evaluate documents representing opposing perspectives and come together as a class to analyze and understand the primary sources provided. We will begin with Movietone News showing the U.S. perspective on “Helping the Japanese”, to set the tone for the lesson, while passing out the Japanese Internment Background Sheet.

2. Aims/Objectivesand Standards:

District 205 High School History Standards

POLITICAL SYSTEMS

  • Interpret how geographic, economic, technological, and social forces have affected the politics o the United States. USH-01
  • Analyze political interactions between the United States and other countries within a global context. USH-02

ECONOMICS

  • Examine the relationships between historical events and the economy of the United States. USH-03

HISTORY

  • Apply methods of historical inquiry (pose questions, collect and analyze primary and secondary sources, make and support arguments with evidence, and report findings). USH-04
  • Analyze historic events within their context and evaluate how interpretations of those events changed over time. USH-05

GEOGRAPHY

  • Interpret various geographic representations (e.g., maps, graphs, charts), including those that show the relationship between the United States and the world. USH-06

SOCIAL SYSTEMS

  • Compare and contrast ways in which social systems are affected by political, economic, environmental, demographic, and technological changes. USH-07
  • Examine the evolution of the American identity through the eyes of different cultural groups (e.g., African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans, religious groups, role of women in society). USH-08

3. Procedures, Assessments and Materials Required:

Procedures:

*Bell-ringer – Students will enter class to four vocabulary terms relevant to today’s lesson on internment. The Vocabulary will be done on a half sheet matching the key terms. Give them 5-7 minutes to complete.

  1. Have class pre-arranged into groups of 4 each with a defined role in the group. Students will receive one of 4 group packetswhich will analyze a specific aspect of the Internment Activity. Hand out Jigsaw activity directions. (There will be multiple groups working on the samepacket in some classes, depending on size, as there are only four differing group packets.)
  2. Explain to the students that they will be looking more closely at this event through the eyes of the people involved. The students will have to use the historical evidence to figure out what really happened in the past.
  3. Introduce background story-Show Movie-Time Newshave a brief discussion about the video.
  4. Direct students modeling specific visuals, language used, defining key vocabulary terms used in the activity.

Group 1. Japanese Americans

  1. Eselle Ishigo watercolor painting, “Home”
  2. Excerpts of letter written by Lawrence T. Kagawa
  3. Excerpts from oral interview with Al Hida

Group 2. The U.S. Government

  1. “Instructions to all Persons of Japanese Ancestry.”
  2. The War Relocation Work Corps Pamphlet
  3. Welcome to Topaz “Don’ts” and “Do’s pamphlet.”

Group 3. 3rd. Party

  1. Photo of Japanese American family in the barracks
  2. “Waiting for the Signal from Home” a political cartoon by Dr. Suess
  3. Newspaper clipping from the Rockford Register Star
  4. Newspaper clipping of camp life

Group 4. German Concentration Camps

  1. Work will set you free (Arbeit Macht Frei)
  2. Picture of camp guard tower, fence line.
  3. Group moving from train to receiving center at Auschwitz.
  1. Make sure each group has one set of documents and a Document Evaluation Sheet for each student. Explain to the students they will be working together to identify the point of view represented in the documents. Also explain that after the students have worked in small groups, each group will be responsible for reporting their findings to the class as explained in the direction sheet.
  2. After 35 minutes (sufficient time to work with their documents) bring theclass back together for a large group discussion.
  3. Ask each group to discuss their findings with the rest of the class.
  4. Once all groups have contributed their ideas, lead the class in a discussion emphasizing the bias in every document and the importance of looking at all the points of view on an issue.

9. Have students use the Assessment sheet to answer questions about the lesson.

Assessments

  • Bell-ringer vocabulary matching sheet
  • Document Evaluation Sheet
  • Points of View Chart
  • Japanese Internment Assessment

Materials:

  • Jigsaw group activity directions.
  • Japanese Internment Vocabulary worksheet /
  • Movietone News Video
  • Japanese Internment Background Sheet
  • Document Evaluation Sheet
  • Point of View Chart
  • Japanese Internment Assessment
  • Primary Documents (There are 12 documents)

*See document sheet & bibliography*

4. Resources and Scholarship:

Ansel Adam’s Photographs of Japanese American Internment at Manzanar by the Library of Congress

World War II and Japanese Americans

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco

5. Conclusion/Lesson Wrap-up:

  1. Conclude by leading the class to see that all societies can make mistakes and use propaganda to hurt and discriminate against others. Assist them in making their own conclusions and persuade them to think critically about sensitive issues while directing them to places to find information and sources.
  2. The students should come to several conclusions regarding the treatment of people in any culture/society. This lesson should open the eyes of some students to question what they see and are told. This should also enlighten them as to how even the most innocent ethical society can commit socially corrupt crimes when it comes to the truth and treatment of others.
  3. Bias is the theme that runs through all the groups. Assist the students in “discovering this.”

Wrap up by reminding of paragraph due, and cover key topics or ideas that students brought out in the various discussions.