Lesson Plan:

The Japanese American Internment

By

Mike Wigglesworth

Course: TED 625B

Instructor: Colleen Wilson

3-20-06

National University
 Lesson Plan: The Japanese American Internment

Teacher: Mike Wigglesworth Date: March 20, 2006

Subject: U.S. History

Grade: 11

Abstract: This lesson is designed to give the students a clear understanding of why and
how the Japanese American internment during WWII took place. The lesson also
encourages students to evaluate the subject matter in terms of their own personal values
and ideas about democracy and civil rights. The lesson plan incorporates a PowerPoint
presentation by the teacher, cooperative group activities, and independent learning
activities.

Materials: PowerPoint (photos and other primary resources incorporated in to the

PowerPoint), Constitutional Amendment handout, Internet access for Japanese
Relocation film, copies of the article, Post 9/11 Roundup of Muslims is Focus of Lawsuit
-Inter Press Service/Global Information Network.

California Academic Content Standards: 11.7(5)- Students analyze America’s

participation in WWII. Discuss the Constitutional issues and impact of events on the U.S.
home front, including the internment of Japanese Americans.

Goals: Students will develop an understanding of the root causes of the Japanese
American internment, the conditions in the internment camps, the treatment of Japanese
Americans, and be able to evaluate how this event compares to other events in American
society.

Prerequisite: For this lesson students will need to have an understanding of U.S.-
Japanese relations prior to Dec. 7 1941; Japan’s role in WWII, the attack on Pearl
Harbor; the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson; the Naturalization Act of
1790; the Smith Act of 1940; and racism in America. All of these topics will be
covered in prior lessons and will be recapped at the beginning of this lesson.

Learner Outcomes / Objectives:

-Students will observe a 1942 U.S. government propaganda film and speculate as
to why the film was made, what affect it may have had, and point out any parts
that they feel were probably accurate or inaccurate. The students will discuss their
ideas (as a class) following the film.

-After the teacher presents an alternative view of the internment and the treatment
of Japanese Americans via the use of a variety of primary and secondary
resources (e.g. photographs, personal testimonies, government documents, maps,
etc.) the students will compare and contrast what they have learned with the
government film.
 - Students will be able to identify and describe the three main causes of the
internment on a final unit exam.

-In cooperative learning groups the students will discuss the internment in the
context of the 1st, 5th, and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. They will
analyze whether or not the internment violated these amendments and be able to
present to the class specific examples to illustrate their findings.

-In their journals students will answer the question, “do you think the Japanese
Internment made America safer?”

-For homework students will read an article about the treatment of Arab
Americans in the United States after 9/11. The students will be asked to write a 1-
page essay comparing/contrasting this with the Japanese American internment
during WWII. They will site the U.S. constitution.

Learner Adaptations: These learner outcomes will need to be modified for various
students. For example, some special ed. students may not be able to interact and
participate in groups well. If need be, they should be given alternative tasks. For
the group presentation activity such a student could serve as a timekeeper. For
students who have severe difficulty writing essays (i.e. special ed.) the teacher
could allow them to outline their essay and orally express and clarify their ideas.
English Language Learners should be grouped together on some assignments.
They should also be provided with plenty of visuals. Students with behavioral
problems should be closely monitored and paired with students that they work
well with. Many of the learner outcomes are flexible in that they allow the more
advanced students to go above and beyond. This is definitely the case with the
essay assignment. Many of the analogies that I will use in my instruction will take
into account the life experiences of my students.

Introduction Anticipatory Set: The teacher will ask the students to imagine that they
are Japanese American youth in the year 1942. They will imagine that after a
normal day at school, they discover posters on every street corner announcing the
pending forced removal of all peoples of Japanese ancestry. The students will be
asked to imagine how they would feel and what they would do.

Instruction: The primary objective of the instructional approach for this lesson will be to
engage the students and encourage them to analyze the topic in terms of their
personal opinions, feelings about democracy, civil rights, and
contemporary topics such as the post 9/11 treatment of Arab Americans. After the
teacher completes the introduction activity the teacher will present the topic and
address the standards and student goals for the lesson. The students will then
watch a short 1942 propaganda film entitled The Japanese Relocation created by
the U.S. government. The students will be required to take notes on the film and
consider why the film was made, who the audience might be, and point out any
 parts of the film that they suspect might be a distortion of the events. After the
film the class will briefly discuss their findings. The teacher will then present a
different perspective on the Japanese American internment through the use of
pictures maps, primary documents, and first hand testimony. The teacher will
present the three main causes of the internment using analogies and other bridging
techniques to help bring the subject matter to life.

Guided Practice: Students will break into groups of 4 or 5. They will be given a handout
listing the 1st, 5th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Each group will
take one of the three Amendments and consider how/if the internment violated the
constitution and in what ways. They will also explain whether or not they think
the internment made America “safer.”

Homework/Independent Practice: Students will read the following article: Post 9/11
Roundup of Muslims is Focus of Lawsuit (Inter Press Service/Global Information
Network). Students will the write a one-page essay comparing and contrasting the
Japanese American Internment with the treatment of Arab Americans in the wake
of 9/11. Students must site the article and the U.S. Constitution.

Assessment: The teacher will constantly use “probing techniques” (e.g. “Who can tell me
the three main causes of the internment?” “Does anyone recall about how many
people were interned?”). Students will also be assessed based on their
participation in the cooperative groups and the homework essay assignment.

Conclusion/Connection: The teacher will recap the main points of the lesson and
reiterate how sensitive our democracy can be.