Japanese American Internment

Lesson Overview
What was the World War II experience like for the thousands of Japanese Americans living on
the West Coast? The activities in this lesson are designed to provide a window into the war
years. Using primary sources, students will explore a period in United States history when
120,000 Japanese Americans were evacuated from the West Coast and held in internment
camps.

Objectives
Students will be able to:

evaluate documents and photographs from the American Memory collections.
explain how major events are related to each other in time.
recognize point of view in print and visual materials.
draw upon primary sources to create a presentation reective of the Japanese American
internment experience.

Lesson Preparation
Materials
Primary Source Analysis Tool

Resources
Warren Tsuneishi
Norman Ikari
Japanese-American child who is being evacuated with his parents to Owens Valley, America
From the Great Depression to World War II, American Memory
Japanese-American Evacuation from Los Angeles, America From the Great Depression to
World War II, American Memory
FDR Signing the Declaration of War, Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, American
Memory
Dorothea Lange, Women Come to the Front, Library of Congress online exhibit
Teacher's Guides

Lesson Procedure
Activity One - Evacuation Day (30 minutes)
Introduce students to the lesson using Photograph 1 (Japanese-American child who is being
evacuated with his parents to Owens Valley) on-line, on a handout, or overhead transparency.
Students analyze the photograph, recording their thoughts on the Primary Source Analysis Tool.
Before the students begin, select questions from the teachers guide Analyzing Photographs
and Prints to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.

Engage in a whole-class discussion based on student observations of the photograph and prior
knowledge of World War II.

Activity Two - "A Date That Will Live in Infamy" (30 minutes)
Team students in groups of 2-4 and have them brainstorm the connection between:

Item 1 (Dispatch announcing bombing of Pearl Harbor);
Item 2 (FDR signing the Declaration of War);
Item 3 (Prelude to the Japanese Exodus, Dorothea Lange, Women Come to the Front,
Library of Congress on-line exhibit).

Each group should write a one sentence explanation of the connection(s) they see between the
three documents. Bring the groups together and have them share their sentences.

Extension
Picture Day (30 minutes)
Team students in groups of 2-4. Give them a copy of Photograph 2 (Japanese-American
Evacuation from Los Angeles), project it on the overhead, or have students access it online.
Allow time for them to brainstorm and analyze the photograph, recording their thoughts on the
Primary Source Analysis Tool. Before the students begin, select questions from the teacher's
guide Analyzing Photographs and Prints to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.
Ask students to create a tableau (a scene frozen in time and space) in which they become the
personalities in the photograph. They must assume the same pose as the person whose role
they have taken. Students remain frozen until you tap them. At that time, they will answer in the
"rst person" any questions you might have for them.

Two Sides to Every Story: Poetry for Two Voices (2 class periods)
A poem for two voices is a two-column format that allows writers to juxtapose two contrasting
ideas, concepts, or perspectives. Alternating lines indicate opposing view points and are read by
an individual voice. Adjacent lines represent agreement or compromise and are therefore read
in unison.

Have students pair up. Distribute copies of Franklin Roosevelt's "A Date Which Will Live in
Infamy" speech and materials selected from the Veterans History collections of Warren
Tsuneishi or Norman Ikari. As they read through FDR's speech, they should highlight phrases
that might explain why the US government chose to imprison Japanese-Americans. As they
read through the selected interview, they should highlight phrases that explain what internment
was really like from the perspective of a former camp internee.

In their own words and/or using words from the speech and interview, students will use the
poetry for two voices format to create a two-column poem on Japanese internment.

Students should illustrate their poems and mount them on construction paper.

Newspaper Article
Have students write a newspaper article in response to a photo in the American Memory Gallery
of Japanese Internment. This evaluation could be assigned as an in-class writing prompt or as
homework. Before assigning the article:

discuss the prompt (reect on and respond to an internment photograph) and the guidelines
write rough drafts
edit (independently or with peers and/or teacher)
revise
publish nal draft of article