About This Lesson
This Unit Plan covers World War II and some of the major events that occurred during wartime such as: events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. and Allied wartime strategy (Battles of Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Battle of the Bulge), contributions of special fighting forces, FDR’s foreign policy, events on the U.S. Homefront, atomic bombs consequences, and the effect of the Marshall Plan. Students are given essential guiding questions throughout the unit that refer back to global leadership and how foreign affairs shaped or influenced modern American society. The unit plan is designed as a two-week unit with 50-60 minute class periods. The unit plan topic is important to United States history because it is a pivotal period in the 20th century that defined how the United States handled global conflicts. The war was crucial to technological advancements, women advancement in the workplace, African American integration into different parts of society, and the United States role in the liberation of Europe.
Students are expected to analyze America’s participation in WWII by examining major events before, during, and post WWII. At the end of the unit, students should be able to explain the motivations and intentions that shaped foreign affairs, how the participation in WWII shaped the role of the United States in the modern world, and how this affected the American economy and society. At the end of the unit, students will provide journal entries that they have recorded during Bellwork, classroom discussions, and other forms of assessment during the two-week span. This will count as part of their assessment grade for the unit and will be supported as a participation grade. All objective breakdowns over the entire unit are formatted by day and topic in the document titled “Unit Plan Elements”.
