Lesson: The Three Fronts (Part 1) / Propaganda Posters (Part 1)
Objective: Students will be able to discuss the early events of the war, such as the countries conquered by Germany near the beginning, the surrender of France, and the Battle of Britain. They will also become more familiar with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which brought the U.S. into the war. Students will be able to identify the leaders of each of the countries involved in the war. Students will be able to explain what propaganda is, and identify how it was used during the war. They will also be able to identify individual methods used in propaganda (fear, patriotism, religion, passion, guilt), as well as the goals of real propaganda posters used during the war. 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. 10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them. 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. 10.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. Materials: Tablets, blogs, computer, SmartBoard, PowerPoint Directions: Explain to students that now that they know where the countries from the war are on the map, they are going to learn about the early events of the war in greater detail, leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entering of the war by the U.S. Have them use their blogs to take notes as you show them the PowerPoint presentation on the Three Fronts. (This lecture will be done over three different days.) It goes into more depth about Germanys early successes, and their failure to conquer Britain. It also covers in detail the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the U.S.s response. When you reach the slide with a propaganda poster regarding Pearl Harbor, stop and open the presentation on propaganda. Have students go to the class website on their tablets if they choose to view the posters there. Lead the class in a discussion of the propaganda posters shown, explaining that each poster used specific methods to get their points across. The usual methods were fear, religion, guilt, passion, or patriotism, or some combination of them. Have the class figure out which method was used for each poster, as well as its goal (get people to join the army, conserve resources, joint the war effort at home, etc.).