Lesson Plan
NPR

Civil Rights of Japanese-American Internees

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Prompted by a viewing of Emiko and Chizu Omori’s Rabbit in the Moon, a documentary about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, high schoolers examine a series of documents, including the Bill of Rights and the UN’s...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letters from the Japanese American Internment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the concept of Japanese internment. In this Japanese internment lesson, students examine primary sources that enable them to discover what internment camp life was like and its implications, Students write their own...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japanese-American Internment/Relocation Camps

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Learners create poetry and verse, using all 5 senses to paint a visual image of life in a Japanese-American internment camp.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letters from the Japanese American Internment

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students delve into primary research. For this Japanese Internment lesson plan, students make deductions about life in an internment camp by reading and comparing letters written to Clara Breed. Along the way, they consider the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japanese Internment--How Point of View Influences Attitude

For Teachers 11th
How does background and experience influence one's point of view? Dwight Okita's famous poem about the Japanese internment is the text used to explore this essential question. Class members study primary documents to gain the necessary...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The War: Japanese Americans and Internment

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the experiences of Japanese-Americans at the beginning of World War II in America. After watching an excerpt from "The War", they answer reflection questions about the Japanese being put into internment camps. In groups,...
Lesson Plan
PBS

WWII: Detained

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Imagine being forced against your will behind barbed wire for doing nothing but being yourself. Scholars investigate the impact Japanese-American internment camps had during World War II. Through video and archival evidence, they create...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge: The Internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, Part 4

For Teachers 8th Standards
Learners use a Analyzing Mediums handout to detail the advantages and disadvantages of communicating with mediums such as artwork, photographs, and political cartoons in the Japanese-American Internment during World War II primary...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge: The Internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, Part 3

For Teachers 8th Standards
Check those sources carefully. Scholars learn to analyze and critique primary sources with the work they completed in the previous activity. Learners compare and contrast sources that agree and disagree about Japanese-American internment...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge: The Internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, Part 2

For Teachers 8th Standards
Scholars learn about primary sources with a Primary Sources: Japanese-American Internment during World War II packet. Pupils work with a partner to read challenging sources in the packet while making notes in the margins. They then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dorothea Lange and the Relocation of Japanese Americans

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners consider the relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II. In this Japanese relocation lesson, students examine photographs by Dorothea Lange, the "Pledge of Allegiance," and a US government flyer from 1942. They use...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prisoner in One's Own Home

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Examine the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. After reading an article from the New York Times and exploring the author's word choice, young readers find the central idea in the text and work on researching...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japanese American Baseball in the Camps

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students study Japanese American internment camps. For this American history lesson, students compare and contrast the camp internees' experiences with with team sports-related challenges students have encountered. Students discuss team...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Lesson: Immigration

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Many of your class members will have heard of Executive Order 9066 and the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Some may even recognize the terms “Issei” and “Nisei,” but few will have heard of Enemy Alien Hearing Boards, of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japanese Internment

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders practice their writing skills. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, 4th graders review baseball terminology and then read Baseball Saved Us. In this story students learn about Japanese Americans that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World War II: Internment in Hawaii

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students examine world history by writing an essay in class. In this World War II lesson, students identify the attack on Pearl Harbor, the response from the U.S and the effect it had on Japanese-Americans. Students define Japanese...
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Dear Miss Breed

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
This compelling plan based on the letters in the book Dear Miss Breed engages readers in learning what it was like for Japanese Americans following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. After reading the letters, young scholars will...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Gathering Textual Evidence: “Invisibility” of Those Interned

For Teachers 8th Standards
Add another layer to the class's understanding. Scholars deepen their knowledge of the primary sources in their Japanese-American Internment during World War II packet and determine how the sources relate to the theme of invisibility....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Giving Voice to History

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine the plight of Japanese Americans during World War II. In this World War II lesson, students participate in a mock evocation simulation, research primary and secondary documents about internment camps, and share their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Secret War: Lesson 8

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore American history by viewing videos on the Internet. In this Japanese internment lesson plan, 5th graders discuss the politics that took place between America and Japan during WWII and why it was necessary to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Under the Blood-Red Sun

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore U.S. history by reading an award winning book about World War II. In this Japanese internment camp lesson, 5th graders read the book Under the Blood-Red Sun and discuss the entrapment of Japanese-Americans on our...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World War II Home Front

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Eleventh graders examine the political demands put on one of four groups living in America during WWII. Each class member is asked to research and write a paper describing the homefront experience for women, Hispanics, African-Americans,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Farewell to Manzanar

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students investigate themes of justice and rights while reading the novel Farewell to Manzanar. They research contemporary civil rights issues and write reports. They also research the background of internment camps during World War II.
Study Guide
Penguin Books

Teacher's Guide: When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed Standards
Julie Otsuka's haunting novel, When the Emperor Was Devine, is the subject of a 14-page teacher's guide. The guide includes the text of an interview with Otsuka, background information about Japanese immigration to the United States, and...