ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

The purpose of this unit is to foster understanding of several key areas of American life: diversity among cultures, public attitude during war and adversity, wartime hysteria (especially when aimed at another racial or ethnic group), and the power of propaganda. Students will be encouraged to empathize with Japanese and the sacrifices they made and American culture that imposed those sacrifices upon them. Students will also explore the constitutional issues the country faced during the Internment Program. As students gather, interpret, edit, and analyze information about the Japanese Internment program, they will be aligned with Standard 1: The Nature and Scope of History by developing and understanding of the principles governing historical analysis and interpretation (Benchmark 12.1.2) and by understanding how key events, people, and ideas affect United States History (Benchmark 12.1.4).
By accessing actual accounts of the Japanese Internment Program through technology based resources, students will align with Standard 4: Social Studies Resources. Students will use primary sources to enhance their understand of the events (Benchmark 12.4.1) and use technology to access that information (Benchmark 12.4.3). Students will also achieve Benchmark 12.4.3 by creating PowerPoint presentations and informational newsletters. As students begin to examine to plight of Japanese-Americans set to the relocation centers, they will be aligned with Standard 5: The Role of the Citizen, Benchmark 12.5.1 Understanding the benefits and challenges of the rights of citizenship. When students explore the animosity between Caucasian Americans and Japanese Americans, they will be aligned with Standard 7: Culture and Benchmark 12.7.1 -Understand how variations in the elements of culture lead to diversity among cultures. By working together to gather, analyze, interpret information on the Japanese Internment Program students will be aligned with Library/Technology/Literacy Standard 4: Collaborative Skills, Independent Learning, Personal Enjoyment and Benchmark 12.4.1 Work cooperatively and collaboratively when using media and technology.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: I would like the students to understand the concept of racism and discrimination. I hope they see that discriminatory attitudes surface even when the goals or intentions of a society in power seem justifiable. I want them to understand their constitutional rights and that those rights apply to all citizens, no matter what nationality, race, or ethnicity. I hope as citizens they analyze and question the decisions made by people in power and guide their thinking intelligently, with logic, not simply with raw emotion. Finally, I want them to be able to empathize with those who are less fortunate or those whose rights are taken away.
Goal(s):  1. To explore the Japanese Internment Program in order to understand the attitudes of participants on both sides of the issue. 2. To understand the rationale of the program and make a determination if that rationale is valid.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: 1. What prompted the United States to impose the Japanese Internment Program?  2. How did prejudice and bigotry play a role in government decisions and the public’s attitude? 3. What effect did relocation have on the average Japanese-American citizen?  4. What constitutional issues were at stake?  5. Was the United States government justified in imposing the relocation program?  6. How might the lessons learned from the relocation program be applied today, especially in the wake of 9/11 and the war on terror?
Objectives: 1. Students will be able to describe the basic premise of the Japanese Internment Program (JIP).  2. Students will be able to identify the constitutional issues raised by the JIP.  3. Students will be able to explain what happened to a typical Japanese-American who experienced the evacuation and relocation procedures.  4. Students will be able to explain what life was like inside a relocation camp.  5. Students will be able to evaluate the government’s rationale for the JIP.  6. Students will be able to come to their own conclusion to the following question: “Was the United States government justified in implementing the Japanese Internment Program?”

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding?
The following are sample quiz questions the students will be expected to know: 1. The most severe intolerance of the war involved the treatment of: A) African Americans B) women C) Japanese Americans D) Mexican Americans 2. The event that led to the hysteria and paranoia on the West Coast regarding the Japanese living there was: A) Pearl Harbor B) Guadalcanal C) signing of the Tripartite Pact D) Midway 3. FDR’s Executive Order 9066 gave the decision making power for security of the West Coast to: A) local officials B) the Nisei C) the military D) the Secretary of War 4. Which is false concerning the Japanese Internment Program? A) Discrimination against the Japanese was evident prior to the implementation of the program B) Lt. Gen. DeWitt was very sympathetic to the plight of Japanese Americans C) the evacuation process was emotionally painful for Japanese families D) property loss from the sale of Japanese property was estimated at $400 million 5. Do you think the Japanese Relocation Program was a justifiable inconvenience imposed by our national government or do you think the Japanese people were unjustly imprisoned?  In explaining your answer, UNDERLINE two issues about the program that helped convince you in making your opinion.
What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding? 
1. How might the government’s reaction after the 9/11 attacks and the attack on Pearl Harbor have been similar?  2. How about the public’s reaction?  3. Was revenge a factor?  4. What was the feeling in the US about Muslims after 9/11?  5. What about the feeling towards Japanese after Pearl Harbor?  Students will investigate these issues by exploring information about the Japanese Internment Program.
What performance tasks and projects(e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product)will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding?
1. Students will examine issues on all facets of the JIP through a web quest.  2. Students will respond to the question “Was the United States government justified in implementing the Japanese Internment Program?” by collaboratively writing a paper and documenting their reasons for their decision.  3. Students will present their arguments via a PowerPoint presentation so that visual evidence can be applied to their decision in the above question.  4. Students will produce a “newsletter” that documents a typical Japanese experience in the relocation program.
What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment)of understanding will you collect?
Rubrics, observations, and student presentations will be used. 

Instructional Strategies

Students will incorporate all three strategies in the Japanese Internment Program unit. 1. Through inquiry based learning, students will examine, through primary sources, the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of the people directly affected by the JIP. By doing this, students will begin to empathize with both the Japanese people who endured the program and the government officials who imposed it (with strong public support).  2. Through problem based learning, students will determine for themselves whether or not the JIP was a justifiable wartime measure. They will accomplish this through a study of primary sources, constitutional based issues, and a study of wartime hysteria and how it affects the judgment of those affected by the issue.  3. Through project based learning, students will learn about the trials and tribulations of the Japanese people by creating a newsletter that examines life within the relocation program. By completing a web quest, students will examine primary source information to gather evidence about everything from wartime hysteria to the suffering of the Japanese people. Finally, students will collaborate to produce a paper and PowerPoint to answer the question: “Was the United States government justified in implementing the Japanese Internment Program?”