A Sacramento Odyssey - Teacher Notes

Lesson Overview

The purpose of this unit is to provide students with an opportunity to examine and reflect on primary sources that document the internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II.

 

Objectives

Time Required

2-3 weeks.

Target Level

Grades 5-8

Curriculum Fit

Language Arts and United States History. This lesson is designed as an introduction to the study of World War II. The activities will provide students with background for reading related historical fiction such as Journey to Topaz, Under the Blood Red Sun, and Farewell to Manzanar.

 California History/Social Science Content Standards

Grade 5

5.6 Students relate the narrative of the people and events associated with the development of the U.S. Constitution and analyze its significance as the foundation of the American republic, in terms of:

3. the fundamental principles of American constitutional democracy including how the government derives its power from the people and the primacy of individual liberty
4. how the Constitution is designed to secure our liberty by both empowering and limiting central government; the powers granted to the citizens, Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, and those reserved to the states

Grade 6-8

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Chronological and Spatial Thinking
 
1. Students explain how major events are related to each other in time

Research, Evidence and point of View

1. students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research
2. students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories
3. students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories
4. students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusion from them
5. students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made

Historical Interpretation

1. students explain the central issues and problems of the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place
2. students understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long- and short-term causal relations
5. students recognize interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered

Materials

Books:

Although A Sacramento Odyssey is a self-contained unit, student learning will be enhanced through the literature connection. The following following titles are award-winning books on the topic of Japanese internment and are recommended for middle school students:

Chin, Steven A. When Justice Failed: The Fred Korematsu Story. Raintree/Steck Vaughn, 1992.

Houston, Jeanne Wakasuki. Farewell to Manzanar. Bantam Books, 1973.

Salisbury, Graham. Under the Blood Red Sun. Yearling Books, 1995.

Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey to Topaz. Creative Arts Book Company, 1985.

Software:

People of Sacramento CD-ROM

Internet Sources:

Tule Lake Internment Camp - http://www.scu.edu/SCU/Programs/Diversity/tule.html
Photographs from Tule Lake - http://www.lib.utah.edu/spc/photo/9066/tule.htm
Japanese Americans Return to Tule Lake - http://www.seattletimes.com/news/lifestyles/html98/alttule_071298.html
Map Page - http://www.csuohio.edu/art_photos/map.html
Japanese Internment Timeline - http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/janm/nrc/internch.html
News Articles on Japanese Internment - http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/evactxt.html
The Japanese Internment - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8420/main.html
Japanese Internment -http://topcat.bridgew.edu/~kschrock/ED560/lamb/Japanese.htm
Internment Camps - http://www.uwec.edu/Academic/Geography/Ivogeler/w188/j4.htm
Relocation Camps -http://www.kent.wednet.edu/KSD/SJ/Nikkei/RelocationCamps.html
Photographs Page - http://www.kent.wednet.edu/KSD/SJ/Nikkei/PhotographsPage.html
The Internment Collection - http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/spec_coll/internment/
San Francisco Editiorial - http://www.best.com/~sfmuseum/hist8/editorial2.html
 

Instructional Procedure

Baseball Saved Us, by Ken Mochizuki, is a powerful picture book to use as introduction to the unit. The story is about a Japanese American boy who is interned during World War II. Through baseball, he discovers hope and self-respect - two qualities essential to surviving an overwhelming obstacle such as unjust imprisonment.

As the students begin to develop their fictional character and research the historical setting for the scrapbook, teachers may want to show documentary videos such as the oscar-winning film by Steven Okazaki Days of Waiting.

Since this is a partner project, students will need in-class research and work time.

Evaluation and Extension

The final student product - a scrapbook documenting the internment of a Sacramento resident at Tule Lake - can be evaluated using a class-generated rubric or the holistic or analytical social studies rubrics included on the People of Sacramento CD-ROM.

To "show case" the finished product, students could create a "living museum." Working in their teams, one student assumes the role of his/her internment character. The other student assumes the role of an interviewer or museum curator. Because of its emphasis on all four modes of communication (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), a living museum fits well with both language arts and social studies curricula.

At the heart of this lesson is the importance of students understanding their constitutional rights. As an extension, students could research a current right guaranteed by the Constitution (i.e. gun control) and defend or challenge the corresponding amendment.

Return to A Sacramento Odyssey

Lesson developed by Gail Desler, Elk Grove Unified School District