American Letters, WWII

Objective:
Understand an American soldier's role, and point of view in WWII.
Student Role:
You will act as if you are an American soldier.
Audience:
Your family at home.
Format:
A series of three letters, written over the course of a year.
Topic:
Tell your family what is happening in the war in detail, what are the significant events, make it
seem personal.
Directions:
1. Research WWII from an American soldier's perspective.
2. Using key events from the war, create a timeline of events that one soldier could have
gone through and participated in.

3. Draft 3 letters home to your family detailing the war, any war news, and make your
family know how you feel having to go through the war.
4. Read your letter outloud to yourself three times to ensure proper formatting and also
flow.
5. Have a peer read the letters, using a red pen to make corrections. This must be included
and attached to your final copy upon turn in.
6. Hand write your final copies and place inside a hand made envelope. Turn in it attached
to your rough drafts.
Resources:
Websites to visit:
An American Soldier's story
http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent1/?file=dday_index

War Stories
http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2007/julyaugust/feature/war-stories-the-american-people-inworld-war-ii
America's Involvement
http://www.annefrankguide.net/en-US/bronnenbank.asp?oid=18465
Assessment:
Pick one letter to read aloud to the class. You will be evaluated on emotion, wording, and detail
within the letter.

I'm a Survivor, WWII

Objective:
Understand what happened to the Jewish community during WWII.
Student Role:
You will act as if you are an Jewish survivor from a concentration camp.
Audience:
A public television show.
Format:
A speech that will describe your hardships and what happened to you.
Topic:
What did you go through in the concentration camps, what was the treatment like, what
happened to your friends, what do you think the punishment should be for German participants.
Directions:
1. Research a specific concentration camp.
2. Create a character that was saved from the concentration camp.
3. Research what the environment was like, what the treatment of people was like, and other
areas that were of concern.
4. Create a rough draft speech, involving great emotion, detail of the camp, and what the
treatment was like of the Jewish community within it.
5. After completing your rough draft, get with a friend and read your speeches to each other.
Check the flow of your speech and try to practice putting emotion into your speech.
6. Write a final draft.

Resources:
Websites to visit:
Survivors Stories
http://holocaustlearning.org/survivors
Concentration Camps
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005263
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/cc.html
Assessment:
Pick one area of your speech that you think contains a powerful image. Read this part of your
speech to the class. You will be graded on emotion, content of the read speech, and flow of the
speech.

Dreams, WWII
Objective:
Understand Hitler's goals, before his reign of terror began. Imagine him as a 15 year old.
Student Role:
You will act as if you are an Adolf Hitler.
Audience:
Your personal journal.
Format:
Write a journal entry accompanied by a poem.
Topic:
Act like you have a journal and you are 15 years old, and in that journal, you write poems. What
would Hitler say, what are his ambitions, what are his goals, how will he reach these goals.
Directions:
1. Research Adolfs adolescent years.
2. What are his beliefs? What is life like in his family? What are some influences that Adolf
had in his life? What do you think his goals are at the age of 15?
3. Be creative. Adolf was young, and probably did not have views on Jewish extermination
yet. He was just a young man. What issues would he have to face at this age?

4. Write an introduction to your poem. What is going on in his life right now? Why is he
writing this poem?
5. Free style it. Write your poem however you want in any form you want.
6. Re-read your poem again and again, pick creative words, sentence structures, ect.
7. Have a friend read your poem and correct any spelling mistakes as well as give you
insight as to what can be reworded.
8. Write a final hand written copy.
Resources:
Websites to visit:
Early Years
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007430
Biography
http://www.biography.com/people/adolf-hitler-9340144#synopsis
http://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/adolf-hitlers-childhood.html
Assessment:
You are going to read your poem outloud to the class in a German accent. Focus on your
structure and how you are going to present it best to the class.

Mother, WWII
Objective:
Understand a German Soldier's point of view regarding the war.
Student Role:
You will act as if you are a German soldier.
Audience:
A letter to your mother.
Format:
Write a letter home to your mother.
Topic:
Why did you follow orders that were morally wrong, what are some of the experiences you had,
describe your company and your friends, how is life in general for you.
Directions:
1. Research the role of a German soldier.

2. Where is your German soldier stationed.

3. What significant events are happening at this location? What are some of the experiences you
have had?
4. Draft a letter to your mother, whom you are honest with, that is basically a catch up on what
she has missed since you have left.
5. Re-read your letter with a peer. What can they contribute to your letter? What would they say?
6. After corrections have been made by yourself and a peer, write a final copy, hand written.
Resources:
Websites to visit:
List of facilities:
http://ww2db.com/country/germany
Sites:
http://www.historvius.com/world-war-two-sites/pe169
http://books.stonebooks.com/subject/1000985/

Assessment:
Create a posterboard of the location that your soldier was at. Include your letter home on the
posterboard as well as any other information that is important to the site. Include pictures from
the timeperiod, vehicles, weapons, ect.