Questions this lesson will answer:
How was life on the home front during World War II?

Purpose/Rationale/Goals of the days lesson:
During World War II, much of the young male population off fighting a war in Europe and the Pacific.  At home, other groups were helping the war effort.  Women were going to work in the war industries, bringing about Rosie the Riveter.  The African American community was also doing their part.  They were doing whatever the law would allow them.  Japanese Americans, although placed in internment camps still fought for America.  Many different groups came together on the home front to make the war successful in Europe and the Pacific.

Objectives:
SWBAT:

• Identify the roles of people on the home front, especially women, African Americans and Japanese Americans.
• Understand what internment camps were.
• Understand how the economy changed.

• The impact of mobilization for war at home.

• Enable learners to analyze and explain the ways groups, societies, and cultures address human needs and concerns.

• Enable learners to examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relation to his or her community and nation during World War II.
• Have learners explain conditions, actions, and motivations that contribute to cooperation within the United States during World War II.
• Guide learners to explain how governments attempt to achieve their stated ideals at home and abroad during World War II.

• Provide opportunities for learners to assess how values and beliefs influence economic decisions in the United States.
• Allow students to understand how World War II affected the American economy.

Key Concepts and generalizations:

• Cost-Plus System: System devised during World War II to allow profits from war production, in which the government paid for basic manufacturing costs, plus a percentage for profit.
• "Double V" Campaign: Civil Rights movement by African Americans during World War II, Calling for victory both in the war and in the struggle for equality at home.
• Internment Camp: A camp in which people are confined or isolated, especially during a time of war.
• Japanese American Citizens League: Organization that helped Japanese Americans after World War II.
• Rosie the Riveter: Fictional defense plant worker portrayed in government propaganda films and posters to attract women to the work force during World War II.
• WAC: Women's Army Corps; organization of women who volunteered for military service in World War II; a member of the Women's Army Corps.

Methods and Activity
Anticipatory set (lesson opening)

• Students are to write down a definition for the term propaganda
• When finished, students should compare their definitions with another person in the class

• Students will break up into pairs of twos.  Each group will receive an example of a propaganda poster.
• The students should write down some characteristics of the poster and should also try to figure out what the poster is trying to express.
• After giving 15 minutes, the students will explain to the class what they have found
• As a class, we will come up with our own definition of propaganda
• The class will discuss rationing, internment camps, and women using direct instruction
• The class will also discuss feelings towards Japanese Americans, African Americans, and women
• Pass out class notes

• Students are to create a propaganda poster of their own.  It can be for something today or something from World War II.
• Examples of Students Work