Lesson 10

Lesson: Japanese-American Internment Camps (Part 1)

Objective: Students will be able to explain what happened to Japanese Americans on the
west coast of the United States during World War II. Students will be able to formulate
arguments both for and against the internment of these citizens, and develop their own
opinions on whether or not it was justified or necessary.
Common Core Standards:
10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources,
attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide
an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
Materials: Tablets, reading on internment camps, computer, SmartBoard, YouTube
Directions: Review the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which got the U.S. into the war. Explain
that thousands of Japanese-Americans lived on the west coast of the United States at this
time, and many of them lived near military bases. Explain that President Roosevelt, fearing
some of these citizens would be loyal to Japan during the war, ordered that all persons of
Japanese ancestry be put in internment camps, and this is one of the most controversial
actions in the history of our country.
Have students take out their tablets and go to the class website, where there is a reading on
Japanese interment. Read it together as a class, popcorn style, stopping for further
explanation when appropriate as you go. Next, use the SmartBoard to show the video
about Japanese internment camps on YouTube. Afterwards, ask who believes the
internment was justified, and who doesnt. Ask individual students why they believe what
they do, and allow a couple minutes of class discussion. At the end, tell students that
tomorrow they will get to have a more formal debate on the topic, and they should review
what they learned today, as well as use the web to find additional information for the
debate.