S+Kendall,+Grace

**Office: 293** **Office Phone: (207) 778-xxxx** **Office Hours: T: 1:00pm-2:00pm W: 3:00pm-4:00pm** ** E-mail: graceakendall@gmail.com **
 * Teacher: Ms. Kendall**

=Summary of Unit= This unit will be all about asking you, the student, to form new connections and new ideas about material related to the Pacific theater of WWII. With such a broad topic, it is only natural that our classroom activities should vary as well, and to that end we will use primary source research, music and audio clips, artwork, literature, firsthand accounts, all in addition to the more traditional resources of writing and textbook reading. In this class you will take on many roles, including Museum (Box) curator, writer, interviewer and/or interviewee, director, actor, and last but most certainly not least: historian. Throughout the unit, I want you to continually consider how culture affects war (and how war affects culture), how concerns in the Pacific theater differed from those in the European one, how relationships between the United States and other countries involved in the war changed over time and affected the war in the Pacific. You will be asked to consider the positions of the Japanese, the Americans, and the Soviets, communists and anti-communists, war criminals and POWs alike. At the end of our unit, our class will design broad final projects that will allow us to make critical connections between lessons and the real world, and show a truly deep understanding of the Pacific theater of WWII. =Establish Goals= Maine Learning Results, Social Studies: E - History E1: Historical Knowledge, Concepts, Themes, and Patterns Grades 9 - Diploma: World War II and Postwar United States, 1939 - 1961 (Pacific Theater) "Students understand major eras, major enduring themes, and historic influences in the United States and world history, including the roots of democratic philosophy, ideals, and institutions in the world."

= = =Students will understand that= • the war in the Pacific had profound and lasting effects on the process and outcome of WWII as well as on US foreign policy. • cultural differences (and misconceptions about those differences) between the US and Japan greatly affected the way the war was fought. • the Pacific theater had far reaching impacts on society in both Japan and the United States.

= = =Essential Questions= • How did the Pacific theater lay groundwork for future American relations in Asia and beyond? • How did cultural differences (perceived or otherwise) between the US and Japan affect the war, both "on the battlefield" and "back home"? • Why was the outcome in Japan so important to the US?

**Students will know** • __Key factual information__: casualty rates in European theater vs. Pacific; Japanese internment camps in the US; US relationship with the Soviet Union; surrender conditions set by the US; American and Japanese interpretations of one another; communism in the Soviet Union. • __Important events and people__: Japanese invasion of Manchuria and China; FDR; Harry Truman; Joseph Stalin; Hirohito; lead-up to and attack on Pearl Harbor; Okinawa, Iwo Jima, etc.; Attu Island; Japanese surrender, Marshall Plan. • __Sequence and timeline__: end of fighting in Europe and shift of focus to the Pacific; Russian movement towards Japan; increased tensions between US and Soviet Union; "island hopping" strategy in the Pacific.

**Students will be able to** • investigate the following: 1.) The relationship between Japan and America before the attack on Pearl Harbor. 2.) The Soviet Union's entrance into WWII. 3.) The Soviet Union's anticipated entrance into the Pacific theater. 4.) America and communism after WWII. • evaluate America's hostility toward the Soviet Union, and whether or not it was justified. • communicate the caused by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. • critically analyze the Presidential order authorizing Japanese internment camps in the United States, as well as American arguments against it and in support of it. • assume the role of both an American soldier and a Japanese soldier serving on Iwo Jima in the Pacific theater of WWII. • critically evaluate the use of propaganda during WWII by both the American and Japanese governments.

**Performance Task Overview** The publisher of our U.S. History textbook, McGraw-Hill, has put out a call to schools across the nation asking classes just like ours to help them make their textbooks more user-friendly for today’s teen. They are currently taking submissions of student-made wikispaces to act as a supplement to their book’s coverage of the Pacific theater of World War II. McGraw-Hill is requiring that the wikispace utilize a variety of resources, including two to three different media types (such as art, music, text, audio, video, etc.), at least two of which must be primary resources, and at least two wikispace widgets. Wikispaces from around the country will be submitted to the Board of Editors at McGraw-Hill, and the board will choose the one that they feel best supplements their book’s coverage of Pacific theater. The winning wikispace will win for its creators’ school a $15,000 grant for history education as well as a $200,000 grant for the school as a whole. To best present your wikispace, each page on it should have a short statement from your group reflecting on why the material on that page “improves and broadens” McGraw-Hill’s coverage of the topic. Good luck, and let’s get creative!

=Expectations= **Absent Policy**: School is your job as well as mine, so we both need to be here to create a productive workplace. That being said, everyone needs to take a sick day from time to time. Communication is your key to success if you need to miss class for any reason. If it is a planned absence, like you’re going to be out of town with family, let me know well ahead of time (I’m talking like 1-2 weeks’ notice, if possible) so that I can be sure to get you everything you’ll need to stay caught up while you’re away. If you have an unplanned absence, communication will still be your first step. Let me know as soon as possible (goal: let me know before class!) that you will be absent, and if you expect to be absent for more than one class. If there is work due the day you are absent, presumably you would have had it done and ready for class, so in this case it should be emailed to me and won’t be counted late. If the reason for your absence also affects your ability to get your work done on time, your job is to make a convincing case as to why, and outline your plan for turning your completed work in ASAP. Finally, let me say this: The more responsible YOU are in communicating with me about your absence (letting me know as early as possible, offering plans for turning in late work, etc.) the more likely we are to come up with a solution that we will both be happy with.

**Late Work Policy**: For late work that isn’t related to an absence, communication is still key! If you’re having trouble with an assignment, come see me before it's due and we can try to work out whatever you’re struggling with. If “things come up” and you are unable to complete an assignment, the earlier I know about it the better chance you and I have of working out a solution. The situation we all want to avoid is you telling me during class that you didn’t get that day’s assignment, done; that leaves both of us in a tough spot. Late assignments will be handled on a case by case basis, depending on the assignment, the situation, whether or not this is a consistent issue for you, and the plan we come up with for getting the work done and passed in.


 * Assignment Expectations**: Above all else, put your best effort into an assignment. This entails spell checking (even handwritten assignments – break out that dictionary!) and using proper grammar and mechanics, as well as thinking critically (and creatively!) about history. I’m going to ask you a lot of questions that don’t have one right answer. I want to see how //you// use historical fact to form your own opinions. Okay, here’s the less exciting part: You will all learn how to use Turabian citation in this class. It’s the go-to citation style for historians, so in this class and any future classes you take with me, Turabian is how you will cite your source material. We'll have resources to help with this online as well as in our classroom. I am always willing to help with this – don’t hesitate to ask!


 * Classroom Expectations**: Aretha said it best, folks: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I fully expect everyone in this class to respect one another. History can be a tricky subject, and we will undoubtedly deal with some delicate topics while we’re in class together. I will not baby you or sugarcoat the content, for two reasons. First, you’re young adults and you can handle this material maturely. Second, to sugarcoat the material would be a disservice to you as students. So, in order for us to have a really effective history classroom and do some real learning, the environment needs to thrive on open communication, respect for each other and our ideas, and a willingness to work together in discussions and assignments. We will work together as a class to draft a “Classroom Environment Contract” outlining what we all expect from each other to make this classroom as great as we possibly can.


 * Plagiarism Policy**: This is important. You **cannot** do real learning without putting thought into your product! Plagiarism is many things: unethical, a disservice to yourself as a student (and me as your teacher), cheating, and absolutely against school rules. If you plagiarize, it is out of my hands – I have to abide by school policy, which in most cases means you are reported, disciplined, put on academic probation, and receive a 0 for the assignment. A note on citation: Failure to cite is plagiarism. Sources you used to form your final products **must** be cited in proper Turabian format. Again, if you need help on citation style, see me, consult the class wiki, or look it up in the Turabian book we keep in the classroom.

=Benchmarks - Total Points for Class: 200= • **E-book**: Assuming the roles of both a Japanese soldier and an American soldier serving in the Pacific, write a series of four letters (two as a Japanese soldier, two as an American soldier) to someone "back home" (whether you address these letters to a friend, family member, former teacher, or even the President or Emperor is up to you). Include information about your experiences, both past and present, what you are feeling, what hardships you have encountered and what good points you have encountered (if any). Be creative and really try to empathize with your subject matter. When all of the class letters are completed, we will compile them into a class e-book. Proper source citations should be included with each letter (as footnotes if the letter is typed, and as an additional page if the letter is handwritten). (**24 points**) • **Xtra Normal video**: Create a movie showing American arguments both in support of and against Presidential Order #9066, which authorized the internment of Japanese-Americans in camps. The movie can be a conversation between two people (Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt didn't exactly agree on this issue...), a news broadcast, etc. Your assignment will include developing a script beforehand, and getting feedback from your teacher on the script before you move on to creating your movie. In addition to your final product being your Xtra Normal video, you will also pass in your final draft of your script, including proper source citations. (**24 points**) • **iMovie/MovieMaker**: Create a 3-5 minute "documentary" that communicates the destruction caused by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Devote at least one quarter of your movie to investigating arguments that the bombings were justified as well as arguments that they were unjustified. Now, a very technical definition of "documentary" would mean that only the facts were presented, without the director's own opinion, but we all know that is rarely the case with documentaries. Therefore, you are allowed to acknowledge your own opinion about the bombings in your documentary, but be sure you fairly explain both points of view. Points can be lost if your coverage of that issue is one-sided. Your movie may use photographs, primary documents, mock interviews based off first-hand accounts, etc. but must be based in fact. A properly formatted source list should be passed in with your finished product. (**24 points**) • **Podcast**: Create a podcast with a partner discussing whether or not American fear of the Soviet Union was justified at the close of WWII. Identify and evaluate the common American feelings towards the Soviet Union at the close of WWII and present what you find as a podcast in which you and a partner each take on the role of an American of the post-WWII era and together you discuss this issue. This could be in the form of a radio interview, a telephone conversation between friends, an on-air debate, etc. You do not necessarily both have to agree or disagree - let your research guide you to that decision. Your assignment will include developing a script beforehand, and getting feedback from your teacher on the script before you move on to creating your podcast. In addition to your final product being your podcast, you will also pass in your final draft of your script, including proper source citations. (**24 points**) • **WebQuest**: Complete this WebQuest, designed by Craig Fell of Penn State University (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic [CC BY-NC-SA 2.5]), to investigate the use of propaganda by both the American and Japanese governments during WWII. Examples of propaganda will be shown in class and we will discuss propaganda, its aims, and its effectiveness. The WebQuest will ask you to further examine the topic of both American and Japanese propaganda, as well as answer two sets of short-answer (3-5 sentences) questions. The final product of the WebQuest will be a short essay responding to your critical reading of an essay about Japanese and American propaganda. (**24 points**) • **Museum Box**: Create a four-cube Museum Box that explores: 1.) The relationship between Japan and America before the attack on Pearl Harbor. 2.) The Soviet Union's entrance into WWII. 3.) The Soviet Union's anticipated entrance into the Pacific theater. 4.) America and communism after WWII. By their nature, Museum Boxes tend to thrive on primary documents, but you may also create digital files to upload to your Museum Box if you want to. Treat each cube as if it is a timeline of the topic, and add your "sides" to tell the story of how the topic developed over time. What I'm looking for is your understanding of how each of these pieces had an effect on the war as a whole. (**24 points**)

• **Final Project - Wikispace Textbook Supplement**: (See Performance Task Overview above for an explanation of this assignment). (**40 points**)

• **Participation**: Your participation grade will be derived from a number of factors, including your participation in class discussions, your adherence to our Classroom Environment Contract, your consistent punctuality in passing in assignments, your practices of communicating with me when you are going to be absent or late passing in work (if applicable), etc. (**15 points**)

• **Bonus**: You will notice that all those points add up to 199. You get this one last point when you print off this page and sign it to indicate that you did, indeed, read the syllabus. (**1 point**)

=Grading Scale= **A** (93 -100), **A-** (90 - 92), **B+** (87 - 89), **B** (83 - 86), **B-** (80 - 82), **C+**(77 - 79), **C** (73-76), **C-** (70 - 72), **D+**(67 - 69), **D** (63 - 66), **D-** (60 - 62), **F** (0 - 59).