Title:
Japanese American Internment Camps
Grade Level(s): 7th Grade Social Studies/Language Arts
Description:
The activity integrates the 7th grade
social studies goal 1, objectives 7.01 and 7.02, and
English language arts goal 1, objectives 1.01, and
2.02. Additional activities address computer/technology
skills goal 3, objectives 3.01, 3.07, 3.08.
The exhibit is designed to be used in connection
with the reading of Farewell to Manzanar and a unit
on the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor and its affect
on America with a tie-in to how people reacted and
are still reacting to the September 11, terrorist
attack on America. The display includes copies of
the Executive Order 9066, the Instructions to all
Persons of Japanese Ancestry, a map depicting the
locations of the camps, and pictures of the various
aspects of life in a camp. In addition, several library
books are displayed as additional resources.
Students, in groups of 3, will select a picture and
fill out a “What Do You See” picture analysis
sheet. Students will then share their picture and
analysis with the class. After each group has presented
their analysis, they will be told that all the pictures
were taken at an internment camp in America. They
will then have a few minutes to reexamine their pictures
and their conclusions. Discussion will transition
to the similarities between that event and the events
that followed September 11.
Additional activities could include:
• Students research what life in the camps
was like according to former residents and compare
it to the life portrayed in the pictures.
• Students keep a journal as if they were living
in an internment camp.
• Students write a letter to a friend outside
the camp describing how different their life is now.
• Students research how culture was affected
for those living in the internment camp.
• Students research the apology that was issued
by the government and its effect.
• Students write a letter to the president
about their family and the effect that living in the
camp is having on them.
• Students publish a newspaper for camp residents
• Create a PowerPoint depicting a typical day
or week in the life of a resident.
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