Impact of World War II in Your Town

Grade Focus

Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12

Age Level

13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Subject

History

Technology Integration Activity

Discovering the Internet, Imaging

Estimated Time of Completion

Five to seven class periods (50-55 minutes each period)

Introduction

In this lesson, students research World War II era defense industries as well as government programs from the era that were located in their community or directly affected their community, and speculate on the impact and effectiveness of those projects in regard to helping in the overall war effort.  Using their research, student groups create Web blogs in which they analyze those projects and make conclusions as to their importance in helping the war effort as well as boosting the local economy.  If desired, the blogs can be publicized, and persons in the community with memories of the World War II era can post to student blogs.

Prerequisite Experience

Students should have some background in how to blog, as well as conduct basic Internet search experience as well as interviewing skills.  Depending on how in-depth the teacher wants the project to go, they may also want to know how to find photos online or scan photos from textbooks, etc.  In addition, they should have some basic background into the World War II home front.

Teacher Prep Time

Estimated one to two hours, in particular to ensure school computers do not block blog sites, or if it is necessary for the teacher to understand blogging concepts.

The teacher may wish to check prior to beginning the project to see if a desired blogging site is “open” and available to students, and if not, contact the school’s information technology department to unblock the site prior to beginning the project.  In addition, some schools and districts may have specific policies dealing with the use of blogs by students and student accounts.  The teacher should review these prior to starting the lesson.Most freeware blogging sites will create a URL (Uniform Resource Locator, or web address) for individual or group blogs. 

Project

In addition, if the community the school is located in has a large ethnic population, the teacher may elect to have students view slides related to the contributions of African Americans, Hispanics, or Japanese Americans in the war. After the teacher has involved students in brainstorming effects of the war on individual citizens, ask students to speculate as to how the war might have affected their community. Write responses on the chalkboard or overhead. 

Most students will probably contribute ideas such as men leaving for the armed services, shortages of goods and rationing, possibly war bond drives, blackouts, or possibly homecomings of returning servicemen or mourning for those killed in action.

Next ask students to relate what they know about “Web 2.0” tools, such as blogging, social networking sites, etc.  Most students will have at least a basic idea about what these resources are like, and several will probably have used them.  Query students about which resources they are familiar with.  (Most will probably mention Blogger, FaceBook, MySpace, and other similar sites.)  (NOTE:  If the teacher is not familiar with the concept of blogging, or wishes to further explain blogging to students, http://codex.wordpress.org/Introduction_to_Blogging can be used as a rudimentary introduction to the process.)

Once this discussion has concluded, explain to the students that they’ll be construction “web logs” (“blogs”) focusing on some aspect of the World War II Home Front.  The teacher may elect to have groups research a certain aspect of life on the home front (rationing, war industry, propaganda, etc.), or may wish to have students research a particular year of the war.  

The teacher will also need to decide whether each group should have its own blog, or contribute to one single blog.Popular blog sites include “Blogger” (http://www.blogger.com), and “Edublogs” (http://edublogs.org/).  In addition, the school e-mail server may also include blogging software that may be used, so the teacher may wish to contact the school’s information technology department before beginning the lesson.Note:  some school “filtering” systems may block “blogging” sites as improper since frequently blogs are used for recreational or personal reasons. 

The teacher may wish to check prior to beginning the project to see if a desired blogging site is “open” and available to students, and if not, contact the school’s information technology department to unblock the site prior to beginning the project.  In addition, some schools and districts may have specific policies dealing with the use of blogs by students and student accounts.  The teacher should review these prior to starting the lesson.Most freeware blogging sites will create a URL (Uniform Resource Locator, or web address) for individual or group blogs.  Be sure to have students include their URL on the “Home Front Information Sheet” in order to monitor student content and contributions to the blog.Depending on the community, some digitized collections of local histories of the war may exist online, or groups may wish to research at a local library, historical society, or museum for related information.  In addition, local newspaper offices and libraries may have microfilm copies of newspapers from the period. In some instances, students may also know veterans or townspeople alive during that era that would be able and willing to provide an oral history of the World War II era.  (Note:  Students would collect the above information via a teacher-provided graphic organizer.)

Assessment/Grading

Teacher-created rubric

Time Management Tips

Many students will probably have prior experience in Internet searching and blogging, so the teacher might be well-advised to have students focus more on the actual research of World War II era topics rather than blog creation, unless students do not have background in that area.

The teacher will also want students to provide a URL of their created blog for the teacher to access student work.