GED Social Studies Spectacular!

GED® Social Studies Spectacular!

Steve Schmidt

abspd.appstate.edu

Today’s Quote

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a

leader.”

― John Quincy Adams

Please Write on the Packet!

You can find everything from this workshop and many other resources at:

Look under: Teaching Resources, Social Studies Spectacular.

Thoughts on the GED® Social Studies Test

• Nine of the 11 social studies’ practices focus on reading

• Reading skills students should develop:

Read closely and extract information from complex text

Analyze what has been read

Make logical inferences and valid claims

Evaluate information taken from text

• Knowing how to unpack primary sources is key!

Helping Students Decode Old Primary Source Documents

Reading primary source documents from the 1700s and 1800s is a huge challenge for our students. Here are a few ways to help them:

Make historic documents easier to read by:

• Proving a brief introduction to the document and the time period in which it was written through a headnote, brief video, or short lecture

• Ask focusing questions to give students a reason for reading the document

• Shorten the document

• Define difficult vocabulary

• Simplify challenging sentence construction

• Provide wide margins for note taking

• As students become more skilled, provide less support over time

• See how this looks on pages 10, 11, and 14

Scaffolding Instruction

Teach documents using direct instruction:

• I do (the instructor models strategies they use to tackle difficult documents and uses

techniques like a think aloud)

• We do (the instructor and students work together on the skill

• You do (students work independently on the skill while the instructor monitors their progress)

Use an active reading strategy like text marking so students know when they stop understanding

what they read

✔I knew this before

! This is new for me

? I’m not sure what this means

Use the margins for notes and brief summaries

Use the Understanding Primary Sources graphic organizer on page 4

Adapted from teachinghistory.org

Social Studies High Impact Indicators
(These skills create the most problems for GED® Social Studies test takers)
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source document, corroborating or challenging conclusions with evidence
Describe people, places, environments, processes, and events and the connections between and among them
Analyze cause-and-effect relationships and multiple causation, including action by individuals, natural and societal processes, and the influence of ideas
Analyze how a historical context shapes an author's point of view
Compare treatments of the same social studies topic in various primary and secondary
sources, noting discrepancies between and among the sources

Source: GED® Testing Service

Understanding Primary Sources
What is it? (Letter, diary, speech, drawing,
newspaper article, etc.) / Who made it?
When was it created? / Where was it made?
Why was it created? / What does it say or show? (Summarize in a
few sentences in your own words)
Questions/Comments:
Understanding Primary Sources
What is it? (Letter, diary, speech, drawing,
newspaper article, etc.) / Who made it?
When was it created? / Where was it made?
Why was it created? / What does it say or show? (Summarize in a
few sentences in your own words)
Questions/Comments:

Japanese Internment during World War II Lesson Plan

This lesson focuses onhow to help students compare treatments of the same social studies topic in various primary and secondary sources, noting discrepancies between and among the sources. We will show how being a fan of different sports teams’ shapes our reaction to a game. Then we will transfer the skill to show how people view events differently depending on who they are in history.
Materials Needed:

• YouTube video: Japanese Relocation - U.S. Gov't Explanation 1942 (Japanese Internment Camps)

• YouTube video: Michael Jordan the last shot last minute of the 1998 NBA finals

• Executive Order 9066, Interview: Japanese American George Takei, Pictures from 1942, and the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 primary source documents. Understanding the Times secondary source document. All these documents are available on pages 11 – 16 of the Modern US History Packet found by Googling: abspd modern us history handout packet

• Japanese Internment Graphic Organizer

Directions:
1. Bring the 1998 NBA finals video to the 3:00 mark. If no video is available, use this description:
“With 18.9 seconds left and the Utah Jazz in possession, the Chicago Bull’s Michael Jordan stole the ball from a Utah player in the low post and dribbled to the frontcourt. Utah’s Bryon Russell guarded Jordan as time wound down. Jordan drove inside, executed a quick cross-over—possibly pushing off Russell, but the officials did not call a foul—and hit a 20-footer to give the Bulls an 87–86 lead with 5.2 seconds left.” (Source: Wikipedia)
2. Divide students into two groups, one who supports the team in red (Chicago Bulls) and one who supports the team in white (Utah Jazz). Play the video/read the description and ask:
How would a Utah Jazz (white team) fan react to this play?
How would a Chicago Bulls (red team) fan react to this play?
How does being a fan of a certain team affect how they view a certain play?
3. Mention to students: “In the same way, people view historical events differently depending on their relationship to it. We will look at the US and its treatment of Japanese American citizens on the West Coast during World War II using a variety of sources. Think how you might feel if you were a Japanese American living on the West Coast during World War II and also if you were not.”
4. To set the mood of the times, read Understanding the Times and Arguments for Internment on page 11 of the handout packet. The mood in the US after Pearl Harbor was similar to how people felt in the US after 9/11 toward the terrorist hijackers. Have students who remember the attacks talk about their feelings after 9/11 and draw a parallel to Pearl Harbor.
5. Play the video Japanese Relocation - U.S. Gov't Explanation 1942 (Japanese Internment Camps). Discuss these questions: Is this propaganda (one-sided information made to defend a particular point of view)? How would you have felt watching this as a Japanese-American citizen? How would you have felt watching this if you were a US citizen not of Japanese descent?
6. Give students the Japanese Internment graphic organizer and model how to fill in the section on the YouTube video they just watched.
7. Have students work in pairs or groups to fill out the organizer on the other documents and pictures.
8. Debrief the activity by having students share their responses from the graphic organizer. Discuss some current events and have students look at the event from the point of view of different participants.
Discuss other questions such as:
Was it right or wrong for the US to put Japanese American citizens in Internment camps? Why?
Was the $20,000 payment and US Government apology in 1988 the right thing to do? Why?
Is it fair to judge the past by the standards of the present and with the benefit of hindsight? Why?

Japanese American Citizen / Document or Event / American Citizen Not of
Japanese Descent
YouTube Video: Japanese Relocation - U.S. Gov't Explanation 1942 (Japanese Internment Camps)
To All Persons of Japanese Ancestry
Interview:
Japanese American George Takei /
OVER
Japanese American Citizen / Document or Event / American Citizen Not of
Japanese Descent
Pictures from 1942
Civil Liberties Act of 1988

Documents about Japanese Internment 1942 - 1945

On December 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, there were more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast of the United States. Within a few months, this entire population was gone. Out of fears of espionage and sabotage along the Pacific, the government removed Japanese American men, women, and children from their homes and placed them in internment camps in the interior of the country. Two-thirds of the internees were U.S. citizens. None of them was ever charged with a crime. Source: Smithsonian Education

Understanding the Times

It is easy to judge the past by the present. We have the huge benefit of hindsight, knowing how things turned out. Just as we do not know the future, people living in the past did not know how the events they lived would turn out. People living in World War II would only have had newspapers, radio, and movie newsreels available and were more susceptible to propaganda that we are today with so much more information available from TV news and the Internet.

Arguments for Internment

Threat to the US Pacific Coast

A real threat to the US Pacific Coast was widely thought to exist in the first months after the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack crippled the US Pacific Fleet and left the West Coast almost defenseless should the Japanese attack again. There were reports that Japanese residents in Hawaii had done extensive spying before Pearl Harbor and that Japanese Americans helped a Japanese pilot shot down during the Pearl Harbor attack.

On February 23 1942, a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast of Goleta, California and shelled the Elwood oil refinery causing widespread panic extending all along the coast to Los Angeles. Military leaders and California politicians asked the government to create restricted zones around West Coast military bases and aircraft factories in California.

Protection of Japanese Americans

An early 1942 report from a Los Angeles Navy Officer warned of coming “outbreaks of violence and civil strife” against Japanese-Americans. The Internment prevented acts of mob violence against potentially thousands of Japanese-Americans saving lives and injury.

Historical Precedent

During the Civil War Abraham Lincoln arrested and detained without trial thousands of people he suspected of being disloyal to the US. During World War I President Wilson used emergency war powers to deport foreign-born “radicals” who were against the war.

The 3 F’s

We can use 3 F’s to describe the feeling of most US citizens during World War II: Fear, Fury, and Frustration. People lived in fear after Pearl Harbor and early US military losses in 1942. People were furious at the Japanese for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that killed over 2,400 Americans. People were frustrated because US industry completely supported the war effort and there were few consumer goods they could buy in stores.

Adapted from Morelock

Page 1 | GED® Social Studies Spectacular

Headnote: US President Franklin Roosevelt issued this executive order giving

the Secretary of War authority to move thousands of Japanese Americans to camps away from the West Coast

Focus Question: What reason does the President give for this executive order?

Executive Order 9066 [modified]

The President

Executive Order

Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas

Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities . . . .

Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate . . . to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary . . . to accomplish the purpose of this order.

I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area hereinabove authorized to be designated, including the use of Federal troops . . .

Franklin D. Roosevelt

The White House

February 19, 1942

Vocabulary
Authorize: give permission
Prescribe: make a rule
Espionage: spying

Headnote: These instructions were given to Americans of Japanese descent living along the West

Coast of the US about how to report for internment

Focus Question: Under the 14th Amendment, American citizens cannot have their rights taken

away without due process of law. If you were a Japanese American citizen, what

would your reaction be to this document?

"To All Persons of Japanese Ancestry" [modified]

Western Defense Command and Fourth Army Wartime Civil Control Administration, Presidio of San Francisco, California

May 3, 1942

Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry . . . .

Pursuant to the provisions of Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34, this Headquarters, dated May 3, 1942, all persons of Japanese ancestry, both alien and non-alien, will be evacuated . . . by 12 o'clock noon, P. W. T., Sunday, May 9, 1942.

No Japanese person living in the above area will be permitted to change residence after 12 o'clock noon, P. W. T., Sunday, May 3, 1942, without obtaining special permission . . . . Such permits will only be granted for the purpose of uniting members of a family, or in cases of grave emergency.

The Following Instructions Must Be Observed:

1. A responsible member of each family, preferably the head of the family, or the person

in whose name most of the property is held, and each individual living alone, will report to the Civil Control Station to receive further instructions. This must be done between 8:00 A. M. and 5:00 P. M. on Monday, May 4, 1942, or between 9:00 A. M. and 5:00 P. M. on Tuesday, May 5, 1942.

2. Evacuees must carry with them on departure for the Assembly Center, the following

property:

(a) Bedding and linens (no mattress) for each member of the family;

(b) Toilet articles for each member of the family;

(c) Extra clothing for each member of the family;

(d) Sufficient knives, forks, spoons, plates, bowls and cups for each member of

the family;

(e) Essential personal effects for each member of the family.

3. No pets of any kind will be permitted.

4. No personal items and no household goods will be shipped to the Assembly Center.

J. L. DeWITT

Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Commanding

Statement from George Takei

George Takei, a Japanese American actor (Mr. Sulu on Star Trek) describes his experiences:

“I was four years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941 by Japan, and overnight, the world was plunged into a world war. America suddenly was swept up by hysteria. Japanese-Americans, American citizens of Japanese ancestry, were looked on with suspicion and fear and with outright hatred simply because we happened to look like the people that bombed Pearl Harbor. And the hysteria grew and grew until in February 1942, the president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ordered all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast of America to be summarily rounded up with no charges, with no trial, with no due process. Due process, this is a core pillar of our justice system. That all disappeared. We were to be rounded up and imprisoned in 10 barbed-wire prison camps in some of the most desolate places in America: the blistering hot desert of Arizona, the sultry swamps of Arkansas, the wastelands of Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and two of the most desolate places in California.

“On April 20th, I celebrated my fifth birthday, and just a few weeks after my birthday, my parents got my younger brother, my baby sister and me up very early one morning, and they dressed us hurriedly. My brother and I were in the living room looking out the front window, and we saw two soldiers marching up our driveway. They carried bayonets on their rifles. They stomped up the front porch and banged on the door. My father answered it, and the soldiers ordered us out of our home. My father gave my brother and me small luggage to carry, and we walked out and stood on the driveway waiting for our mother to come out, and when my mother finally came out, she had our baby sister in one arm, a huge duffel bag in the other, and tears were streaming down both her cheeks. I will never be able to forget that scene. It is burned into my memory.

“We were taken from our home and loaded on to train cars with other Japanese-American families. There were guards stationed at both ends of each car, as if we were criminals. We were taken two thirds of the way across the country, rocking on that train for four days and three nights, to the swamps of Arkansas. I still remember the barbed wire fence that confined me. I remember the tall sentry tower with the machine guns pointed at us. I remember the searchlight that followed me when I made the night runs from my barrack to the latrine. But to five-year-old me, I thought it was kind of nice that they'd lit the way for me . . . I was a child, too young to understand the circumstances of my being there.

“Children are amazingly adaptable. What would be grotesquely abnormal became my normality in the prisoner of war camps. It became routine for me to line up three times a day to eat lousy food in a noisy mess hall. It became normal for me to go with my father to bathe in a mass shower. Being in a prison, a barbed-wire prison camp, became my normality.