In this passage, students read about events that led up to the United States' entry into World War II. World War II, which had been raging in Europe since 1939, hit home for many Americans when the Japanese launched a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. This activity includes a vocabulary activity and comprehension questions.
Will Johannsson, a 5th grader from Sewanne, Tennessee, interviewed his godfather, Hans Ohrt, who described what life was like under Hitler's brutal dictatorship. After reading this interview, students will be able to identify the loss of human lives associated with World War II. For many children, living in Nazi Germany during World War II (1939-1945) was difficult. The Nazi party, ruled by Adolf Hitler, rounded up millions of Jews and others and murdered them. The Nazis also wanted children to spy on their families and report back to the government.
This free, interactive website helps middle and high school-aged students explore the effects of the Tennessee Valley Authority during World War II. The website includes videos, photographs, handouts, primary resources, and more.
This lesson provides information on how the Tennessee Valley Authority played a key role in helping the United States win World War II. Lesson plans are provided on the website including introductory activities and extension activities. Lesson plan powerpoints are also available. Full-length videos are provided on the website with video response questions as well as interactive graphics for student use.
The public is informed via newspaper that all Jews must wear a visible blue Star of David whenever they are in public. The decree outlines all of the regulations and specifics on how the emblem should be worn. The instating of this stigma makes the Jewish people bigger targets for discrimination.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, the chief scientist of the Manhattan Project, tests with his team the first atomic bomb. The test is successful.
Anne Frank describes her living situation as a Jewish family hiding in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. She explains how she is hidden in a family friend's house and must live with people from different families.
The three world leaders Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt come together during the Yalta Conference to decide how Germany will be defeated, divided, and punished. Each leader has his own special interests, and together they decide on their post-war zones of influence across the globe. The Yalta Conference inadvertently set the rules for the Cold War.
For over 20 years, a summer program for gifted adolescents at Western Kentucky University has offered an arts-integrated history course on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The course concludes with students working as a group to create a large mural on the Holocaust. In this way, students use the power of art to deal with their own emotions as well as to educate others.
In Fall 2017, murals from the past 20 years went on a traveling display in Kentucky to engage a broader audience in thought-provoking conversation on the topic. This image collection shows the completed murals created over the 20-year span of the program.
**Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.
The attack on Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) on December 7th, 1941 changed the course of history and triggered the involvement of the United States in World War II. The attack destroyed much of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet and killed nearly 2,500 Americans. This segment of Iowa Public Television's Iowa’s WWll Stories features historical film clips as well as interviews with survivors of the attack.
In this video clip, Winston Churchill addresses the House of Commons with an inspirational speech in which he expresses confidence in winning the war against the Nazis. Churchill uses not only eloquent words but also strong body language to boost the morale of the British people.
In this Emmy Award-winning documentary film co-presented by HBO and The Museum of Jewish Heritage, a new generation of students is introduced to Holocaust history. When 10-year-old Elliott asks his 90-year-old great-grandfather, Jack, about the number tattooed on his arm, he sparks an intimate conversation about Jack’s life that spans happy memories of childhood in Poland, the loss of his family, surviving Auschwitz, and finding a new life in America. Their tender exchange is woven with historical footage and hand-painted animation to tell a heartbreaking story of Jewish life in Eastern Europe before and during the Holocaust. The video is approximately 19 minutes in length.
This free, interactive website helps middle and high school-aged students explore Holocaust history and themes of identity and personal responsibility. Part of the larger Museum of Jewish Heritage Holocaust Curriculum website, Coming of Age During the Holocaust features first-person accounts of young people who survived the Holocaust, integrating compelling videos, narratives, and primary documents with online discussions and engaging activities.
This lesson provides an introduction to the study of the Holocaust and can be used as the first lesson of a larger unit, or a stand-alone lesson to discuss essential content and themes. The Holocaust refers to the systematic murder of six million Jews, and millions of others, by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The Nazi Party came to power in 1933. Its leader, Adolf Hitler, was appointed chancellor of Germany and began to target Jews. Roma/Sinti, those with physical or mental disabilities, LGBTQ people, political dissidents, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others were considered enemies by the Nazis and not worthy of human rights.
This collection includes videos, photographs, and articles about the Holocaust. Students can use this collection to explore what life might have been like during the Holocaust.
This podcast is a collection of personal stories told from soldiers and family members of Japanese Americans (Nisei) who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. The podcast describes the experiences of some Japanese Americans and the consequences of World War II.
This learning activity contains photographs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill during World War II. There is also a set of discussion questions to use with the photographs.
